My Non-NaNoWriMo Project!

Is it really any wonder that National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) coincides with the changing of the seasons AND the end of Daylight Savings? Something about the cold weather creeping in and (reluctantly, at least in my case) changing the clocks and ushering in the earlier darkness does invite the desire to hunker down and write. It's just after 5 p.m. now, and as I write this entry, the day's light is already waning. 

So I had a bit of an inspired lightbulb moment surrounding this notion earlier today. The purpose of NaNoWriMo is to write a lot during the entire month of November, with each collective day eventually stringing along cohesive work and leading up to at least a rough/first draft of a novel. So we're talking a several-thousand words a day count minimum, and structured content for said novel. I'm not quite ready to commit to that level of writing just yet. (But definite goals for next year!) Still, I have my own project in mind that centers around this general idea while keeping it more fluid and free-form. 

For each day in November, I am going to write. Something. Anything. I am not imposing too many other limitations on myself, otherwise, I'll get bored and/or disinterested. The point is just to write and have 30 entries to show for the month.  Each entry will be as short as long as I want it to be. It can be of any topic or subject matter of my choosing. There will only be one strict exception: I will not post anything political here. It is in fact Election Day eve now, and the only thing I will say is that this environment is to be a respite and escape from all of that. That's the only limitation I am setting for myself, and I know I will have no problems adhering to that. Other than that, the sky is the limit on the content and whatever mood strikes any given day. 

I think this is a good challenge to set for myself, and reasonable enough that I should be able to stick to it. Still, it's a goal I will need to work for in order to reach. One of my biggest weaknesses in pretty much anything - is lack of discipline. I have always had an issue with that, ever since I was a child. One of my biggest regrets is giving up the piano so easily. I preferred goofing off and creating my own "songs" and not following my structured piano lessons. When my lack of my progress was evident, my Mom (understandably) refused to continue to pay for lessons. To this day, I wish my nine year old self had stuck with it. Even for things I love and enjoy, they still require discipline. So this is one of the reasons why I am doing this, and to hopefully establish a better habit and routine as November ends. 

This will also help serve as a distraction from the early darkness. I always struggle with this time of year, and I do not understand why we even still observe this, Having something to preoccupy my mind and get the creative juices flowing will be a very good thing, especially when it's so easy to burrow under the 5 p.m. cover of darkness. It always makes for very long, almost neverending nights, but having this to distract my mind and focus it elsewhere will be good for my mental health and overall sanity.

Most of all, this will be fun! I'm excited to see where this goes, and what I will have created in (now) 28 days! Here we go with My Non-NaNoWriMo! ❤