Today is the first day of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and I am not participating. It's not because I don't want to, I do, but I know I shouldn't. Last year, I took up the challenge. I tried to write 50,000 words in a month's span. I ended the month with around 40,000 words. That was 40,000 words I didn't have before on a brand new story. To make it harder, I did it without an outline. I impressed myself with how well I did. The writing itself may not be spectacular, but it was a great exercise.

The reason I am not doing it this year is simple: I have too many story ideas. I am always coming up with different stories. Novellas, short stories, screenplays, full novels, a series of novels. I have all these ideas, most of them somewhat outlined, but the problem is none of them are complete. I want to take the time to complete at least one of them. The one project I would like to finish is last year's NaNoWriMo story. I am 40,000 words deep and thought it might be good to finish it and do some editing on that draft zero of a story. If I finish the draft before the end of the month, I'll work on two other stories I had in mind as well. It's good to get some space from a draft before editing anyways.

So, that is my own personal NaNoWriMo challenge I guess. Finish one novel by the end of the month. I plan to give you an update on the progress at the halfway point and the end of the month.

That being said, NaNoWriMo is a great opportunity to challenge yourself as a writer and push yourself creatively. If you have a story idea and really want to see it finished, even if it is just for yourself, I recommend participating in NaNoWriMo. Also, don't limit yourself to writing just novels. If you got a cool comic book story, write that. Take this month to make your own writing challenge and go after it.

If you haven't done the NaNoWriMo challenge, I highly suggest you try it. Their website has a lot of great features, inspirational content, and even some support groups. They even have a 2017 worldwide word count on their webpage, which is pretty cool!

For more information on NaNoWriMo, visit their website.

Get out their and start writing! -J.J.