NaNoWriMo, We Meet Again

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

It is November, and one of the traditions this time of year is to take part in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), where people are encouraged to attempt writing a novel—or roughly 30,000 words—during the month. The idea is simple: if you write a little bit (or a lot) every day for 30 days, and you average around 1,000 words a day, you’ll end the month with a solid draft of a novel.

I’ve used November as my writing launchpad before. And while “launchpad” may be too optimistic a word, I can proudly say that I’ve written two novels during previous NaNoWriMos thanks to the discipline of showing up and writing daily. I remember days when squeezing out 500 words felt like pulling teeth—but then there were days where 3,000 words poured out like it was nothing. It all depended on the time of day, the scene I was working on, the mood, and sometimes even the soundtrack I had playing.

Speaking of soundtracks—I used to grab my laptop early Saturday mornings, drive to my parents’ house, sit quietly while my mom puttered around tidying things, and write while listening to good music. That uninterrupted space was gold.

The other day, I shared here that I found a couple of vinyl records that meant something to me—one of them being Please, Please Me by The Beatles. That album is tied to a very specific memory from when I was younger, and something about that nostalgia sparked an idea. One thing led to another, and I decided to fictionalize that memory—just for fun, just to see where it would go.

Fast-forward, and I now have about 5,000 words written from that seed of inspiration. I can’t pretend I’ve written every day—at best I’ve written “a day and a half” stretched across four days. But if I’m being generous, I could imagine I’ve averaged 1,000 words a day (who’s counting? besides NaNoWriMo purists).

My hope is to channel the same momentum I found in past years and use it to shake off some of the inertia and end-of-day fatigue. Maybe I can grow those 5,000 words into something meaningful. It’s November 4th, so still early days. If I keep going—not necessarily every day, but consistently—I think I’ll get there.

And I’m experimenting with a new way of writing that still feels honest, still feels like me , and doesn’t involve any AI… just my own voice and a slightly chaotic stream of ideas. I’m feeling good about what’s on the page so far.

So here’s to November, where I once again trick myself into thinking writing every day is totally reasonable, and somehow, improbably, end up doing it anyway.