NaNoWriMo Lite: Three Non-fiction Novellas

I’ve tried to do NaNoWriMo for years. For those of you who don’t know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It’s an organization that’s been around for quite a few years now, acting as a rallying call/support group for folks who attempt to write an entire (first draft) novel in one month, roughly 50,000 words. It’s a hefty task, averaging 1,667 words a day, and many fail on their journey.
The thought of writing a novel has allured me since my earliest days, when I wrote of Captain Litterbox, a very Captain Underpants-type hero who fought evil with . . . something? Not exactly sure what my line of thinking was.
Unfortunately for me, every single attempt at NaNoWriMo has fizzled out. Past attempts have included:
- A fantasy tragedy based on the love-life of a high school friend
- A mind-bending, theological fantasy romp through a Mars-like wasteland
- A rewrite of a screenplay I wrote in the wake of a much-needed breakup
- A series of short stories based on my experiences in Japan
And more. Every single one of these has run into serious roadblocks, largely because of three reasons: lack of time, lack of routine, and lack of internal motivation.
These are terrible reasons to not do the thing you want to do. But, every single past attempt has failed. In order to push past this daunting challenge, I’m starting a bit smaller. Maybe I can’t write 50,000 words of the same novel in a month. But can I write 15,000? Better yet, can I write 15,000 spread out among different pieces?
This is my goal for November 2019. I’m going to shoot for 500 words per day, around a variety of different topics and subject matter. Key to this endeavor is keeping the pieces non-fiction. In doing so, I’ll be able to fit my writing word-count to the needs of others around me. Some pieces I’ll save for the Learning Economy Medium Publication or website. Others I’ll nominate for publishing on Diplomatic Courier (I have a piece coming out early next week that I’m quite excited to share). Pieces that don’t fit into either of those will go here, on my personal Medium. Hence the title of this piece: “Three Non-fiction Novellas”. At the end of it all, I’ll group the pieces by subject matter and style, then do a custom print job for myself, as a bit of a memento of NaNoWriMo 2019.
Since last week, I’ve been working on waking up a good 2 hours earlier than usual in order to prep myself for November. In doing so, I’ll have 2 hours of extra time to write in peace.
I hope this strategy solves for my three roadblocks highlighted above. A shorter word count and earlier wake times give me ample time to write. A set time every day to write will help to establish routine. By “double-dipping” into writing for work and other responsibilities, I’ll add some external motivation and validation into the mix.
As I approach the 500th word, I feel relieved and excited. Relieved that there’s a chance I might not deal with yet another failure this year, and excited to prove to myself that I am a writer, and a competent one at that. Then maybe next year, I’ll finally be able to complete the 50,000 word challenge.
