In my everlasting search for living and not just
existing, I have decided to participate in something that every single friend
of mine who knows how much I love to write has (and knows what this month-long
event is) has encouraged me to do. I have always made excuses, ranging from
“It’s too hard” to “It’s the beginning of the holiday season! Do you know what
that means to anyone that is a manager in the retail/food industry?!” (Insert a
shrill sound of panic for that last one.)
However, this year, I have decided to not only do
it, but to commit to it openly and to talk about it. I usually keep what I
consider to be personal commitments to myself. Partially because of my intense
fear of failure, but mostly because as soon as you admit to committing to something
others may not understand, all the negativity comes out. “Well why would you
want to do that?” “It just sounds hard and you probably won’t finish.” “Aren’t
you just adding a lot of unnecessary stress to an already incredibly stressful
time?” (Again, shrill sound of panic.)
So, in the effort of not only committing to
something openly and putting my possible failure out there for all to see, I am
also jumping ahead of the negative people who will hear what I am doing and
say: “Go share your Haterade with someone else.” (Or possibly
something with some expletives, depending on the level of pessimism.)
I will not let anyone’s negativity or questioning
of my ability to do this deter me from what I am going to do. If I can’t
finish, then that’s ok because getting out there and trying is half the battle.
Therefore, if I die in battle, at least I will have gone down with some
dignity!
Ok, I know, the suspense must be killing you. What
is this great thing I am doing that I am committing to so openly and
vehemently?
NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH.
AKA: Novel November
AKA: Write 50,000 words of a novel from November 1
to November 30.
AKA: Write almost 2,000 words per day…
AKA: Write almost 2,000 words per day in a genre
in which I am not completely comfortable nor have any idea for a plot or
characters or theme or setting or…
AKA: I AM ALREADY STARTING TO FEEL THE STRESS!!
(Just kidding. It’s more like excitement…I think…)
Ok, I
need to breathe.
Why, you may ask, am I going to do this?
Well, mostly because I want to do something that
will push me mentally and creatively. I spend a lot of my time supporting my
friends in their creative endeavors, but rarely do I ever push myself to do the
same. I am always encouraging others to do the things they love and go after their
dreams, but I have noticed recently that I have trouble doing the same thing
for myself. This is the first big step to doing this.
I also have to say that I am making an effort to
do things that are outside of my comfort zone. I am taking a Country Line
Dancing class (don’t worry, there is a post forthcoming about that) and trying
out some new classes at the gym, but mentally there is very little that I have
done since college to push the boundaries and see what I am truly capable of.
The best part? This costs me nothing but time. It
may mean that my DVR will be working on overtime (Wait? I can’t watch as much
TV??? I may need to back out now…) or that I can’t spend every evening off at
karaoke (Ok…now I’m really rethinking this whole bit…), but as long as I make a
plan and stick to it, I know that, at the end of November, whether I hit the
goal of 50,000 words or not, at least I gave it my all.
However, if How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang
Theory, Two Broke Girls, Law and Order: SVU, or any other of my favorite shows
gets cancelled, I’m never going out of my comfort zone again!
Now I have one month to figure out what the hell I’m
going to write about for 30 days, 2,000 words a day.
