Novel Challenge:
Do one writing task daily in November.
That's it.
What is Novelember?
Novelember is completing 1 writing task/day. It can be anything: idea generation, research, worldbuilding, etc. There is 0 pressure. Your goal could be to write one word per day!
Every writing task is part of creating your novel. Researching, crafting world and character, plotting, editing, and sharing are all part of the writing process, and they count toward a finished product.
Novelember is about having fun writing and celebrating each part of the process. Enjoy exploring your world and characters!
Novelember is about quality over quantity. Rushing, concentrating on only word count, can destroy quality. It can help you get words down, but there are other ways to spark your writing. After all, one of the first requirements of a novel is that you are writing about an idea you're excited about. Sometimes that takes some exploration. Sometimes characters require some chiseling to figure out their true selves.
Writing is not just for one part of the year. It's a year-round activity. Sometimes, though, you need to jump-start your novel.
That's where Novelember comes in. It's not about completing a novel in a month. It's about enjoying every dimension of writing a novel. It doesn't matter what part of the process you're at. It all counts.
Novelember is for people who haven't started their novel yet and need some inspiration. You can explore ideas; you don't have to jump right into your story. Discovering ideas is one of the most fun parts of writing.
Novelember is also for people in the middle of their novel, for example, and who want to work on the rest of it, perhaps finish it.
Novelember is for people who don't want the stress of deadlines. Sometimes they can help, but sometimes you don't have enough time to complete 50,000 words, for example. Life happens. That's ok. You can complete 1 writing task-- such as write 1 sentence, research 1 setting element, etc.
Novelember is for immersing in the writing process and enjoying it. Rushing can destroy the rhythm and flow of your writing. It can destroy your enjoyment. Sometimes, you just need to immerse in something. Create. Explore. Have fun.
Your writing goal can be anything. As long as you're doing 1 writing task/day. However, don't worry if you miss a day. The overall idea is to foster a writing habit. And any writing task counts. Sometimes, research can take the form of visiting a park and writing down a description of what you see. Many diverse things can count as writing. Because it is all part of the process which will end up in a finished product.
Your goal could be to write one sentence per day. In the end, you will have several paragraphs. Perhaps a short chapter. It may help you learn more about your character and world, and this will spark ideas for your novel's plot. Or perhaps you will find that writing some sentences inspires more sentences and they build off of each other and the novel takes off.
Part of writing is finding out what works for you. You can take this time to play with writing tools so you know how to use them once you start writing your novel in earnest. You can explore novel ideas, write potential scenes, research topics you're fascinated in. You'll learn the kinds of effects different techniques create, and you'll learn the kinds of tools you like and the ones you don't. Because every person has their own writing style. You can develop yours now.
You can use this marvelous month to begin your writing journey. Follow your inspiration wherever it takes you.
And share your journey, your discoveries, and snippets of your writing, if you like. Someday perhaps you will also reveal your finished novel!