Every year I take on NaNoWriMo and its 50,000 word challenge, and every year I don't even make a dent in that goal.
Maybe it's the fact that I have a preschooler and a preteen.
Maybe it's that I work a full time job and tutor on the side.
Maybe it's that you can't "force" creativity.
Maybe it's that I don't get enough sleep at night.
Maybe it's that I am my own writer's block.
I think that last statement might be the correct option. We are often our own creative blockers. We let all of the "stuff" of life get into our heads and take up space. I've written about my anxiety struggles on this blog, and, let me tell you, they are absolutely a creativity blocker! Lately I've been so preoccupied with the uncertainty around me that I haven't had the space my characters need to breathe, much less to live out their extraordinary lives. My mind has been filled with unexpected changes at work, with my children's struggles, with the illness of a family member, with to-do lists for my community commitments. How in the world do I expect to hear my characters if I can't even hear myself for all the jumbled noise?
What I've come to realize is that NaNoWriMo isn't actually a goal. It's a space. A space that focuses me for the month of November, at least as best it can when combating my raging anxiety. This one month of the year is focused on creativity. So what if I don't get 50,000 words of a novel written? If I get 1000 words, I've probably written more than I would have without this focus. Indeed, November is the month when "busyness" really starts ramping up. What a perfect month to try to focus, to be quiet, to let others speak.
So this November, I encourage you to take part in NaNoWriMo, even in an unofficial capacity. If you write one haiku every other day during the month of November, you've brought that much creativity into the world. Good for you. If you write your 50,000 words, remarkable--you've created new life. If you write 100 words and get swept up in the swirling world around us--great job! You found time. Maybe not the time you wanted, but time nonetheless.
I'll be keeping myself honest here and on www.nanowrimo.org. My goal? Write more. And I have a sneaking suspicion that if I do that, I'll quiet my mind and my life a bit too.
