NaSiWoShoStoMo

I look like an idiot. The weatherman said that it would be sunny today, and as a result I decided to bring my sunglasses with me, hanging from my neck. But, of course, the weatherman lied! It has been cloudy and gross all day, and here I am with my shades. You might ask "why don't you just take them off and put them in your bag?" My answer: that would be accepting defeat. I prefer to deny and defy defeat by carrying my sunglasses with me. That way the statement I send is "it's supposed to be sunny, and it damn well had better be sunny" as opposed to "it was supposed to be sunny, but it's not so I'm putting my sunglasses away."

Now that I got that out of the way, I had something to talk about, but I forgot. I really need to write down and/or tweet haikus as soon as I think of them. Here's something I randomly thought of just now.

One thing that a large number of people tend to do in November is the NaNoWriMo. The challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. That equates to a little less than 2000 words per day. There is no reward other than self-satisfaction and being able to accomplish something huge. Sadly, quantity is valued over quality though, and as a result- the novels are likely not very good from many people (no offense). It's still a large accomplish, but if you want to write a novel you should not need a competition to inspire you to do it, and you certainly shouldn't rush to finish it. John Updike, a professional writer (well, he's dead now), used to write 3 pages a day. For this competition, one would be writing more pages per day than someone who made his living writing. This is not to say that I'm against the competition, no- I just feel that if you are serious about writing a novel you should not need a competition as such. I would also like to suggest a competition for those who are not as Carpal-Tunnel-y inclined:

50,000 words?
Why not try to write for "Six
Word Short Story Month"?


That's right. I suggest that rather than writing a 50,000 word novel, you put that effort into writing a super epic, high-quality six-word short story. It would equate to writing about a letter every day or two. There would be such suspense to it: You sit down at your computer, and you have to choose. What will it be for today? A vowel? A consonant? Perhaps both?! (crazy talk, I know). This option is much more suitable for someone who favors quality over quantity, or who is lazy, or has a really short attention span. And trust me, when the month is through- you would probably be much more proud of an absolutely unmatchable short story than you would for 50,000 lukewarm words.