Joining the National Novel Writing Month Challenge

I joined the throng of writers for the National Novel Writing Month competition for November 2013. I heard of it last year late in November but it was too late to do the challenge. This time, I was determined to challenge myself.

This challenge is a way of making you stay focused on writing. You have to write, write, write, every day until you reach your goal of 50,000 words at the end of November. When I have a certain goal staring at me every day, I am forced to do something about it. The challenge is to finish a 50,000-word novel in a month. That means you have to write an average of 1,667 words a day. 50,000 words is no small feat but if you break it down to a daily count, it is quite attainable. I have written essays of 1,667 words or more but a story of 50,000 words is a bit of a challenge in a month’s time and you have to write daily. This is where I have to stay focused on my story. My brain has to work constantly on my story but I’ll still have to try to blog also when I have a free time. The reason for this exercise is to get you in the habit of writing every day.

I had an idea on what to write before the clock rolled in on the night of Oct. 31 at 12:01 AM. Putting it on paper was another matter and 50,000 words were a lot of words in a month. I started writing on Nov. 1^st when I woke up. Early morning is the best time of writing for me when the house is very quiet and I am all alone with my thoughts. So on Day 1, I typed in 1,742 words. Not a bad start. Yesterday I put in 1,983 words for a total of 3,725 so far. We’ll see what happens next.

So cheer me on. I need some encouragement from my friends.

If you missed the free promotion of my book on Oct. 20, 2013, you can still borrow “BAHALA NA (Come What May)” at Kindle Lending Library anytime.