Monday, Nov. 1—exactly a week ago at the time of writing—I sat down with my laptop, a vague idea and outline for a novel, and began to type.

I wasn’t alone in doing so.

If you haven’t heard of it before, November is National Novel Writing Month. Started in 1999 with a small group of friends, the program has expanded into, well, a national event and organization, and has inspired thousands of people across the country, who in turn host workshops, events, and share their experiences on the NaNoWriMo website. The basic requirements are pretty simple: 50,000 words of one novel, all written in the month of November—you can’t start before Nov. 1, and you can’t still be working on it after midnight on Nov. 30.

I first heard of NaNoWriMo last year, when a fellow Scrippsie asked me if I was doing it. (I must just give off that writer vibe, or something. It was a little random.) I wasn’t, but I did make a mental note to try again this year. Over the summer, I even signed up and made an account on the official website, where you can do such things like upload your text, explain the plot of your novel, and chat with other writers.

It sounds simple—sure, 50,000 words is intimidating, but it’s only 1,667 words a day, which is about three pages single-space which is a chunk of writing, but also really not that hard… right?

Of course, after about two days, I found it a little hard to continue. I think I have near 4,000 words right now, which is a shame because I have found myself having the urge to write often, but needing to do homework or go to work instead. This is something I’ve experienced often; once I start myself practicing creative writing, I really enjoy it and want to continue…but then my other responsibilities get in the way. I’m still hoping to get close to the 50,000 words, even though I’m sorely off-track.

Even if I don’t complete NaNoWriMo this year, it has already served as inspiration and motivation to write more than I usually do (even if it’s only 4,000 words more), and has pushed me to think creatively past short stories to something more challenging. I’ve never even come close to writing 50,000 words before in my life, but if I want to be a writer… well, I’ll probably have to some day.

Writing this much, and finding the motivation to do so amid a (very) busy college schedule involving classes, a part time job, an internship, writing for two publications, and being editor of a campus magazine, is something I need to learn to do more on my own. This ties into the theme of many of my posts this semester, that have to do with me looking towards my future and figuring out what could help me get to where I want to—even if it’s something little that I can’t necessarily put in a resume. A knowledge of book critics, their work, and the overall contemporary fiction is necessary for book reviewing; being familiar with the publishing world will probably help me in publishing;… along those lines, writing a lot, even if it’s just rough words on paper, and making the time to do so is necessary for being a writer. Although my personal aspirations are quite specific, I hope that other students reading these posts—no matter what field they want to go into—will be inspired to look towards what goals they have and figure out the small changes they can do to help give them succeed, and succeed well.

P.S. Wish me luck!