A Novella in Thirty-One Days

November is NaNoWriMo, the month where people vow to sit down at their computers and type a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I attempted it one year, getting about half-way through a novel called The Saints before I abandoned it. The next year I did not even attempt it. This year remains to be seen, considering that in previous years I had the luxury of unemployment to ensure I had ample time to write.

August is just another month as far as writing is concerned. I have decided, however, to devote this month to a creative exercise. Less ambitious than NaNoWriMo, but with an equally dismal emphasis on quality, I am aiming to write a novella in thirty-one days. Specifically, a 31,000 word novella, which requires that I write at least 1000 words every day for thirty-one days.

What will come of this? Well, my chief aim is to have something that I can call a completed work that belongs to me. Whether or not it's any good is not my primary concern, once it's finished I can always work on molding it later. Naturally, I am going to try to make it coherent and try to make it something that I can be proud of, but this is all secondary for the month. I am not a professional author, so I get to approach the whole thing with the enthusiasm of a hobbyist.

What results from it, I am eager to see.

So what will my blog consist of during these thirty-one days? Chapters? Nope, I don't plan to post the novella on my blog at this time. Instead, I want to try to use the month to focus on aesthetics, entertainment, art, and literature. In other words, less epistemology and ethics, more aesthetics, preferences, and examinations. Sprinkled throughout will be anything I happen to notice during my effort to produce something written and complete.

Of course, I'm sure I'll work the epistemology and ethics in there somehow.

EDIT: This did not come to fruition, but it did help me clear out my head.