My sister gave me a novel writing kit for Christmas. Ten years ago I started writing a young adult novel. My mentor critiqued my writing with such enthusiasm, complimenting the emotions expressed and felt as she read. I was unaware of how I had accomplished such literary genius, and eventually, after my semester class was over and the realities of adult life overwhelmed, I succumbed to laziness and put the writing aside. I haven't stopped buying writing prompt books, or listening to Natalie Goldberg and her lectures on writing, but actually writing has happened in sparse episodes, often years apart.
The kit, "No plot? No problem!", challenges the writer to complete a novel, albeit a rough first draft, in one month. Created by the founder of the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), the kit has you sign your life away to writing. It includes a contract to be signed by you and a witness, encouragement cards (one for each day of the month) to keep you in a positive mind set, and other tools to help you succeed in the challenge.
When I first looked through the kit, I said I would complete the challenge three times this year: once in January, once in May, and then again in November (the actual NaNoWriMo). Three novels in one year. It's the 19th of January, and I have one "okay" chapter written. I hate the way it ended, but no editing on the first draft. So what to do? Can I catch up? Should I change the one thing at the end of the chapter I've written so I atleast like where my story will go?
