Elliot Kessler

This was a bit of a weird month for me. I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo this year but didn’t go into it with a plan. I decided I would use the month to focus on my novel and finish it.

I didn’t get it finished.

Every time I sat down to write, I would get a few words down, or even a few hundred words down, but then I would get distracted by some notion or impulse. I would constantly fall through internet rabbit holes, looking through articles, watching YouTube, and learning about completely pointless things that have nothing to do with my book. I got pulled back into my old hobby of making games while trying to get 50,000 words written in a month.

This month, I wrote less than 15,000 words in my novel. What happened?

For as long as I can remember, I constantly have had random obsessions over the most random things that last for about a week before they leave. I’ll get obsessed with a book, unable to put it down until I suddenly put it on my shelf unfinished and don’t touch it for a month. I’ll play a game for hours on end before putting it to the side, not ever playing it again. I’ll find some cool gadgets or software that I must have. I’ll watch videos and read about it until it’s finally in my hands. Then, I’ll toss it aside and never use it again.

While this is all associated with having ADD, that isn’t an excuse. I can control myself, but I don’t have the discipline to do it. I allow myself to become immersed in these things that other people are creating rather than creating my own. Or, I become obsessed with creating something that takes months or years to create, but I want to make it now.

These hobbies should remain just that: hobbies. The books I read, the games I play and make, and the cool gadgets must be on the back burner. I need to focus my energy on finishing the semester and writing my book, but I don’t. Instead, I focus on finding new things to obsess over. I look at things and skills with longing, wishing I could be as good as the guys I find on the internet.

But the truth is that I’m not. These people have been working on their crafts and skills for years, and I have been working on my own, which is writing and storytelling. I don’t need to focus all my energy on hobbies right now. I have a task I have assigned myself, a talent that God has given me, and I’m not doing anything with it. The books and articles I read aren’t to study and learn more about storytelling and the craft of writing a novel. They’re about the latest shows, films, and gadgets. That’s not what I need to be studying right now. I must study storytelling, do my best to understand how to write a good novel and do the work to get what I want.

I want to be a sci-fi novelist. I want to make my living churning out story after story, creating quality content people enjoy and are moved by. I’m not going to get there by learning how beat the final boss of “The Legend of Zelda.”

The moral of the story is this: if you have a destination, follow the map. Stay in the boat, and don’t chase after the sirens because they will swallow you whole. Maybe that metaphor doesn’t make sense. If you have a goal or a dream, chase after that dream and don’t take any detours. If you want to be an author, don’t study to become a game developer. If you want to be an actor, don’t attend medical school. Focus on your craft and not someone else’s.

I hope my first experience with NaNoWriMo will help you with your novel-writing experience or any other goals you are trying to reach. I will probably be participating in NaNoWriMo again next year. In the coming months, I will do my best to focus as much energy as possible to finish the first draft of my novel before taking a break. During my break, I will work on this blog and maybe indulge in my hobbies.

I know yesterday I said I would review the first two episodes of “Willow” because they were released today, but I found that I did not have the time to watch them. But I will do my best to review them tomorrow!

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.