This year, I join fellow writing enthusiasts in re-imaging writing milestones and habits.

Take away the ubiquitous moniker, the brand deals, the wide community appeals… And what do you have? Let’s even take away the numbers: 50,000 or 1667. Ignore even 1000 words.

Without all that, what do you have?

A blank page, an open screen, or an untouched notebook. What we have in 2024 is the gift of potential. We can harvest from the resources that we have planted and tended to for more than a decade now!

It is akin to a clear table, waiting to be filled by what we desire and surrounded with whom we want. So, what can we do with this creative impulse during this November?

I argue that a creative impulse is an action that is currently in motion. You already have that impulse running through you, there is already a desire TO write. Long-term habits are currently part of the impulse, so let that be the beginning spark of fire to your dreams.

And let’s finally release the abstractness of “goals”. Smart and SMART goals are actually measurements, not the totality of a dream. Let us, instead, invite ourselves to be honest with our own intentions for writing.

For example, I am releasing myself from a monogamous writing pattern. Sit down to write one novel, and only just one novel? My dearest ones, I’ve been hiding in plain sight for a long time. I’ve never simply wrote only one novel. There is a notepad with poetry, a journal with personal essays, a composition book hiding an attempt at a romance, this blog of course, and a binder with scripts that I’ve been plotting out.

That’s right.

I’m the writer equivalent of a laundry list poem.

I am the run-on sentence.

And this is why I am excited for this November. It’s not about the numbers nor completing one project. I am finally learning to manage my self and my own creativity. Will I be able to complete all those things within the month? Heavens no!

What I can do is to understand my limits and manage my expectations. Sunday is Writing Group, which means I dive into the novel. Wednesdays must be for blogging, as it has helped a lot for the past year. That leaves me with five days to fit in what works. Those days I can fill with my favorite things. Ex. poems, scripts, and something a little too hot for me that I need regular breaks from.

And that is okay. In fact, I feel great about being honest about who I truly am as a writer. This creative table in front of me will be messy and chaotic. I welcome others to have sit down writing sessions with me. Just don’t expect me to focus, that is hard. Oh, and my cat will get on the table and I will accept it.

Your table will look different, and that is also okay. If I’m invited to another’s creative table, I have a tidy project to bring along. I will enjoy new rules and tables because those experiences provide insight. Maybe I should reconsider the run-on prose and reattempt a villanelle. A tidier table may inspire me to tidy up my projects as well.

However you choose to fill your month, remember that creative impulse pairs well with personal intent and community interaction. Will you invite others to your table, and what do you hope they receive from your hosting?

Join me next week as I dwell on mingling tradition in a novel way.