NaBloPoMo vs NaNoWriMo

It's almost November. This is really hard for me to wrap my head around. Obviously this has to do with not having a job and staying in a warm climate, but I'm still stuck in September.  I go to bed thinking it's a Wednesday in early September and wake up to Halloween Eve.  This is the most free time I've had since my homeschooling years and I do love it, but I'm starting to feel the need for some structure. That being said, November 1st marks the beginning of two different month long writing exercises.

The first, NaNoWriMo (or National Novel Writing Month) is exactly what the name implies: write a 50,000 word (or 175 page) novel by November 30th.  This sounds like a thrilling and frustrating process and it has been my life long goal to write a book.  Not to say that what I would write in this time would be publishing material but just knowing I could write a book start to finish would be a huge step in my goals.  However, this is a big commitment and pretty overwhelming to jump right into.

The second, NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) is very popular and requires you post ever single day to your blog.  This sounds more doable and yet still valuable in forcing me to write every day.  However, posts can be short and frivolous and I'm not so sure this is the best step in my writing path.

Neither of these exercises require profound work; in fact, they emphasis the fact that much of the content will be bad.  These are quantity not quality exercises and I think that's important for writers starting out. Sometimes the hardest part about writing is just getting content onto a page.

Either way, I only have a day or so to decide in my search for more structure and inspiration.  Expect updates soon.