So I love having projects. I love doing reading projects to challenge myself, and I
l o v e community-type projects because it excites me to be part of something that, without the internet, I wouldn’t even know existed.
Non-Fiction November is one of my favourite long-term reading projects and I’d really like to participate properly at some point (I half-heartedly tried last year), but November just isn’t that kind of month in my life. Which also always stops me from another project I’d really love to challenge myself with at some point: National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo.
Once again, as the end of October approached, I sat in front of my planner trying to tell myself I can fit something in, but it just isn’t going to happen. Again.
I’ve got exams galore in November, I have an important presentation coming up, and by far most important: the much alluded to thesis is due in January. The latter got me thinking, though…
I’m not making the progress I’d like to see on it, and actual panic is starting to kick in right now, so I’ve decided to take what for me is the positive essence of both Non-Fiction November and NaNoWriMo and use it as a little kick in the bum to get back to work.
So. NaNoWriMo for me essentially means writing where usually you’d just plan on writing, pouring out words without too much of a filter to finally do it. It in my case being this thesis, and this in my case being very much necessary to fight paralysing perfectionism.
Non-Fiction November is even more directly applicable to my situation, as I’ll take this month to put aside any other reading ambitions and fancies (besides the two fiction books I’ll have to read for school) and just read my damn research.
With those two focus points set for the month and a massive internet community doing kind of the same thing, I’m all ready for progress and productivity. And once again thankful for the existence of bookish projects for me to adapt and make my own.
zoe thinks 