Don't Just Sit There -- Write Something! (In 30 Days)

We're a day into November and I nearly neglected to mention that we're now 24 hours into three consecutive "Get off your keister and write something, dammit" events!  All three of these month-long exercises have one thing in common -- they each encourage you to put pencil to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and get that spark of creativity splashing across the page. With the self-imposed deadline of 30 days, it motivates the brain to stop frittering about with minutiae and get your Great Work out into the public eye. Here's a quick summary of each event:

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) -- The grand mack-daddy of writing events. We each have a Great American Novel burbling inside us. Well, NaNoWriMo encourages you to get it out. In 30 days, you must write a 50,000-word novel. It doesn't have to be good or even make sense. But if you're able to get 50,000 words on paper in one month, you can prove to yourself that you are capable creating that masterwork. You have accomplished what others have only dreamt of -- you wrote a damn BOOK.

National Game Design Month (NaGa DeMon) -- For the game designer in all of us, NaGa DeMon encourages you to create that board game, fantasy heartbreaker RPG, RPG supplement, card game, video game, 40-level dungeon delve, anything you desire. The trick is that you have to write it and play it within 30 days. C'mon, you must have a game you've considered creating. How about that RPG adventure you think would entertain and/or freak out your players? This is the time to get it out there and play it! (And possibly get it into the hands of the public as well!)

National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) -- If you'd like to stay online for your writing efforts, NaBloPoMo encourages you to post every day for the 30 days of the month. It doesn't matter what you say, just that you say it. The philosophy is that the more you do something, the better you get at it. So, to become a better writer/blogger, you need to break down the barriers between thinking about writing and actually doing it. So fill your blog with 30 daily posts during November!

At some point, I have participated in all three. I've written two novels, created three RPG supplements, and had one month of daily blog posts. Each one has proven to me that I'm capable of great creativity. We all are. So, as Wil Wheaton says, "Get excited and make things!"

P.S. My participation in 2011 in a combination NaNoWriMo/NaGa DeMon project will directly result in tomorrow's Big Announcement. Stay tuned!