Novel-tea: learning to write for myself

As an English major, Tartan editor, and overall nerd, I quite literally live and breathe writing. I churn out essays like there’s no tomorrow, spend multiple hours contemplating punctuation, and surprisingly enjoy writing bibliographies completely by hand. I truly do love it, but somewhere along the way I got lost in academia. I began to see writing as merely a means to an end — a career skill, a midterm grade, a cover letter — rather than something I actually enjoyed doing.

That was until a couple nerds and I decided to write a poem a day, everyday, this summer. The perfectionist in me was forced to take a backseat, and I was just writing for the fun of it. It became something I eagerly looked forward to: spending a chunk of time everyday actively experiencing my thoughts but also just relishing in silly creativity. I wrote some decent poems and some really horrible ones, but for once it was just for the sake of doing it.

The reason writing can be so cathartic, especially in the modern era, is that it forces you to be alone with your thoughts. Just you and a blank page. I, like many people, seek out escapism, often filling my little spare time with TikToks, movies, and music. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it makes my life feel claustrophobic.

This semester, once I plunged back into classes, I forgot everything I learned this summer. I write all the time, yet somehow feel more distanced from myself. It became a means again, rather than a place for me to just exist.

So, last week, when one of my friends brought up “NaNoWriMo” or National Novel Writing Month, I was ecstatic. The concept is simple: write an average of 1667 words every day of November (30 days) and by the end of the month you will have a book of at least 50,000 words. While it is daunting, and I don’t expect to complete it (especially given the fact that I have only completed one day’s worth of writing), the month reminds me that writing is more than a means.

In a way that few others have been able to, writing challenges like “NaNoWriMo” encourage me to be more intentional with my time and my brain. Allowing myself to let my thoughts be, rather than become constantly consumed by media or homework.

My hope is that by reminding myself that I have the power to choose what I spend my time on, I will choose myself for once.