By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

The Story Bureau.
By David Joel Miller.

NaNoWriMo has come and gone.

I made it through another NaNoWriMo. For those of you are not familiar with NaNoWriMo, it’s an event held every year in November in which aspiring writers, largely novelists, attempt to write a book which is at least 50,000 words during November. That works out to 1,667 words per day.

There is something about the discipline of writing every day, which results in producing a lot more work. That manuscript is certainly not a finished product. But, as I’ve learned over multiple attempts at writing a book, it’s okay to write a less-than-perfect first draft. As I’ve also learned, I need a first draft before I can do the revisions and the editing. It’s impossible to edit blank pages.

Writing a book in one month is a lot like eating Thanksgiving dinner.

After being so productive in November, I came away with the firm intention of writing something for my next novel every day. That lasted exactly one day. Like being stuffed after a large family meal, writing that many words every day, left me depleted and frankly groggy. After the large family meal, you still need to clear away the dirty dishes and deal with the leftovers.

While I was busy writing my first draft during November, a lot of other things happened, which now needs to be cleaned up. At the start of NaNoWriMo, I had blog posts scheduled for over a month into the future, but now I am back to refilling the blog hopper. There is, of course, finals week coming up for the classes I teach at the college, and that means exams and papers to grade and submitting those grades to the college.

While writing that first draft lie project of producing videos for the counselorssoapbox YouTube video channel has been on hold also. I plan to get back to creating videos in the new year, but right now, I’m going to need a long nap to recover from my binge writing.

I’ve had to redefine productivity. I’ve learned to forgive myself for not writing every day if I’m practicing my top three core values. For those of you who haven’t heard about those values, psychologists think we all have specific core character strengths. My top three are 1. Love of learning, which includes writing and teaching. 2. Curiosity, always wanting to learn something new. 3. Creativity, which includes a great many of the things I do every day. So rather than saying I must write a certain number of words every day, I am challenging myself to spend time every day practicing those three strengths.

The novel I wrote during NaNoWriMo, titled Story Bureau, is a dystopian, post-apocalyptic action-adventure. If all goes as scheduled, Story Bureau will be published sometime during 2020. I will let you know how the book does as it progresses. If you’d like to know more about Story Bureau or might be interested in being one of those early beta readers, contact me, and I’ll put you on the list for chances to read Story Bureau before it is published. Having some people read a book before it’s published helps the author make corrections and revisions before the book ends up out in the world.

How was your November?

So far, I haven’t heard much from the other writers who participated in NaNoWriMo, though from reading the forums, it would appear a lot of people did complete their books during November. And even more people made that first start, which eventually will turn into something.

Whether you participated in NaNoWriMo or were doing something else during November, I need to ask, were you successful in reaching your goals? Did your activities during November reflect your core strengths and virtues?

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!

My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.

Story Bureau.

Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.

Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.

As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.

Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.

Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.

Planned Accidents  The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.

What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?

Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.

For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller

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For videos, see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel