Embracing November—Search: National Novel Writing Month

Adorned with burnished autumn leaves and spooky sentiments, the Virginia Tech campus is teetering on the edge of long-anticipated fall festivities such as Homecoming and Halloweekend. Lane Stadium mania, late-night shenanigans, and Spirit Halloween raids choke the air with anticipation, and despite it all, I can not help but mourn the artistic appeal of October… 

It glints through a canopy of red, orange, yellow, and green. It paints the seasoned bricks on Main Street, leaves coffee rings on the Collegiate Times. October hums to Hozier and Taylor Swift—soft chords and wistful tones trailing up like vapor. Much like the girl in red song, I feel October Passed Me By.

While the month of October is coming to a close, this does not necessarily mean an end to pumpkin-spiced lattes and bingeing Gilmore Girls (or in my case, Killing Eve). Instead, Blacksburg, VA will embrace new aesthetics. The cooler-toned, itchy cardigan, rings-on-all-my-fingers kind. Furthermore, there is a fast-approaching November festivity called National Novel Writing Month.

National Novel Writing Month, better known as NaNoWriMo, is the renowned virtual competition to write 50,000 words within the month of November. This breaks down to roughly 1667 words each day. 

English majors, aspiring authors, and writers alike use this competition to improve their world-building, character development, and figurative language techniques. In previous years, NaNoWriMo has encouraged me to prioritize my unfinished fiction projects.

This November could be your opportunity to finish an old, or begin a new, creative writing piece. I encourage all readers to drag out autumn…and consider embracing this new and challenging experience!