What can happen in a year: Making an endgame.

With the end so near at hand, and with so few pieces left on the board, the execution of the final blows becomes the focus. For me, in my writing year, it feels good to know how the end gets played out before I start. The endgame, happening in the waning weeks of the year, must be the most productive, the most efficient and the final cadences of all projects.

However, it is only October. It is, of course, the end of October. So, that said, there are two months left in the year. Two months. But let's consider the two months that we have: November and December. The holidays, heavy at the end of November and December tend to get away from me, from everyone I suspect. So, I've always considered December a loss for getting work done and I have always used those halcyon days of winter to plan the upcoming year. And November? November for me has generally be the month to tie up all projects for the year.

This November is different. After a few conversations with my wife and some friends, I have decided to participate in National Novel Writing Month. For those not familiar, this is a program in which a writer endeavors to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Should this pace happen at a daily level, that amounts to 1,666 words a day, which is a respectable amount of work. Doing this program, all other loose ends for the year will not get the attention they need.

So, knowing how I feel about December and what I plan to do in November, my endgame happened in October. In fact, I had an ongoing list of things that I started to compile in August. I just worked on the list and now, I get to go into the next two months with a focused task and nothing hanging over me.

I believe writing, like just about everything else in life, should be broken down into small easily attainable parts. And with a long list of small easily attainable parts, the best course of action is to work the smallest ones first and then gain momentum for the larger.

Whatever happens to you in your writing year, I hope it's productive, lucrative and peaceful. And it isn't all three of those things, then at least two of them. Start with an outlandish goal, and then work toward that goal. Give yourself a deadline and just go, go. Just go.