50,000 words? Yes, you read that right.

According to many college students, November is seen as the month before winter break and a nonstop month full of chaos, all-nighters, and straight up hell. That’s just with classwork. Once you add work, then it truly becomes more of a personal hell.

But somewhere along the way, you must find that healthy way to cope through all the stress. That’s what National Novel Writing Month did for me. The 50,000 words were not for class and it was not for a publication. It was, however, for two good causes - creativity and my mental health.

Writing 50,000 words for National Novel Writing Month was an opportunity to write outside the box and straight up embrace some weirdness in between papers, personal statements, and articles. It allowed me to get creative, develop worlds, and create characters from scratch. I got involved with National Novel Writing Month by participating first in 2015 and then the last two years, I became a Municipal Liaison, organizing write-ins to build support a community in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area. Sure, the amount of coffee I had and the lunches along the way cut into my bank account a little too deep at times, but it was worth it.

It allowed me to manage my time better and more efficiently. By setting up an hour or two each night on my planner to strictly write creatively, even if it was outlining, I was able to get creative. Writing a paper or personal statement can have touches and flair, but I think we live in a culture today, similarly to reading, where we have the mentality of “if it isn’t for a grade, then I won’t do it.”

This year especially I learned to find something separate from school - something you enjoy - and I found that within National Novel Writing Month. They now have a feature to continue your progress with goal trackers outside of writing month in addition to hosting the Camp versions in April and July where you get to create your own word count.

So what makes it so popular? You have a goal or set a goal for yourself and you write. It’s a simple idea, but writing while working towards a goal that you can set yourself is quite empowering. Creativity and power? Who would have thought?

I write papers for school, articles for here and work, and I write for school just all the time in general. Being able to write about crossovers that I need in my life with TV shows, road trips, and anything that either inspires me or makes my blood boil just makes my life complete.

Just like reading, we need to push more people to write for fun. Writing can lead to opportunities not just for professional purposes, but writing for fun can open your creative windows even more. It’s relaxing, helps hone in on what you genuinely want to write about, and you go from there. You can structure it or have it unstructured. Outlines or no outlines, word counts or no word counts.

Writing is a powerful tool that is meant for us to tell stories and expand our horizons. I’m not sure where that got lost along the way. All I know is that, especially from National Novel Writing Month, I knew for certain I was always going to be a writer and that was what I was passionate about.

Nothing feels better than reaching 50,000 words and winning National Novel Writing Month, but what you get from the experience is even better. Writing inspires me and I hope, in some capacity, writing can inspire you as well.