My husband announced this morning over breakfast that it’s National Novel Writing Month.
My son asked, “I wonder what other Month it is?”
As it happens, it’s National Health Blog Posting Month.
My husband said it would be better to get a novel out of a month’s work than a handful of blog posts.
I agree. It would be nice to produce a novel in only one month. It would be nice if a five star restaurant could produce a three-course meal in the time it takes the local McDonald’s to prepare a quarter pounder with cheese. By the way, I love McDonald’s quarter pounders with cheese. I don’t always love a three-course meal. I only love a three- course meal if it is thoughtfully prepared, and the ingredients are in season.
I recently read a how-to book on writing in which the author insists that writing is all about sitting down and producing something imperfect. Her theory explained a lot. For quite a few years now, this author has been a mystery to me. I loved the first novel of hers that I read. It was brilliant. I gave my mother another of her novels as a birthday present, thinking I’d discovered this amazing voice. Later, I read the novel I’d given as a gift, and found it lackluster. Since the author’s one novel was so good, I tried her memoir. The memoir was raw and honest and gorgeous. So I tried another novel. Again, not so good.
I’m glad to have read this author’s how-to book, since it explains her inconsistencies. Every day, the woman gets in front of her computer and writes something imperfect. Sometimes she’s inspired. Sometimes she’s on the clock. I can’t judge her harshly for having a decent work ethic. She depends on her writing to pay her bills.
Thankfully, I don’t.
I don’t write for deadlines. I don’t write for money. I don’t write because it’s November/National Health Blog Posting Month/National Novel Writing Month. I write because the pressure of an idea compels me.
Writers have to remember that readers don’t care about deadlines. Readers don’t care that it’s November/National Health Blog Posting Month/National Novel Writing Month. They care about your ideas. But only if you care about them, too.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health
posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J