Yes, I am one of those people who saddles up in November to draft a novel, in a month, with NaNoWriMo. It’s a terrific way to circumvent all those annoyingly reasonable excuses for doing other, much more practical things, like laundry and work that actually pays. I’ve done it for two years now and (looks aside modestly) won both times. All that means, of course, is that I’ve managed to pump out a surprising amount of text in a surprisingly short time. As someone who sometimes over-thinks their writing (do I really need that comma?), I liked that. I liked it so much, in fact, that I decided to run my own version of the challenge in May, for short stories.
Short Story Writing Month, a.k.a. ShoStoWriMo
— The goal? To draft a lot of short stories. Thirty stories. In a month.
— The rules: No rules, just writing. Ok, I decided to cut myself some slack and only write on workdays, but whatever works, right?
How did it go? Quite well, actually. Nothing like impossible goals, caffeine-fueled enthusiasm, and a complete lack of editorial criticism to finish a draft.
Would I recommend this exercise? Definitely. Obviously, I’ve still got lots of editing work to do, but I’m not looking at a blank page anymore. Awesome. And while NaNoWriMo is satisfying, there’s something truly terrific about starting and finishing a draft in a single day.
J.R. Johnson 
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