Fear of other people reading the novel you write might be holding you back creatively. Let me point out that you don’t have to do that. It’s your novel writing month, not your novel sharing month.

I’m not philosophical enough to tell you whether a tree makes a sound if it falls in the woods and nobody hears it. But a novel you write – even one that nobody else ever reads – makes an impact. It makes an impact on you. It’s real, and the crafting of it is a real accomplishment. The only witness required is you.

The sad fact is, it’s depressingly hard to get other people to read any novel these days. I used to hand-sell books at farmers markets and street fairs, and the number of people who responded to me with “Sorry, I don’t read” was truly a bummer. I was like Jennifer Lawrence, flabbergasted by hot wings.

So if you’re afraid that when you finish writing a novel in a month, the people you told will be harassing you to let them read it? My sweet summer child, no.

First of all, you also don’t have to tell anyone you’re doing this. Your goal, your damn business. But if you have a spouse or a roommate or people who will definitely notice you’re doing it…

Yeah, they might (out of an abundance of love for you) ask to read it. Also, they might even be genuinely curious about it. Just tell them you want to edit it first. And once it’s not Some Weird Thing You Have Been Obsessed With For A Month, they will (likely) forget all about it.

Maybe it will stay unedited and unfit for mortal eyes forever. You aren’t obligated to do a novel editing month, or a novel submitting month, or a novel publishing month. It can just be a thing you did for the experience of it.

But you still need to actually write it to get that experience.

So open your draft and write.