Novel November Challenge

Today is the start of November 2025. I can't believe this year has just whizzed by so quickly. It's been a while since I've sat down and committed to writing a whole draft of my own.

I spent the last five months working on a super-long freelance project, writing teachers' guides for an educational publisher. I almost regretted committing myself to such a huge project and sacrificing the time I could have spent working on my own books. One thing I did gain from all this is the confidence that I can actually write something that is over 200 pages long, with over 100k words. I won't be writing any books that long for the time being, but I am sure I can write something half that length in a couple of months if I really wanted to.

Now that that's all wrapped up, I am challenging myself to finish the first draft of my chapter book in a new book series. Book 1 was finished in June, but I wanted to get Book 2 done as well, so there wouldn't be such a long wait in between releases. I've been preparing myself for this writing month. In September and October, I read a few books on novel writing, and I attended a workshop on novel writing using the three-act structure. These have helped a lot in my planning stages. Drafting Book 1 took a long time because I hadn't really done any of the prep work, and I took very long breaks in between writing each chapter. This time, I will be more focused and committed to actually finishing it in a month. November is a month when many writers commit to writing a novel. I tried this last year, but I couldn't last a week. This time, I am determined. To make myself accountable, I am sharing this blog post so that my goal is set and I have no excuses not to finish what I started. I'm also sharing my plan with you, along with the things I am going to give up, and habits I am going to start to keep a good momentum going. I will be reducing my social media usage, limiting social gatherings to one per week, and cutting out any other unnecessary distractions.

This is going to be my new daily schedule:

1. 7 a.m. Wake up (maybe 6 a.m. if I can manage it)

2. Bible reading and prayer for 20-30 minutes.

3. 7:45 a.m. Healthy breakfast (Fast on Fridays)

4. 8:30 a.m. Go for a walk for 30 minutes to get some fresh air.

5. 9:30 a.m. Write at least 1,000 words / write for two hours (with breaks)

6. 1 p.m. Lunch

7. Read for 30 minutes

8. 3 p.m. Write / edit

9. 4 p.m. Self-paced learning courses I've signed up for (illustrating / marketing)

10. 5 p.m. Catch up on emails and admin

11. 6 p.m. Dinner

12. 8 p.m. Wind-down / church ministries on Wed & Fri

13. Sleep by 11 p.m.

The weekends will be different as I have tutoring, church, and other commitments. Hopefully, I can stick to this or at least 70% of this schedule, with the times being a little flexible at times.

I'll be using the Pomodoro method, where you work non-stop for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break and start again for another 25 minutes. After three rounds, there will be a longer 15-minute break. I used this method while writing the teachers' guides, and it helped me a lot to stay focused. Check out https://pomofocus.io/ and set up your tasks so you can keep track of your progress and time spent.

If you would like to join me in this challenge, send me an email at yy@yychani.com, and we can create a support group with writing sprints, reminders, word count check-ins, and motivational messages. As a chronic procrastinator, I know I'm going to need a lot of support and motivation to kick my butt into action. Deleting all games, social media, and non-essential apps on my phone should also help minimise distractions. So I may be off the grid for a while. If you really need to reach me, please email me or send me a WhatsApp message if you have my number; I'll respond during breaks and mealtimes.