One novel, one month. This is a task that would seem daunting to some. A term paper due at the end of the semester is cause for worry and stress for students, but a 293-page paper?
For others, like senior interactive media and graphic design major Xavier Gordon, this is an accomplishable feat, but requires long hours, as he told his American Literature class.
“100,000 words, just a few words short of it,” Gordon said of his book, TLS, which he wrote this past June. “In an average-sized print book, as I have it printed, it is 293 pages.”
“National Novel Writing Month,” also known as NaNoWriMo, inspired Gordon to write his own novel in a month. In November he succeeded in reaching a 50,000-word mark, but decided to challenge himself further over summer break.
Having achieved his goal in a hectic month like November, Gordon was assured that he could do more with his summer.
“The goal was to finish an average Young-Adult sized book, about 70,000-100,000 words, and I succeeded with 100,000,” Gordon said.
“The book is titled ‘TLS’, “ Gordon said. “Which is short for a character-dubbed title, ‘The Last Shot,’ which I found to be horribly boring and cliché on its own, so I just used the initials.”
The idea of the novel and the title came from this previous story, but Gordon’s book is definitely not.
“TLS” is about a futuristic society on a different planet, and how they adapt to their new environment,” Gordon said. “The book follows a champion of one of their favorite games, ‘Deadeye,’ in his third consecutive game.”
Gordon said that he spent the first few days of June plotting the story, and then wrote as much as he could each day, until the 27th.
“Then [I] proceeded to edit and proofread until the 30th, when I had it printed,” Gordon said.
Gordon plans on publishing his new novel in the future after pitching it to an agent, but it will be under the name of the character that tells the story. He will however, dedicate the book to “XEG,” his initials.
“I’ve written quite a lot of things in the past, but only finished to a standard of my liking two full-length novels.”
Gordon’s other novel, “Godchaser,” is about a young boy who turns into a werewolf and his trials and tribulations while trying to cure himself. This too, he is planning on continuing and publishing in the future.
“I’ve been writing since I was about five, and I can’t really explain why I do it … I just really love it,” he said.
