Today marks the beginning of nanowrimo, in which thousands of aspiring authors will attempt to pen or type out an entire novel over the course of 30 days. I have mixed feelings about this.
Having just finished a non-fiction spiritual book, I know that I need to jump into the next book head on to continue my forward momentum. Yet, I don't feel dead set on any particular idea that fits the "nanowrimo" goals of 50,000 words or more. Thus far, I've followed my gut instinct on which stories my soul absolutely needs to tell first.
The first book I completed last year was a children's story. It started out as a Grimm fairy tale, devolved into a picture book, and then took on the full fledged likeness of a short chapter book meant for about age eight. After I finished, I set it aside and searched out the next most meaningful thoughts that needed to emerge. On the other end of the spectrum, it felt like it was time to write about my experiences with the terminally ill as a collection in a non-fiction book.
My taste in writing seems to follow the same path as my reading habits. I read more when I allow my mind to jump back and forth from wildly different genres rather than sticking to one favorite. Now, I sit pondering over forcing my mind into writing that environmental sci-fi novel brewing for the past four years or the dark sci-fi novel set that's been seeping in the rear kettle.
While those ideas are a little tantalizing, the idea burning away at my brain is a half finished picture book meant to be the first in a bilingual book series; screaming to be written, read out loud, and sent to my illustrator.
Halloween night, after watching Supernatural's Monster Movie episode on Netflix with fellow writer, Sammie Ann Fontaine, the laughter drew the truth out of me. I voiced my dislike of feeling restricted. I wanted to exercise that writing muscle back into shape by writing every day, but shoving myself into someone else's specially designed box felt too stifling and left me floundering and indecisive.
Together we worked out a plan to each spend at least an hour writing every day during the month of November to get ourselves back into the swing of things. She's also the one who suggested heading out to the library, not for the first time either. While it took a incredibly disturbing amount of effort to pull myself out of my own head space to get out of the house and into the library, I'm eternally grateful I did.
At home, we have crafts and birthday presents all over the living room where I normally do most of my writing. My mind immediately gravitated towards creative activities I could be doing or sewing projects that needed to get done. Walking into the kitchen prompted me towards any dishes that need doing. And my computer, well, let's just say Guild Wars 2 is calling every time I look at it. The bed tells me I should be folding laundry... You get the point. Obviously, I won't get any writing done at home today.
So, if you're one of those eager writers plugging away this month, make sure to give yourself a little nook somewhere that your mind can flow freely over your story ideas uninhibited by the drone daily life. Feel free to make your own goals for this month and freestyle it. I suggest picking whatever seems the most pressing and work towards finishing it before jumping onto the next idea. Just remember, writing is more like a lifestyle change rather than a quick dieting fix.
What are you guys working on this month? Anyone taking on the NaNoWriMo challenge or a challenge of their own?
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