Unexpected Plans: NaNoWriMo 2022
Due to the influx of stressors through the past few months, I had planned to intentionally avoid the commitment of participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this year. However, due to the fact that writing is my primary substance to live through and my first edition Scrivener is officially out of date while I find myself actively unemployed, and out of school, it’s hard to refuse the challenge that promises a 50% discount on Scrivener and the first 50,000 creative words I’ve written in a year that weren’t purely emotionally driven (See Poetry). Perhaps it may even lay the framework for my ability to edit the first novel in my debut series which I have written and re-written for the past two NaNoWriMo’s. An additional challenge/incentive is that I’ll be working with only what remains of my free trial of Scrivener. Instead of 30 days for 50,000 words proposed, I’ll have less than 14 days to complete the challenge to attain access for the continued use of the writing software.
Last year I was able to win in 16 days. Granted that was in the process of re-writing a story I was extremely familiar with at that point. I don’t think this is an impossible feat, also considering that the first year I won was almost on accident. All I did was commit to writing every day and checking in with a group each week, to see that I did. Once I got to the final week I was too close to 50,000 words not to follow through with its completion. Last year, I took advantage of writing sprints* with a group on Facebook where I was able to easily write around 4,000 words per session. Thus, if I allow myself to popcorn, take even more advantage of the practice of sprinting, and continuously remind myself of the time crunch, risks, + rewards, I think I can do it.
For this year’s challenge, I don’t plan to revisit this manuscript for a third time. Instead, there are a few paths I’ve been considering:
Option 1 - A story I have been brainstorming for three or more years now and which I intend to be a followup to my debut series: An urban paranormal fantasy that centers around ghost hunters and witches. I had put off writing this series feeling that I had yet to gain the experience as a writer and a person to do it justice. Since I don’t see myself sticking to any certain niche for very long, this would likely be my one and only ghost hunter-esque series. I want to do it justice. Having grown quite a bit in the last few years and gaining a little clarity, I do feel prepared to start dabbling at least on a first draft to get this series going, and with horror recently reigniting a passion in my heart I’ve been quite excited to begin exploring this series and these characters actively again. This would be an exciting story to produce as well as psychologically explorative as I consider the meaning and presentation of the paranormal and its contribution to the relationships and mental diversity of the characters within.
Option 2 - A prequel to my debut series that focuses on Uncle Leo’s origin story. This story is exceptionally relevant to where I have ended up in my own life. I love this, not just because I have suffered in ways similar to one of my favorite characters I have written so far, but because Instability as a whole series began due to my need to explore and cope with traumas I went through before. These were events that I thought would be the most influential on my life moving forward. While that is true, and they were, the story certainly didn’t end there, and it was naive of me to assume that was the worst of it. Life goes on and suffering is not static. Thus, exploring recent events while contributing to the same world that has already aided in my recovery seems like a good way to go. To see first hand just how my dearest Leo suffered and began his own recovery journey prior to the drama of Instability.
Option 3 - An entirely fresh story idea based on a recent cascade of dreams and characters I’ve been seeing repeatedly. This story is setting up to look like an Adult Paranormal Thriller of sorts that follows a female lead as she revisits her parents sudden disappearance in light of her resulting guardian’s recent and unexplainable death. I like this one because it’s so fresh and exciting since it has the potential to explore some of my actual phobias. Also, since it’s new there’s no pressure for it to work up into an actual publishable piece, unlike the others which I have fleshed out and committed to.
Option 4 - Popcorn between these options, as well as any other ideas that arise, as a means of refueling my creative writing process and get the words in through more sporadic means. Which would be on brand for my mental health at the moment: A little here, a little there.
As foreshadowed above, I’m leaning greatly towards Option 4, just for sake of reducing the risk of writer’s block and the stress that induces. Regardless of which option I choose, I’m hoping to not only produce more content to work into my business plan moving forward or purchase my familiar writing software at a reduced price, but also to be able to confidently re-commit to the creative process by which I’ve chosen to live my life through.
These are the current happenings as far as my writing goes this October. Mostly, exploring these ideas and avoiding opening Scrivener at all costs until November’s kickoff. For more information on anything mentioned above you can follow the links I’ve imbedded or reach out to me through my contact page or socials listed above**. If you’d like to know when I make updates to my sites or any exclusive happenings you can sign up for my mailing list and/or check back periodically. Finally, if you’re participating in NaNoWriMo yourself, feel free to buddy me so we can cheer each other on!
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*Writing sprints: writing without edit for a set amount of time with breaks between repetitions
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