Eve of NaNoWriMo 2022

Just as humans young and more mature are getting ready to create some mischief in search of some candy tonight, writers are preparing to create some words in search of a story tomorrow. Hopefully, candy and mischief will be involved in their pursuit too.

National Novel Writing Month kicks off tomorrow, November 1st, and it’s a challenge I love dearly. Taking on NaNoWriMo the past five years has led me to writing just over 250,000 words, or the drafts of five different manuscripts. Three of those stories have been revised and two queried. Having the challenge to motivate me, to hold me to a deadline, and to know that so many other writers are doing the same thing at the same time has been one of my favorite things. Much as I reference ‘their’ pursuit in this November’s challenge, I really hope for it to be ‘our’ pursuit. I haven’t shared anything about my writing journey the past two months because I haven’t been journeying in my writing. So much of me has needed to be poured into the cup of my new role that there just hasn’t been any left to pour into this one. My family has been nothing but supportive of me in this new role and it would take a lot more than a few lines to thank them and tell them how grateful I am for that support. I appreciate them immensely and love the safe harbor we work to create for each other. Much as the demands of my new role haven’t changed and in some ways continue to pull more from me, I know I need to regenerate some of myself somewhere else. The call of NaNoWriMo and the pull of a new story might just be what I need to do so.

I’d spent a good chunk of time this year, somewhere around March through the beginning of summer, analyzing what stories I love and return to often. I wanted to identify the magic of each one so I could pull it apart and understand it better myself. During that pursuit, an idea for a fanfic came to me that captured me instantly. I’ve never written a fanfic before, never been caught by an idea for one honestly, but this one grabbed me so intensely that it’s been simmering in the background ever since. Actually, when I mentioned it my husband months ago, he challenged me to pull it apart and create an outline. I did that in about half an hour that same day. As I’ve been thinking of NaNo this year and talking over what I might do, the fanfic story continually nudges me. Taking on a fanfic, one in which I know the characters so well and care about them so dearly, might just be the project I need to ease back into my writer self. I don’t know that I’ll be able to complete the challenge this year, don’t know that I’ll be able to do the characters justice, but I do know that this story deserves a chance. So, with as much trepidation as there is joy, I truly hope that MS:TBS might be drafted this month. I also very dearly hope that whatever story idea you might be taking on this month comes to fruition in its very best form.

In case you haven’t been told today, you are more than enough.

With you in words, Nikole