NaNoWriMo? No. NYNoWriMo!

Or, why does it have to be November?

Hey friends!

I would say something charming about why you haven’t heard from me in a while, but if you already know me, you already know why: it’s Fall. In all ways, Autumn is the time when my life gets the weirdest. But Fall is passing us quickly, and here we are on the last day of Preptober, staring into oncoming winter, and I’m thinking:

Maybe it’s time to write a novel.

Okay obviously this isn’t the first time I’ve thought that. I’ve tried it. I have BEEN trying it. But—I don’t know if you know this—novel writing is hard. Or, at least, it’s overwhelming. There are a lot of moving parts and pieces that I’m not positive about, and I get into the weeds so quickly. Is my story complex enough? Do the characters stay in character the whole time? What’s the motivation? Who are these other people and why are they demanding to be included in the text? Is there a King? Do I really want to write a King?

It’s all a lot, and by it I do mean the overthinking.

I’ve always thought NaNoWriMo (or, for the uninitiated, National Novel Writing Month) would be great for me since it would get me out of the headspace where I have room to overthink, and instead put me somewhere that I can only write. I am so much better at writing if I’m not thinking. Unfortunately, NaNoWriMo is in November. As my academic friends know, November isn’t a great time for “Forget your whole life so you can write” when you’re teaching. It’s the time when all the grading kinda… makes itself known. So for the last however-many years (gods… since 2010?) I’ve had a pretty convenient excuse for not making time during November to do this.

Well, until last year, anyway. I did make an attempt at a novel writing autumn last year, and its complete derailment in October was so upsetting that I went back to therapy.

(Okay that’s not actually why I went back to therapy but I did recognize that a more-healed version of myself would have a better chance of actually reaching my many goals and if you don’t already have a mental health professional that helps you be your best self and you have the means to seek someone out for that I give my wholehearted stamp of approval but also you don’t need me to validate your choices unless you do in which case, you’re valid babes. <3)

October isn’t my month. Anne Shirley may have loved Octobers, but for me, the entire month is like one big reminder of some painful things that have happened to me, and I can’t ever not be thinking about it. It’s not a great “prep” space for creativity: in October, we’re happy to be surviving.

NaNoWriMo doesn’t really work without preparation. Not if you’re employed full time, a single parent, and trying to balance creating with any sort of social life, anyway. And October just isn’t the month for me to do that work. But that doesn’t mean we couldn’t take the same idea and transplant it to another month… like November.

If you’ve been waiting for me to say “I’m doing NaNoWriMo but not this month” then here’s your payoff. I am going to use November & December 2023 as my “Preptober” period, and January 2024 will be my New Year Novel Writing Month—NYNoWriMo, if you will. On January 1st I’ll trade my day of reflection and goal-setting for a day of creation and goal-achieving.

Who needs a resolution? I’m writing a novel.

Over the next two months, I’ll keep you apprised of my prep-progress via little NYNoWriMo updates here. I’ll be otherwise closing my social media, at least temporarily, to wean myself off the “Check it” reflex. If you want to encourage me on my path, please leave comments, reach out via email, and share the letter with your friends.

Thanks for cheering for me. <3 Love you.

xoxo,

Anne