It’s pre-dawn on a crisp late October morning. The chill in the air has layered the cars on the street with frost and prompted the heat to warm the inside of my house as I sip strong coffee. We’re on the cusp of November, which means we better hurry into Wawa for our annual gobbler bowls and find our winter socks and boots.
But it also means I need to deal with my decision to attempt National Novel Writing Month. When I registered, I thought I would write a new Fashion and Fiends novel. I had high aspirations that I would dive in full discovery style (that’s the high brow term for a “pantser,” the writer who does not plot in advance but flies by the seat of their pants) and follow my muse to 50,000 words.
The podcasts I listen to and curate for other writers started speaking of “Preptober,” which confused me heartily. Apparently, since the decade-plus ago when I used NaNoWriMo to write the first dump draft of my ghost novel, Courting Apparitions, (Buy the novel online and support independent booksellers here) there has been a contingent of writers who prepare themselves by organizing for NaNoWriMo.
Now, forgive me if this hurts anyone’s feelings, but if you’re the kind of writer who can discipline themselves into jotting down an outline in preparation for a one-month writing event, then I question if you need such writing event.
So if you participated in Preptober, I am proud of you.
But if you did not, and it’s October 29 and you have no clue what direction you are heading in for NaNoWriMo, you are my people.
I’m still not sure if I’m writing a new novel in my series, crafting my cerebral palsy/medical advocacy memoir or if I will “cheat” and keep working on the fourth novel in my series. That’s part of the fun. Diving into the deep end, head first.
Parisian Phoenix Publishing 