There's no denying I need to give myself a kick in the butt right now. My brain is saturated with ideas for stories. I have nine project folders sitting on the corner of my desk. Character charts – done. World building sheets – ditto. Scenes are set up. Plots have been investigated. You may be asking yourself what am I waiting for?
The answer is NANO (National Novel Writer's Month). This will be my first year trying to put down 2500 words a day. Not that it is out of the question for me to write that much or even more in a day. Still, I knew if I was going to take on this challenge, I better prep. So it's been ready, set, prep around here lately.
Before anybody starts asking – Bella, you writing a novel? Nope. Never gonna happen with me. I'm a short format writer. That's where I'm comfortable and where I think my work shines. The challenge for me has always been to see if I can prove my plot in short format.
My goal is very aggressive; some might say I'm crazy. I plan to complete two novellas (around 25K) and two super shorts (5-15K). One will be a fantahistorical tentatively titled Frost Bitten (bridge story between Primal Rage and its sequel). The other novella will be the sequel to Primal Rage. The two super shorts will be in the 'For Me' line but will probably go over 10K. I won't lie to you—that's a lot of words. Thus, that's why I've been doing all this prep work.
Am I a little worried I might not make the challenge of 50K in the whole month? Somewhat. Unlike a novel writer, I've got a different set of problems. It's whether or not I can move smoothly between projects without losing steam or getting hung up on a plot. Then there's the fact I have stories selling at the moment. I could suddenly get derailed with edits or something like that. Life happens—but what if life suddenly explodes on me?
Still, I'm up for it. Is anybody else doing Nano? What's your goal and what would you like to complete?
I can't wait to hear your responses.
Best!
Bella
