On NaNoWriMo and Other November Challenges

I'm not about to sit here and tell you it's been easy to find room in my daily schedule to produce 1667 words of creative writing every day, but I'm already glad I decided to write something for NaNoWriMo this year. Since the last time I mentioned it, I've solidified my project concept quite a bit. It is indeed a collection of short flash fictions, and I did go ahead with the idea of writing a new one every day instead of devoting multiple days to any one piece -- much better for staying excited about the project and much harder to write myself into an inescapable corner. 

I also decided to take things one step further and use a song as a prompt for each story, so I'm calling it Harmony Uncaged for now. Anyone interested can click the NaNo banner in my sidebar to check out my progress, read whatever excerpt I've uploaded most recently, and access a Spotify playlist with all the song prompts in it. I've been very good about hitting my word count every day, and I'm having a blast with the project so far. Seth's been enjoying listening to the song prompts and reading the associated stories every day, as well, so I even have a tiny audience cheering me on.

It feels indescribably good to be producing creative writing again. Journaling and blogging will always likely be my fiercest loves regarding how I choose to express myself, but there's something about letting my imagination run wild that just feels so good. It makes me want to get back into my poetry again at some point, as well. 

I'm especially proud of myself for sticking with things lately, as life hasn't been without its challenges since NaNo started. A couple of clients have been pushing me really hard recently to take on more new projects than I'd like, but I've stuck to my guns and reminded them I'd be available for more work soon. Another day, we had a massive issue with our Wi-Fi router right when I was getting ready to sit down and tackle my writing workload for the day. It's time to start planning Thanksgiving dinner if I want a prayer of scoring a decent turkey to feed my family this year. And, of course, there's been all the election drama going on.

But that's life. There's always going to be something going on that makes getting your writing done more challenging than you'd like, but serious writers make it happen regardless. They show up and show out over and over again because that's what you do when you love something so much. I promise you won't be sorry if you make the same commitment to your writing projects.