I succeeded once, failed once, and now I’ll be doing one or the other again. NaNoWriMo, here I come!
That stands for National Novel Writing Month, by the way. It begins today and ends when November does. My mission: To write a 50,000-word manuscript in 30 days.
Last Time
Last time I tried NaNoWriMo was 2019. That was the failure.
…Well, I shouldn’t say that. I got about 45k into the book, then quit when I felt it wasn’t working. That was Short Contracts, a book about a sports league in a fantasy setting (not to be confused with fantasy sports). I plan to return to it when the time is right.
I also tried NaNoWriMo in 2017. That was the success. I wrote what Stephen King would call a trunk novel, which is one of those books you finish but save for later. It’s called Upstate and a While Back. Someday I’ll reveal it from the trunk.
The experience was fun but grueling, especially in the latter half of November. 50k words is all about consistency and planning, as I remember, so we’ll see if I’m up to the task.
This Time
This month, I’ll be working on a story called Remembering the End: A Novel of Novel Apocalypse Stories. Think Canterbury Tales, except it’s about worlds ending. Cheery, right?
Honestly, I hope so. I’ve already got a head start on one character’s story, and it’s turned out fairly comic (like most of my stuff). I anticipate the rest to be the same—though I’ve only got vague ideas for them. And when I say vague, I mean super vague. Like, the ending of Mulholland Drive vague.
Anyhoo, I’ll be tracking my progress on this here chart:
Yes, that is Magic: The Gathering artwork in the background. I use it in my MTG articles, but I like the cats, so I’m using it again here.
The Distractions
Over the past year I’ve recalibrated my writing strategy to be less about word count (in fact, I wrote an article all about it). For NaNoWriMo, I’ve got to readjust. Gonna be a challenge for sure.
Also, November is going to be a busy month. Here are some of the non-writing activities I’m doing:
- November 11: Playing in my first Magic: The Gathering tournament since 2018.
- November 12: Being a raging fan at the Cortaca Jug game at Yankee Stadium. Go Bombers!
- November 15: The new Magic set releases online. Always a major distraction.
- November 24: Thanksgiving. (And my beloved New York Giants are playing the hated Dallas Cowboys.)
Oh yeah, and I still have to work and stuff. Doesn’t seem like much, but when you’re writing 50,000 words in 30 days, you can’t really afford to take time off.
Will I Succeed?
Reply hazy, ask again later. But here’s what I can promise: I’ll be checking in with you throughout the month. Here’s the schedule…
- November 1: This blog post.
- November 7: Email newsletter.
- November 14: Another blog post.
- November 21: Another email.
- December 5: An email and blog post summing it all up.
If you want to follow along as I slowly descend into madness, feel free to subscribe to my newsletter below. Wish me luck!
Kyle A. Massa is a comic fantasy author living somewhere in upstate New York with his wife, their daughter, and three wild animals. His published works include three books and several short stories. When he’s not writing, he enjoys reading, running, and drinking coffee.