This month marks a year since I’ve written a cohesive story. My heart hurts just writing that sentence. I wish I could tell you it was one particular thing that kept me blocked or that it was a combination of this and that with a little bit of this mixed in. Truth be told I have no idea what caused my creativity to be so stifled. I could say it was the election. I could say it was the consistent and horrible news this year seemed in massive supply of. The worst is not knowing. All I know for sure is that it made this year even more unbearable. Writing is like breathing to me so every day, week, and month gone without something to show for it often left me wondering: Is this it? Is it time to move on? Or is this the best thing for me right now? Could this break be the thing I didn’t know I needed? Well, I’ve learned to stop worrying about the why and work on the when. When am I going to take a sledgehammer to this wall and get it out of my way? As luck would have it salvation has come in the form of something I know very well…
National Novel Writing Month is making its steadfast approach. For those scratching their heads NaNoWriMo is essentially a writing challenge done every year from November 1 to November 30. The challenge? Complete a 50,000-word first draft in thirty days. Daunting? Yes. Impossible? Absolutely not. Many NaNoWriMo drafts have gone on to become published books, after additional months of revising, of course. Since 1999 this challenge has gone on, but I never once participated simply due to the fact that I always managed to complete a draft right before or during NaNoWriMo. The timing just never worked out.
Until this year. I officially announced my novel today and for the rest of this month I will be prepping the story I plan to work on in November.
NaNoWriMo comes this year at a time when I require a certain kick in the pants. Prior to this present creative slump I would write everyday for at least an hour+. I’d punch out 1,500-2,000 in one sitting and finish a first draft in about two months. The rest of the year would be spent revising. That discipline has since been lost on me and I plan on using NaNoWriMo to help me reclaim it. Do I intend to have my complete draft be only 50,000 words? No. But I will strive to get the 50K done during the thirty days. From there I will complete the draft by writing an additional 30,000+ words. I prefer my first drafts to be longer than necessary. For me NaNoWriMo is the perfect tool to get me back into that daily practice of writing everyday.
This is a tremendous nonprofit organization that gives a fun platform for writers to connect with other writers. It urges us to challenge ourselves and to cheer each other on. Creativity is my way of dealing with the face-palming antics currently going on in the world. Besides, I have nothing left to lose and I will do whatever it takes to break myself free of these chains that have been holding me back.
2017, you have been a year for the books. You made me doubt myself worse than ever before. You’ve given us a remarkable amount of death, tragedy, and frustrating news with the occasional good story thrown in. I am more than ready to see you in my rear view mirror, but I will make sure to end you on a high note by doing what I do best. Create. Write. Live.
To close out this post I wanted to share this amazing performance from the So You Think You Can Dance finale. When it first aired I cried and must have rewatched it on my DVR fifty times before deleting the episode. This dance, for me, expresses the frustration and fight that has been 2017 and I listen to this song at least once a day. ♥
J.M. Zimmermann || Lover of Words 