How I done gone lost my mind, also known as, I’m trying NaNoWriMo this year!

Welp, that does it. This person who once loathed the concept of writing a novel in a month is going to try . . . writing a novel in a month. Yeah, I’m just as shocked as you are.

This has been one of the most difficult years for me, healthwise, and the resulting anxiety from all the appointments, tests, and so on was difficult to manage on my own. So, I’ve been seeing a therapist. And as a result, I’ve exchanged the anxiety for having no sense. GO ME!

Actually, therapy has really helped. One of the key things I’ve been instructed to do is to indulge in activities that are just for me—to build me up and frankly, to have some fun for a change. During the year all the health scares and monitors and such put a dent in my writing progress of Life in Another ’Cosm. While I have banged out several short stories, I haven’t been able to kickstart myself back into novel writing. What NaNoWriMo offers is a shorter project. (My ‘Cosm books will all be about 120K words.)

What I’ve always hated about NaNoWriMo is the pressure many writers put on themselves. I’ve even seen this from published authors! I’m all like, “Um, nobody is putting a gun to your head. Write as much or as little as you can.” So, I won’t be using terms like “win” or “lose” or especially, “fail,” when it comes to NaNoWriMo. Heck, I know how ableist it can be when you try to make a one-size-fits-all word count rule.

My plan is to use NaNoWriMo as a tool to help me write every day, as I can, to see what’s a comfortable word count for me and to get back into the rhythm of novel writing again. I’ve been editing other people’s books all year and now I want to have something for someone else to edit!

The other thing I want to do is have a lot of fun. I’ve several NaNoWriMo veterans who have a healthy attitude about the exercise, so that’s great for support. But the real motivator is my book topic. I want to write about Xax and Viv. I’ve heard from more than one person who read Life in the ’Cosm that these warriors were their favourite characters. I’ve always wanted to include a prequel about their lives in the ’Cosm series and now I can! All I keep thinking is, Thirty days of Xax and Viv. Holy stars! (They are a crack-up and I can’t wait to write their adventures.)

I put together my “back blurb” and a mock cover yesterday. Yipes! This is a thing that is going to happen!

I’ll keep you posted on my progress. You can follow me on Twitter, too. And to all the those attempting NaNoWriMo 2017, I offer this prayer:

May the words be ever in your favour.

Good luck!

Cait Gordon is the author of Life in the ’Cosm, a comedic space opera where boy meets girl, but girl doesn’t notice boy because she’s sharing a body with another boy. She is also the creator and editor of the Spoonie Authors Network. You can follow Cait on Facebook and Twitter.