Writing My Pretty Little Heart Out

This year, I am attempting something that I tried to do last year and failed. I could only juggle one of these at a time, but this year, this year I’m going balls to the walls and getting it done.

I’m doing NaBloPoMo.

AND NaNoWriMo.

In a nutshell: NaBloPoMo is short for National Blog Posting Month. Bloggers commit to 30 blog posts in 30 days. “Glorious madness” is a fitting way to describe it all. I did manage to accomplish this last year. I won’t lie: it’s a beast of a project, especially since I’m not known for my brevity.

NaNoWriMo is the abbreviation for National Novel Writing Month. In 30 days, writers commit to writing a 50,000 word novel. That averages to about 1,666 words per day, or if you’re typing in Word in standard 12 pt font, double-spaced with 1 inch margins, about 5 pages.

Piece of cake, right?

. . .

Today’s prompt for NaNoWriMo is to talk about our favorite part about writing. (How meta.) I first came to blogging as a public (but anonymous) extension of years of journaling. I had been keeping intermittent journals since middle school.

This blog became focused on writing about my infertility experience, my writing as a form of cathartic expression toward healing. Since then, it’s branched out a little. What was once largely healing has now evolved into awakening and self-empowerment.

There is still healing to be made. But it’s more than that. I write to advocate for myself, to advocate for others. I write to inspire action and positive change. I write to provoke discussion, or at the very least to provoke a moment of pause to stop and consider a new perspective.

I write because it’s one of the most natural extensions of my intellect, my worldview, and my sense of purpose.

. . .

My favorite part about writing?

Writing can change the world.

This idea not only drives how I write, but what I write. To me, my favorite part about writing is when I read something that inspires me to act, that emboldens me to stand up for something I believe in and do something about it. Every word a writer puts out there, commits to paper or screen – every word can change the course of human history.

Words have power.

If I can weave and stitch mine together into something original, something empowering and inspiring – into something that promotes not only positive change, but how readers of those words can become active advocates for that change – then I’ve written something worthwhile.

. . .

But just because that’s my favorite part about writing doesn’t mean that other writing: the celeb gossip rags, the trashy vampire novel, and the like – aren’t fun. They’re a lot of fun.

And I’m going to have to tap into this fun if I want to make NaNoWriMo a success. Because, truth be told – I need to crank out 1,666 words daily to stay on track, and I have NO idea what to write. Blogging naturally dictates a certain amount of non-fiction whereas NaNoWriMo is all fiction.

No vampires, though. I just can’t bring myself to that. (Who knows how desperate I’ll be for a vampire plotline two weeks from now.)

Last year I had this idea of writing a murder mystery novel around geocaching. In retrospect, kind of lame. Right now I’m toying with the idea of writing something from the perspective of a Freemason’s wife (yanno, since I am one). Or writing something about traveling. In Ireland. Or Japan. (They say write what you know.)

That said… I’m looking for NaNoWriMo ideas, because I basically just decided today that I’m doing this, and have zero prep to show for it.

Things I know? Travel. Food. Ireland (or at least the cities of Dublin, Sligo, Limerick, and Galway). Japan. Infertility. Rudimentary knowledge of Goddess-y type things. Judaism. Second-hand knowledge of Freemasonry.

Maybe a Kitchen Confidential meets Eat, Pray, Love, meets The Lost Symbol?

…What have I gotten myself into? 😉