It's that time of year where I'm starting to think about what I'll write for NaNoWriMo. I have been working a lot on my websites lately, overhauling the older sites and developing some much-needed visual branding. But that has brought to mind a lot of potential projects that I could work on this November.
Remember, I've often been a Rebel (someone who breaks the traditional rules of NaNoWriMo, and writes something other than a novel started on November 1st), so this opens up a variety of possibilities for me.
Projects on the table for NaNoWriMo:
- Revive work on Ruby Ransome, my 1920s vampire series. I determined a few years ago that the novel needed a complete overhaul based on something I realized about my main characters' motivations, but around that time I decided to shelve the project for the time being. If I revived it for NaNoWriMo, I would have to read through the existing first novel prior to November, reacquaint myself with the story and my research, and mark out the passages that I want to rewrite (which is most of it, but there are a few I could possibly keep). The big motivation for working on Ruby in November would be so that I could self publish it in 2023. The first novel takes place in 1923, so publishing in 2023 seems appropriate. On the down side, it wouldn't be income generating for a long time, and would be the start of a fairly time consuming project.
- Work on my DIY doll stringing ebook and related tutorials. I've had a restringing tutorial for sale on my DIY Doll Stringing website (formerly Doll Stringing Extravaganza) for years, and it desperately needs to be updated to reflect current ebook publishing standards. While some of that would be updating the ebook template, some of the copy needs to be updated. In addition, I've been planning on writing several related tutorials and expanding my ebook line. Working on this in November has its draw because it would be income generating much sooner than my novel series. Unfortunately, it wouldn't generate 50,000 words (which is what's needed to "win" NaNoWriMo), and I've found in the past that writing nonfiction during NaNoWriMo is much more difficult.
- Blog-o-vember. I've done this before, and used November to form better blogging habits. It works well, but 1,666 words is a lot of blogging per day. Possibly not a bad thing, since I've got multiple blogs, but still. It feels like a bit of a copout, even though I know it's still valid writing work that I need to get done and that will benefit my websites.
- Write what you will. I've done this in the past, too, with somewhat less success: Made my goal to write 1,667 words a day, on any of my personal projects (client work doesn't count). That might be blogging, working on my ebooks, or working on my novel. I find that not focusing on just one project actually seems to sap my motivation during NaNoWriMo, though, so while it's a valid effort and not quite off the table, it's not my preference.
I am still going back and forth over what my goal will be for November, but most likely I think I'll either choose to focus on Ruby, or if I can't get organized in time, do a hybrid "write what you will" of business writing (blogging, ebooks, etc.).
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