NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon Of The Day - Day 15: Crossing The Half-Way Point Today

It’s November 1st! NaNoWriMo month! Time to write! We are off!

NaNoWriMo Day 1: Let’s Write!

Is your writing space all prepped and ready? All beautiful and untarnished with the reality of NaNo? Usually for me, everything starts to look messy soon enough, yet for this first day: let’s celebrate the amazing challenge we are taking on! The page is blank and ready to be filled. Perhaps you’ve even got the first words on paper already. The first day is usually filled with excitement: NaNo has finally started and we can write our first words! For today: grab a piece of paper, and write. Enjoy the whimsy, enjoy the glory and fantasize about the amazing feeling of writing your story. If you start to feel anxious and don’t like what you are writing down: introduce some silliness and most importantly: keep writing! You got this!

Please note: last year, I published my Cartoon-of-the-Day including a peptalk every single day. Unfortunately, recovering from surgery is hard and I cannot guarantee the daily update this year round.

(If you enjoy these cartoons, if they help you in any way or brought you a smile: I would love to hear from you. Let’s cheer each other on!)

This year, I rediscovered the absolute joys of reading fanfiction. Exploring characters I love in so many different stories and combinations and settings. It is helping me process this year and rediscover things I find important. Fiction has always meant a lot to me, and I'm feeling the urge to be creative again myself.

So, I decided to start engaging in fandom again by sketchnoting my reactions to some of my favourite stories. (At least for as long as it is fun).

My first sketchnote is in honour of the marvelous @sallyexactly whose Timeless stories I've fallen in love with. The Only Way Out - which I first read over Easter and I now lost count on the rereads - is my favourite headcanon for how the series ended.

But the very first story I read by Sally was The Road Ode. It even inspired me to take a mini roadtrip myself this year (in Europe with very few coronacases & lots of measures).

So, without further ado:

The Timeless story Q&A by @somekindofflowergirl features Lucy & Flynn talking: "Lucy & Flynn develop routine during their nighttime chats. She's allowed one loaded question and he's allowed one loaded apology."

It's a thoughtful, mature and slow story that explores trust, respect & friendship before it eventually blossoms into romantic love. I like the intimacy in the story, the lack of rushing and their tactility. The small scene at the end with Rufus where they acknowledge what him & Jiya are owed is marvelous.

Marianne' Cartoons: Day 2: Are You Having Fun?

Day two of NaNoWriMo is upon us! The early beginnings of a project can feel giddy and exhilarating and fun. We get to meet our characters and write our hearts out. It's like being a kid at a playground and having a blast. Perhaps you have build up a nice cushion of words and face the NaNo challenge with confidence. Give yourself a pat on the back and keep writing. Perhaps yesterday was a struggle and self doubt is creeping in early. Give yourself a nice warm hug and keep writing. Your story is your playground. It is wild, and limitless in its possibilities and you get to play! Sometimes it's scary; mostly it's fun. Sometimes we fall, but we always get back up and keep going! What brought you joy today? What inspired your characters? You got this. Let's write!

In these pandemic times, the Timeless story A Butterfly Garden by @vita-s-west is particularly graceful. The focus on Lucy & Flynn returning to a quiet life after all the experiences in their fight with Rittenhouse mirrors in some ways my experience in the current pandemic & the way I battle my anxieties by returning to creativity, stories & nature.

There are many evocative descriptions in the story, and there's a kind of quiet attention throughout that I particularly enjoy.

The Timeless stories by RedGold (@timelesshonesttrailer) fascinate me. She writes eloquently about morality, choices, and the timeloops & their consequences in #Timeless.

Today, I reread her story The Nuclear Option to sketchnote it and it continues to intrigue me. Jess is granted her own autonomy in her choices rather than just having everything decided for her (aka canon :-( ) and Mara (OC) acknowledges that "[she is] a really good person who's been affected by outside influences since childhood... and [she] didn't ask for any of this". I like the perspective on fate, the open-endedness of the story and the consequences for our own lives: what do we choose? How do we use the opportunities in front of us?

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 13: Draw From the Well of Creativity

There's a concept called "An Artist's Date":* where you plan a date with yourself to refill your artistic well of creativity. For some, that's visiting a museum, or playing around with pencils or crayons, or taking a walk in nature, or crocheting nice warm dragon scale mittons for winter. Treat you inner artist to a fun, engaging experience that will spark your imagination & inspiration!

Day 13: Draw From the Well of Creativity

During NaNo, we draw heavily from our well! Is the creativity still flowing nicely? Take stock, replenish it & draw upon its stores! Are you inspired by your story? Your characters? Let them experience your walk through their senses! Send them on a mission to indulge their passions! What nourishes your & their inner artists? 

*From Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. She recommends scheduling an Artist's Date regularly to grant yourself the time to refill your well of creativity.

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 14: Adopt a Plot Bunny from the Pound!

Plot Bunnies come in all shapes and sizes! Some are utterly adorable, others absolutely vicious, and yet others both! If you ever feel yourself running out of steam during NaNo, simply plan a trip to the Plot Bunny Pound where there are many lovable twists&turns just waiting to be adopted.

Day 14: Adopt a Plot Bunny from the Pound!

A word of caution: Plot Bunnies often come in multitudes and are know to multiply rapidly whenever they find a loving home. If you ever find yourself in the position where you have too many Plot Bunnies you can comfortably sustain: the Plot Bunny Pound is also happy to work with you to find another writer's home. Come play with these adorable, plot gnawing and heartmelting little creatures!

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 12: Plotholes? What plotholes?

Writing during NaNo can sometimes feel like you are building a tower of cards or a jenga tower that is about to topple over & I am here to tell you: play recklessly! Explore those new adventure twists & directions your characters want to take you! Go build a story on patched-over ground and shore up your plot with plot bunnies & raptors & ninjas!

Day 12: Plotholes? What plotholes?

Get your story gleefully written. Get a draft on paper & take comfort in the solid trust you'll be able to put in those structural repairs in the editing process. For now: keep writing! Keep telling your story & know that your imperfections make you unique and marvelous & interesting & in the editing process you'll be able to polish them beautifully. Plotholes? What plotholes? indeed! 😆 Have a blast!

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 16: ML Appreciation Day

It's Municipal Liaison Appreciation Day! Time to show some heartfelt appreciation to all our wonderful volunteers who facilitate our NaNo communities. Everyone who organizes Write-Ins, who hosts and moderates a forum or server, sends carepackages and encouragements: thank you! What I love about NaNo is the self-challenge and the call to creativity, as well as the feeling of community: how all of us are writing our own stories on our own and yet together.

Day 16: ML Appreciation Day

Who would you like to show special appreciation to today? Send some virtual flowers? A surprise plotbunny? A lovable raptor? A nice message filled with kind words?