NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon Of The Day - Day 20: Magical Portals & New Discoveries!

The Timeless AU Incandescent & Adolescent (Wonders Never Cease) from @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels is a light-hearted, sweet & familiar story.

She Loves Me AU: Garcia Flynn and Lucy Preston have resented each other from their first meeting. Absolutely, one hundred percent, no warm feelings whatsoever, resented each other. Good thing they’ve each got a wonderful pen pal to whom they can pour their heart out. …oh wait.

The 30s setting, the awkward formality in language, the letters as a reimagining of the journal, all the banter, the humorous supporting roles of Rufus & Jiya, Jess & Wyatt, and gentle support from Mason... it's sweet. The stakes are smaller than whole of Rittenhouse, but still very personal: someone is embezzling from Denise's shop the gang works at.

It's a fun little story to read when I want something uplifting & something that brings a smile to my face.

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 17: Main Characters Take Charge!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that characters in stories are prone to take on lives of their own. We are well into week three of NaNo and this is often the moment when your characters stop waiting for you to come up with a story and start insisting on steering the wheel themselves!

Day 17: Main Characters Take Charge!

What shenanigans have your characters gotten up to that you hadn't planned out? Any new characters who walked onto the page and insisted on being part of your story? Resistance against the ideas you had for them and blazing a path of their own devising? How have your story and your characters surprised you?

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 21: Let Nature Inspire You!

Inspiration often strikes in the oddest places and yet a reliable way for me to call down that creativity strike is to take a walk outside. Breathe in the cold crisp air, smell the fallen autumn leaves and look at the calmness and tranquility of the trees. Feel the wind on your cheeks, the warmth of dragon scale gloves° and the joy that comes from moving your body.

Day 21: Let Nature Inspire You

Take a moment to glance around you and feel where you are in this moment. What do your senses tell you? What is the weather like and when did you last move around & smell the air? Where are your characters right now? What do their senses tell them? What would they like to do to relax or feel better? What is it that you need to call down a creativity strike? Let's write!

°Why, yes, I absolutely adore my self-made,  crocheted dragon scale mittens that I often erroneously refer to as gloves and I still wear them every winter day as I have for the past 6 years. There's a reason for their recurring appearance in these texts and that is that they make me feel *fabulous*. Wearing your own art is such a magical feeling & I highly recommend it.

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - December 1st: Time to Rest & Recoup

We did it! The rush to the finish line is done. It's over and dusted. We are DONE. November is gone and over with and our NaNo season is coming to a close. For today: rest & start recouping. Bask in the glory of having completed your challenge and the satisfaction of having had the courage to attempt it. If you did not achieve what you set out to do: face your feelings, acknowledge them and rest in the knowledge that I am proud of you for attempting it.

Any word you wrote is one you did not have before. Life interferes sometimes and serendipity happens. For me: November is a month of creativity. It is rare that I manage to complete NaNo in all the years I have been trying - but I embrace the effort, the attempt, the striving & desire to tell stories.

Dec 1st: Time to Rest & Recoup

Take a moment to reflect and breathe. How do you feel? What did you enjoy most about NaNo this year? What did it teach you? What did you learn? Would you like to maintain your daily writing habit? Is your story finished? What would you like to integrate into your daily life now that NaNo is over? Who were your biggest supporters and how would you like to thank them? What do you need to recoup? To rest? To breathe? To celebrate? I'll see you tomorrow for the Thank-Goodness-It's-Over-Party and the final bonus cartoon!

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 30: Crossing the Finish Line

Today is the final day! The last day to write your words and still have them count for your NaNo 2022 project. I have seen many of us come up from behind the last few days, get that final wind and get within a hair of the finish line now. There is still time to get that purple winner's bar and reach your 50000 words. When you are struggling, know we are here to cheer you on! You can do it!

Day 30: Crossing the Finish Line

Tonight: take a moment and feel it down to your bones. You set yourself this task and you faced it down. You are still here at the end of the month. NaNoWriMo is about setting yourself a challenge. It is about succeeding in the extraordinary by attempting something as foolhardy as writing a novel, and something as mundane as creating a daily habit of writing. It requires bravery, persistence, determination and grit. And by still being here, by still writing away till the clock runs out - you are a winner (regardless of purple bar status).

Let's celebrate together tomorrow! For now: let's cheer on anyone who is still writing, who is still pushing on & help eachother through this final glorious day! We can do it!

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 08: Hell Week

The first week of NaNo flew by in a rush and now we are already in week two. Traditionally, the second week of NaNo is considered especially hard as self doubt comes out to play for many of us, tiredness sets in and starts to demand more attention, and yet: we are still here!

Day 08: Put Up Your Umbrellas to Guard Against Hell Week

So: let us put up our umbrellas against the possible storms ahead and brace ourselves against this challenge: we can DO this together.

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!

When I read the summary for Scorched Earth (Timeless) by @sallyexactly, I expected something darker, but when I started reading, I was quickly pulled into the emotion & longing of the story.

The language feels poetic to me: filled with imagery & the particular sense of nostalgia where you are trying to avoid living the end before it happens but you know there's no avoiding it and therefore the nostalgia starts while you are still in the moment. The contrast between the scorched & parched earth is evocative and beautiful. Flynn in particular is such a emotional disaster in this story & it is wonderous to behold.

Thank you, Sally.

We’re off! NaNoWrMo has officially started! Have the plotbunnies found you yet?

Day 01: First Day – The Magic of Excitement

I always love the atmosphere of NaNo: everyone filled with energy and pursuing their creative experiments. Embrace the magic & congratulations for starting! Every word you write is one you did not have before. Yay us! Whether you have planned everything out or are flying by the seat of your pants – I wish us all a Very Happy NaNo indeed!

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 25: Channeling Atlas: Carrying the World on Your Shoulders

We are Atlas: we not only dreamt up our story worlds, we are singlehandedly holding them up in the sky and breathing life into them. As writers, the weight of our story can sometimes bear us down as we struggle with finding a way to make sense of our narrative.

Day 25: Channeling Atlas: Carrying the World on Your Shoulders

As our characters run rampant and have all kinds of ideas for what is happening, as our plotpoints diverge and refuse to come back together to be neatly tied off, as self doubt creeps in and rears its head when our first draft doesn't look as polished as we'd secretly hoped: we set our shoulders, bear the weight and keep. it. high!

We are in the final stretch of NaNo now. For some exhaustion may be setting in, while others are celebrating their early victories. Remember: your story depends on you to hold it up; we can bear its weight & there is still time. Keep writing!