I wasn’t necessarily planning on participating in nanowrimo this year. I didn’t want to put myself through the stress of coming up with an idea and all the things that go into planning, writing, finishing 50k words in 30 days.
So with nanowrimo off my mind for most of the summer, I had begun kicking around an idea for a short story, taking some notes, sketching out ideas, but I forgot about it sometime around the end of august.
As September rolled along I was focused on content creation, my dog, new guided meditations, family, and feeding squirrels. On one of my many squirrel feeding expeditions I happened to walk a route I hadn’t taken in a while. I meandered on the side walk looking into the vacant lot for the sandpiper who nested there, stopped to watch a bee on a cornflower, and stumbled upon a memory.
I was walking the same sidewalk a few years before and I had been noting how cracked the sidewalk was and an idea for a story bloomed in my mind. Unfortunately, I was never able to expand the idea enough to begin writing.
…but now.
That moment in late September, when I noticed the cracks on the sidewalk, stopped me in my tracks. I could clearly see how these stories, these ideas were waiting for each other. One born in the future, waiting patiently for the past to catch up in order for the whole story to be told.
Stories want to be told. They are always searching for their voice, for the instrument of their telling.
Since this story to must be told, I am poised to begin nanowrimo for the first time in 2 years. I completed it once in 2019 as I was very prepared. I feel just as prepared now, yet more at ease. I’ve written 50k words in 30 days before so no big deal doing it again.(right??)
Perhaps this will yield a strong flow – being at ease, calm; allowing the words to flow thorough me. Allowing myself to have fun with the creative process instead of worrying about word count or deadlines.
I guess we will see how prepared I am a month from now as the first week of NANOWRiMO comes to a close. As for now, I will continue prepping with these little bursts of creative flow.
Keep Calm & Write on!
Dandelion Doorways 