November is Coming

Election day. Thanksgiving. And NaNoWriMo.

It is nearly that time again, National Novel Writing Month is just 23 days away, and that means that I need to get prepared for the upcoming writing frenzy. For the uninitiated, NaNoWriMo is a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days, from November 1 to November 30. This year will be my sixth year attempting the NaNoWriMo challenge, and alas, it pains me to admit that I have never won.

In 2007, I wrote a fantasy novel that was a prequel to a story I had written in high school. This ended at about 12,000 words and my grades slipped a bit. I got better with my time management and in 2008 reached 17,000 words without a grade slip, but still no victory. 2009 I shifted gears and tried to write a murder mystery. This reached 24,000 words. 2010 I was back to fantasy and hit 32,000 words, then last year I slipped again, back down to about 20,000 words.

NaNoWriMo is run by the same company behind Script Frenzy, which I attempted for the first time last April. This year, I have a large collection of potential plots to choose from. Specifically, I have 5 pages of notes for 23 different story ideas. Some of the ideas have close to a full page outline while others have a mere sentence to describe my thoughts, but they all have potential. The hardest part now is to narrow down my ideas and pick a single story to run with. Most of my ideas are fantasy, as that is what I enjoy the most and am most comfortable writing, but I also have a few supernatural stories, horror stories, and mysteries.

Only time will tell what I run with this year, and time is running out. After all, November is Coming.

NaPoWriMo Day 14 - Sword Master

Sword Master

The sword master is a learned soul,
experienced, disciplined in the art
of the blade. A sharpened extension
not only of arm, but also of soul.
A skill woven in the very fiber
of his being, and while the master
remains capable of ending life,
that is not his purpose, nor duty.
Yet the pen is mightier than the sword
and mastery shows extension of wit.
Ending life is still a possibility
but the true master creates it.