The end of October and beginning of November is one of my favorite parts of the year. Fall is a wonderful and magical time. Part of this is because of the witchy season, and part of this is because of the coming of the holidays, but mainly it is because it is a highly motivating time to write.

I hope that most people in the writing world are familiar with NaNoWriMo, but for those who are not: it stands for National Novel Writing Month.

NaNoWriMo is a web-based tool for writers of all levels. It supplies community, writing statistics and trackers, motivational speakers, and accountability for writing a 50,000 word story in a single month.

That ends up at about 1,666 words per day. For me, that adds up to 1-2 hours of writing every night after work. Or what is more likely: 30 minutes during work days and 4+ hours each day of the weekend. And yes, that’s a lot for me too.

I started with NaNoWriMo in 2010 at the naive age of 15, thinking as an excited amatuer writer that it wouldn’t be too hard. I was so wrong. Fun, yes. Motivation, yes. Easy, no. I have participated in 12 of the 13 years since then, but only successfully reached that lofty goal 3 times. In that time, however, NaNoWriMo has helped my write over 450k words, which is an accomplishment in of itself.

This year’s project is tentatively titled “When the Song Meets the Sun.” It follows Baka, a genderfluid druid, whose village grows everything from vegetables and clothes to homes and swords using magic in the form of songs. Unfortunately, Baka is only good at one song: the one that grows eating utensils. Meanwhile xer brother knows the coveted song for Ironwood, the anthem that grows swords and shields strong enough to slay dragons. So when xer brother disappears, it is Baka’s chance to prove xemselves. The only problem: Baka worries that if xer quest succeeds in recovering him, that xe will once again by overshadowed by xer brother’s success.

I’m very excited for this project. My goal for this one — besides reaching 50k words — is to practice the kind of deep aesthetics, lore, and song that made the The Name of the Wind famous. As of this morning, Day 5 I am supposed to have reached a minimum of 8,333 words. I have reached 12k, and I’m still going strong. For now.

I’ll do a wrapup later this month to review my progress and share more of my writing. I am also posting my progress regularly on the app formerly known as Twitter and on Instagram.

Have you particiapted in any writing camps like NaNoWriMo? What was your experience?