October 30, 2013

Scared and Excited!

I love the summer season, with it’s warmth and the freedom of bare feet upon the earth. I need to take the time to appreciate it, and every season my writing suffers. Maybe it doesn’t suffer, but not much gets written.

I’m learning to accept that as a part of my life right now. Life needs to be lived in all of its facets. All of life contributes to who I am as a writer, even if I wish that I had more time for the actual craft of writing.

As I write this, it is almost November. I am poised to write a brand new story. I’ve been preparing for this most of the past year, in one way or another. My previous blog posts reflect some of this preparation.

I’ve changed my story plan somewhat. It will still take place in Canada, with its indigenous peoples and its settlers, but what I’ve changed is the time frame. I’ve moved it well into the future. At this point, the year I have imagined is 2099, although that may well change.

I think I have set myself an incredible challenge, one for which I could never prepare enough. And yet, it’s the story I need to write. At the beginning of the month, I said to someone that I am “scared and excited” about NaNoWriMo this year, and that hasn’t changed. I am much more ready now than I was then, and still I am scared and excited.

The world at the turn of the next century is mine to create, but I’d like it to fall within the realm of possiblity. I am not intending this story to be a fantasy, or even science fiction, although I expect it'll fit the dystopia label. I’ve read a lot about climate change. I have no problem believing it is happening, but no one knows what it will really look like. I have an even harder time envisioning what kind of technological changes there will be. Somehow, imagining political types of change isn’t so hard. There is a lot of history to help with that. Regardless, it is all up to me to create this future world.

This is my fifth year doing NaNoWriMo. I achieved the 50,000 word goal the last two years. In the process, I’ve learned to trust my inner writer. This year is going to be a big test of that, but I have a lot of faith. Excited and scared! I’ll see you on the other side of November!

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