It’s Time for NaNoWriMo Again!

Unsplash image by Patrick Fore

I will not be using an antique typewriter to write my next novel, but this picture is so cool, so…

Well, readers and writers, as we close in on November, which is National Novel Writing Month, it’s time for those of us who are crazy to start planning to write 50,000 words in a month. One month. Thirty days. That’s at least 1,666 words per day. Last year, I didn’t quite make it to 50k, but shortly thereafter, I did finish writing Under the Pawpaw Trees.

So for this year’s NaNo, I’m announcing a new project: A young adult dystopian with time travel. I’ve been working on world-building for this idea — and by that, I mean that I have a page of sparse notes, and most of the ideas are just swirling around in my head.

Here’s a very rough and general idea of what this book will be about: Sixteen-year-old Honest lives in a far-future world where everything is done online — school, work, shopping, everything. And, except for the folks who work in the warehouses and deliver the goods, everyone works from home. Everything anyone needs is accessed instantly through citizens’ “Life Bands,” which they wear on their wrists. There are strict rules about being out/gathering with people, and it’s lights out (literally) at 11 p.m., when electricity is shut down to let the grid recover. All of this is normal for Honest, who has only learned in history class about the “light days,” also called by some “the polluted days.” But she has a nagging feeling that something is missing from her life. When a new kid arrives in town, Honest is certain he will bring nothing but trouble. And, boy, is she right! Especially when she learns that he stumbled into her life from 2022 — two hundred years ago — and she has to figure out how to help him get back before he’s discovered and thrown into a self-care facility for his odd ways. But she finds she will have to make a decision: Go back with him, or stay trapped in her unappealing life.

There is an awful lot that I haven’t thought through about this book, but I find that once I start writing, my characters tell the story, often in ways that I never knew they could. At least, that’s the way it worked with Sitting on Top of the World and Under the Pawpaw Trees.

So, starting November first, I will try my best to write, write, and write some more and get most of this book drafted. I will be sharing updates and excerpts with my newsletter subscribers, so if you haven’t signed up for that, you can do so here. It’s free! You can also follow my progress on my NaNoWriMo page.