Thoughts in November

November has always been a great month for me. The first round of college apps and letters of recommendation is over, and I have historically used the 30 days in November to write; it is, as I have said for years, my most productive month as a writer.

So today, I leaned in to my old crutches as an Autumn scribe and found a few surprises.

First, Since 2004, I’ve played around with, dabbled in, and even completed my fair share of NanoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) challenges. In fact, my second novel, Cold Rock, was birthed in those 30 days with my writing colleague and friend, Cara.

I did what I usually do in the last week of October/First week of November: Go to the NanoWriMo website, log in to my account, and draft up a nice little book title and synopsis to play around with. The goal has always been to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Most times, I am successful.

Imagine my surprise when I learned that NanoWriMo has ceased to exist. (Here’s a good article to help you understand what led to their demise, including a horrific stand on AI.) That crutch of a community no longer existing meant that I was going to have to go into this month a little bit more on my own. Not that it’s a bad thing; it’s just a little daunting to suddenly realize you lost one of your crutches to help you get to the finish line.

Second, I decided it would be a good motivator to resubscribe to the Writer’s Market. You know. That big, thick book of contests, agents, journals, and publishers just tempting you to believe that someone out there has got to like your stuff enough to give you a shot.

Well, there went the other crutch. I had no idea that F&W had been bought out in 2019, and they ceased as a company four years ago in 2021. (I had no idea it had been that long that I had even explored an interest in sending my work out to agents and publishers.)

I desperately looked for whatever had filled the void. Certainly somebody in the last four years answered the call to create a subscription-based database of places where we can submit our work.

But I found none. I did find one free site (yay?): writersweekly.com. I look forward to leaning into this site in the coming days.

I also found Duotrope. This is a fee-based system ($5 a month, or $50 for the year) that seems to serve a more modernized role in a writer’s, poet’s, or artist’s life.

I signed up for the free trial and am already checking it out to help me get some new writing out the door this month.

A few other things: I joined the Daily Prompt online community through an app by the same name. This app has EVERYTHING a writer is looking for to get the creative juices flowing. But there’s one other feature that I am particularly excited about – an option to create prompts based on your work in progress. Now, to be completely transparent, they are AI-generated, but in this case I’m okay with that, simply because AI is not generating your own writing; it’s merely crafting prompts for YOU to write your own stuff. Daily Prompt is a little pricey ($38.99 a year), but that works out to just $3.25 a month. I can handle that for all that it is giving me every single day. Already, I can see my focus shift to more creative explorations with my ideas. It’s a good fit for me.

I also renewed my subscription to Diarly, another online app that allows you to journal on your mobile device. Right now, I’m paying $2.99 a month, and it’s worth every penny. I write about 500 words daily on that app, and it’s always at the ready to capture my most immediate ideas, no matter where I might be or what I am doing.

I feel good heading into November. Even though my old crutches have been taken away from me, I think the new ones will help me be more productive for where I am today as a writer.

I guess we’ll see at the end of the month if that is really the case.