NaNo Time Again

I have been extremely delinquent in asking if anyone is interested in participating in NaNoWriMo this year. I was asked about my writing last week, which triggered this reminder. I am willing to set goals if anyone is interested, but I do not have plans to participate in the national contest. The majority of my writing this month will be performance reviews, though I am debating some other writing scenarios in my head. When I was asked about my writing last week, I had seriously thought about pulling out my previous manuscript and making the necessary revisions.

But then I had an epiphany while lecturing on "Telling Our Story." For me, writing has always been cathartic. Though I write fictional stories, they are influenced by my mood and thoughts. I wrote about a near death experience and losing one's soul while I struggled with my feelings over my hysterectomy and the subsequent accident. Infidelity was the focus of my writing when I struggled with finding closure with my past and how it influenced my future. I wrote my most erotic tales while trying to work out my thoughts on my own personal desires. And before you ask, no, I have yet to try the adventurous outdoor sex scenes that I am prone to write.

There are pieces of me in the stories I write. My characters have been women who have suffered through being betrayed, terrorized, humiliated, and ostracized, yet have a strong solid core that prevents them from accepting the role of a victim. At some point, they not only have to confront their enemies but also themselves. Sometimes the characters have strong family influences, other times it is a core group of friends. Though the experiences have all been quite different, the complex journey to find acceptance and trust is a familiar topic for me personally as well as in my writing. 

This year has been a complex personal journey for me once again. My path has narrowed in recent months causing me to address some issues that could not be ignored. My confusion and heartbreak over certain elements in my life need an outlet and writing has always been that venue for me. For those who don't know that among the varied issues weighing on my mind, I plan to say farewell to a loved one in the coming month. I am afraid of the devastation that will rip through me and its aftershocks. Then there are other pressing matters that make me feel bound and trapped in a situation with no solution in sight.

I once heard a luncheon speech by Victoria Alexander that has stuck with me through the years. She remarked that she could torture and kill her enemies in her writing. And the widows in her books would lose their kind or hedonistic husband, Charles, in a simple or macabre death based on how Victoria felt towards her own husband, Charles, at the time she was writing the book.

That all being said, I will try to dedicate some time this month to placing my thoughts to paper. With the way my mind is working at the moment, I can't guarantee that it won't be an angst filled tale or a tearjerker. Of course, as we all know, I can create a plausible sexually charged scene in the most incomprehensible scenarios so maybe I should begin with those and build a story around them. I mean erotica is a hot market at the moment. When I attended a seminar on writing erotica, we were instructed to have a graphic sex scene within the first chapter. I could totally write that.

Now back to the sex toys conversation from the previous post. I could add that component, but most men I know have always been uncomfortable and a bit insecure when sex toys have been mentioned so I'm unsure if this would be a true-to-life element. To make things even more interesting, I recall one of the most contested details about my manuscripts so far have been my character's names. If anyone would care to supply me some names, I'll consider using them. Maybe the names will help dictate the genre of this work. Anyone else interesting in challenging themselves this month?