A beautiful beginning to fall – leaves are changing colors, Halloween candy and decorations are filling the store shelves and the new season was met with…very warm 80 degree days.
It prompted me to sing: nn the first day of fall, Mother Nature gave to me, a sunny, warm ride to Clarkston’s football game in Oxford;
On the second day of fall, Mother Nature gave to me, a light sunburn on my pale, fair-skinned arms;
On the third day of fall, Mother Nature prompted us to pull out the kiddie pool one more and last time for my 21-month-old son;
On the fourth day of fall, Mother Nature reminded me a earlier sunset is meant to be.
No matter the confusion over the last few days of the temperature, fall is here in the smell of cider and donuts, a laugh while jumping into a pile of leaves and the promise of a new beginning for a season.
September is a nice blend of the end of summer and beginning of fall, it’s probably why I like saying September birthdays are the best birthdays. (Or because I was born at the end of September, less than 48 hours before October begins.)
With all the upcoming fall activities for the next month also comes the preparation for National Novel Writing Month. Writers across the world will aim to write 50,000 words in 30 days during November.
During the month prior many will prep by researching key points for their plot, develop their characters and get an outline ready to go. Or just come up with an idea. There are many who are pantsers as in they just write and others are prepared for month long tidal wave of words.
I am a mix. I have a skeleton of an outline as things get tweaked while writing. My main goal is just to get as close to 50,000 words as possible without losing sleep, heavily overcaffeinating on coffee, and hoping our toddler sticks to his usual bedtime.
If you have thought about writing a novel, this is a great opportunity as you have a month to prepare as well as get familiar with the website, www.nanowrimo.org. It doesn’t have to be a finished, polished novel ready to be published – think of November as a rough draft, a very rough draft. Check it out as well as regions in your area.