Good morning everyone. I hope you had a good week. Mine was a bit odd, but I am slowly getting back to normal. And the planning and set up for the upcoming year has begun.
Mwahahahaha.
I am really excited about that actually. While this year I have been posting individual writing exercises that all stand alone, Next year I am going with a singular project for the writing exercises. Each day will feature a small task. Just one small step each day to take an idea for a novel into actually writing the novel. All of the tasks work together to plan a novel, line up research and all the other pre writing bits and then we work on actually writing the novel.
I am lining up the tasks now and making sure they are in the right order. Or at least a somewhat logical one so everyone can play along. It is always interesting to actually describe the parts and pieces that I actually do before I start writing a novel. I do them, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually described them to anyone. Its a bit like studying my own brain. Like taking a submarine tour of my own gray matter and noting down the landmarks.
Which doesn’t really sound like something you should do, but is still kind of fun in a strange way.
I am also flipping through my older prompts to come up with a story idea for myself because I will be doing the tasks (and writing the novel) as well as the tasks progress through 2026. This will be different from the Fifteen Minute Novel. We will still be doing that and I am also looking for a prompt to break out for that next year as well.
Fun stuff.
I mostly wanted to give you a heads up so that if you were going to write the tasks next year, you could have a flick through your own ideas and have one ready to start breaking out when we start in January. That way no one has to scramble. (also if you are doing the fifteen minute novel alongside, you might want to pick that out as well).
Or you could just read along and enjoy both the tour of my brain (sorry, no flash photos) and read along as the rough draft develops. Whatever (or whichever) works best for you, I am excited about next year’s plan.
Of course I always love a good plan. Admittedly, it is also courting disaster because there is nothing the universe loves more than fiddling with a well made plan. But I feel a little dare devil-ly so I will plan with abandon! I know, I live dangerously.
For now, we have next week’s prompts.
Monday, November 17th: When was the last time you saw him?
Tuesday, November 18th: It was at the age of thirty-five that I finally learned to swim.
Wednesday, November 19th: It swung back and forth.
Thursday, November 20th: She squeaked like a startled mouse.
Friday, November 21st: Bernadette charged ahead.
Fun stuff as we march our way through November. For now we let the prompts rest, coming back to each in their turn next week. Have a fabulous Friday and a wonderful weekend beyond. And if you get some time, start jotting down the ideas for stories that have been noodling around in your head, but you haven’t had time to write. Then see if you can find a favorite. See you Monday.
Ten til Midnight 