Okay, I know we’re already a week into October, but I’ve still got goals, and I’ve only just finished scooping my brain off the floor and pouring it back into my skull following my September Story Challenge.
Anyway, it’s October. Spooky Season. The month preceding November in which writers worldwide descend into the voluntary madness that is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month: nanawrimo.org). I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo to varying degrees of success on multiple occasions and will be doing so again. Last year, I did no prep for NaNo, as I’d decided to write a novella and include my prep work (worldbuilding, outlining, research, etc.) in my word count for the month. This year, I want to work on a novel I’ve had on the back burner for a while, and so it will require prep work. So let’s get into what that entails.
NaNo Prep and Other October Writing Goals
So, the novel I want to write is a secondary world fantasy, which means that it requires a lot of worldbuilding. I’ve written in this world before, so I have some of the magic systems codified, but this story takes place on a different continent with a different culture, so I have to focus my worldbuilding efforts on developing this culture, which requires research and a lot of thinking. I also need to expand the magic system because the other stories I’ve written in this world have taken place in a part of the world where magic was less prevalent.
This story also takes place a couple of centuries after the other novel that I’ve written in this world, so I need to look at the geopolitical landscape and how it’s changed in the intervening centuries and whether that even matters in the context of this story.
Most importantly, I need to take a look at the characters. Some of them have lived in my brain for years and I know pretty well, others don’t have names yet, which is a problem since they’re Point of View (POV) characters and will be important to the outcome of the plot, so I should probably get to know them, yeah?
As far as plot goes, I tend to be a plot first type of writer because I like intricate plots, and this story is no exception. I have a rough outline of the plot, but it’s still got some gaps that I need to fill. These gaps can only be filled through a better understanding of the characters and the world they live in. First things first, this October will be spent getting to know my characters and the world, and then I will “finalize” my outline. However, no outline is truly finalized as even the most planned-out story changes in the drafting process.
Besides prepping for NaNoWriMo, I also want to keep working on short stories, namely revising stories that I wrote last month that I’ve received rejections on. Given the breakneck pace of last month’s writing, some of these stories were clearly flawed when I submitted them. Now I have the time to refine them to resubmit.
There are also a couple of anthologies I want to work on writing stories for that I didn’t get to last month, so I’ll be working on writing and revising stories for those.
Sewtober
What’s Sewtober? You ask. It’s something, to my knowledge, that I’ve made up.
During October, many artists participate in a daily prompt challenge called Inktober. Sewtober is the sewing equivalent, except not because I won’t be working off prompts, and I’ve already missed out on the first week.
But I would still like to challenge myself to first, finish projects I’ve started over the last few months and, second, start projects that I’ve wanted to make but haven’t mustered the motivation to work on.
Here are the things I want to definitely work on sewing this month:
- bind the sleeves and add buttonholes/buttons to a sleeveless blouse
- Add cuffs and waistband to a pair of stretch velvet pants
- Finish a half-sewn canvas jacket that I finally have all the supplies for
- Sew a wallet
- Sew a set of Halloween themed napkins, placemats, and table runner commissioned by a friend
- Sew a t-shirt
- Sew a dress
- Finish re-hemming a dress that I started but did not finish raising the hem on
I’ve also been thinking long and hard about whether I want to monetize my sewing hobby by selling small sewn goods online through Esty or another online venue. And I’m still torn. On the one hand, I have a massive collection of fabric that I could use to make things like masks, wallets, bookmarks, tote bags, etc. On the other hand, sewing is something I do to destress. Do I really want to add the pressure to maintain an inventory, fulfill orders, and pay taxes, which turning my hobby into a business would entail? I’m not sure.
But, I guess I’d be up to opening myself up for commissions. If you want masks, or placemats, or a wallet or any other non-clothing sewn item, feel free to contact me, and I’ll work with you to make that happen.
Thanks so much for reading. I hope you’re keeping well and safe and sane.