September marks the beginning of NaNoWriMo prep. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, an worldwide event in which people of all ages set out to write a novel in 30 days. If it sounds like insanity, believe me, it is. But also believe me when I say it is one of the best things I’ve ever done. It does wonders for conquering perfectionism, growing perseverance, getting those creative juices flowing, learning to work with deadlines, improving your writing, learning to express yourself and loads of other things.
Here’s something I wrote a few years ago about writing that I thought I would share with you…
They told me to go to bed. Yet here I am, writing by the faintest flicker of the ember lamp.
My mind is too awake with the colors, mysteries and secret whisperings of the worlds. I do not know where to start. The colors, sights, sounds and feelings are resounding in my mind, yet are too infant to start to unfold a plot, a story, an adventure.
I fear that if I fall asleep now– my mind busied with its many other duties, its commonplace, worldly worries– I’ll forget of these things.
These seconds of glancing through the knothole of the door that separates earth from all the imaginary worlds yet to be created. I feel light and airy, excited and jittery with these visions, while also feeling a great sense of sacred duty and dedication, solemn and serious about carrying the heavy weight of storytelling.
Storytelling is not easy. It is fighting internal battles. It is dealing with conflicting emotions. It is the choice to reveal or reveil. Storytelling is a vulnerable process. It strips me of my pretenses, my masks, my armor. Everything that makes me who others think I am. I am unprotected, unguarded.
I can only present my stories and leave them to the world. To judge and poke fun. To ignore. To be disinterested. Or to find comfort and refuge within the pages of my story. Perhaps when I put words to my struggles and journey, others will find feelings, thoughts and emotions that they were never able to express with their own words.
I feel this stirring again to write once more. I am getting the itch to express the clouds and color and notions I have yet to discover. I feel like laughing and crying all at once. Dearest friend, I’ve missed you. Writing is like wringing my heart out, ridding it of all the emotions, thoughts and dreams. And putting it down on paper.
May this be an inspiration to you to tell your story and to encourage others to share their stories. As Thanhha Lai once said in her book Inside Out and Back Again. “I…hope…that you sit close to someone you love and implore that person to tell and tell and tell their story.”
More writing resources: Creative Writing: 5 Tips to Help You Get in the Zone
This is For All the Lonely Writers
️📝 I love to write. Writing is the way I express myself. I love how the pictures that run through my head, others can have too, just by looking at some scribbles on a page. The exchange between a writer and a reader is practically mental telepathy. Here are some tips that help me when I write.
This past week I attended the 
Through Wardrobe Doors 