Writer Nights

in the most general aesthetic terms possible

1600s: most witch-hunts ended in this century. no witches were burned in North America; they were hanged or in one case pressed to death

1700s: the American Revolution. Marie Antoinette. the French Revolution. the crazy King George. most pirate movies

1800-1830: Jane Austen! Pride and Prejudice! those dresses where the waist is right under one’s boobs and men have a crapton of facial hair inside high collars

1830-1900: Victorian. Les Miserables is at the beginning, the Civil War is in the middle, and Dracula is at the end

1900-1920: Edwardian. Titanic, World War I, the Samantha books from American Girl, Art Nouveau

1920s: Great Gatsby. Jazz Age. Flappers and all that. most people get this right but IT IS NOT VICTORIAN. STUFF FROM THIS ERA IS NOT VICTORIAN. DO NOT CALL IT VICTORIAN OR LIST IT ON EBAY AS VICTORIAN. THAT HAPPENS SURPRISINGLY OFTEN GIVEN HOW STAGGERING THE VISUAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ERAS IS. also not 100 years ago yet, glamour.com “100 years of X” videos. you’re lazy, glamour.com. you’re lazy and I demand my late Edwardian styles

People: Then… don’t write?

N E W S F L A S H 

Yeah, that’s the Goal – but it’s not what it’s about

NaNoWriMo is about sitting down, starting a project, and learning to manage that project and keep going even when it gets hard

it’s about building skills and forming habits and developing discipline and learning more about yourself as a creator so you can get a sense for what writing methods do/don’t work for you

its about trying things – about making discoveries and making mistakes, and about making progress without getting mired in the minutia so you end the month with more words than you had when you started

It’s framed like a contest ‘cause goals and prizes make things fun, but you’re only really playing against yourself

Writing is a lonely business. Ninety percent of your time is spent in front of your computer or at your notebook, dragging words out of your head and forcing them onto paper. If you don’t have people in your life who are encouraging and supportive and understanding, it’s ten times harder.

NaNoWriMo gives you access to a worldwide community of writers just like you.

Engaging with the NaNoWriMo community is how I met some of my closest friends and critique partners. It’s how I joined fandom. It’s one of the reasons I volunteer for NaNoWriMo every year now: because I want to give other people the encouragement to follow their dreams to write a novel.

Maybe it gets published. Maybe it doesn’t. But for many of the people I’ve seen, publication isn’t necessarily the end goal. It’s about finally starting the project that you always said you would, and finding a group of like-minded people who are in the same boat. 

Portions:  Infinite

Ingredients:

An aesthetic you like

A question you want answered

Something that pisses you off

At least one (1) total dumbass to suffer every plot point you rain down upon their head, but this is totally up to you. (I have it on good authority that GRRM likes to use 100+, so go wild)

Method: There is no method, only madness.

Serving: