NANO Guest Post – Calling on NaNoCreatures

After a lot of thinking I have decided to open the doors of findingmycreature to welcome guest posts in the month of November. Why November? Because of NaNoWriMo of course.

My memories of NanoWriMo take me back to an exhilarating high, summer air and heatwaves – got to love the Southern Hemisphere!

I remember between crazed moments of writing I would devour as many blogs and writing related material as possible. That’s how I stumbled across Holly Lisle’s writing courses and I have been serious about writing ever since.

So it got me thinking – wouldn’t it be wonderful to have other writer creatures involved on this blog during November to help inspire, cheer and get those creative juices stirring?

For those of you who are interested in contributing there are two categories you can choose to be involved in.

OPTION 1:

If you are participating in NaNoWriMo this year and interested in being featured as a NaNoCreature you can register your interest to findingmycreature [at] gmail [dot] com

Make sure to include a link to your blog and I will get back to you.

^Ideally you will be participating in NaNoWriMo this November, it doesn’t really make any sense profiling you and prodding you with questions otherwise. Or maybe it’s just me.

^You would be required to submit a photograph of yourself, not an avatar, although they are cute 🙂

OPTION 2:

Alternatively you can submit a writing related post in the spirit of NaNoWriMo and do a NanoCreature Guest Post. I would like those featured to draw from topics ranging from anything as long as you can relate it back to writing e.g. generating ideas, structure, benefits of meditation , overcoming roadblocks etc. Email  me with a topic proposal to findingmycreature [at] gmail [dot] com

Word length – not a novel.

Also, please provide a couple of images to complement the post linking back to the source.

^I will consider non-NaNo participants for this option

REQUIREMENTS:

One of the main requirements I am looking for in a featured guest is that they must have an active blog and a genuine passion for the art and craziness that is writing a novel. It would be nice to be considered in return if you were hoping to host guests on your own blog but not a requirement or the reason I’m am opening my blog up to other creatures. I genuinely want to make this place an exciting and inspiring place to visit during November!

November is an amazing month where creative juices flow and writers all around the world get into touch with that inner creature within. How exciting is that?

I would love to hear from you if you are interested in being a part of the NaNoCreature blog segments.

Love and light,

Anushka xx

A Muse Date

My muse has been a bit quiet lately and that in general is a bad sign, a very, very bad sign. Warning bells normally go up at this stage because it means that the essence of my soul is wilting away (not to be melodramatic or anything). Normally  I can catch these signs early because creative creatures such as I tend to take these frustrations out on their significant other, or cat, but I don’t have a cat. Back to my point, since I relocated to another country in a different hemisphere to pursue other creative projects all by myself I don’t have anyone to be pissed off at, annoyed with or damn right emotional with. Honestly, people who date such creative creatures need a trophy of some sort, like really, even I wouldn’t want to date me when in those moods. So what I’m trying to say here is that I didn’t realise that my constant naps, grumpiness and general lack of motivation to do anything is my way of saying ‘Hello!!! CREATIVE CREATURE INSIDE IS DYING!’ Again, apologies for the melodrama, I blame the capslock.

Still dubious that this was the problem I took myself, laptop and notebook (oh and that sulking muse) with me to the nearest coffee shop and just scribbled and looked up past forgotten scraps of writing which was surprisingly good (for mere scraps), Next think I know hours and I mean hours passed without me realising and I am in a bubble of pure bliss. Sigh. The creative juices are flowing.

What can I say? That date with my muse sparked a much needed idea so I have something to work on until I am able to plunge fully into revision land (Early April). I almost forgot what it felt like when an amazing story idea engulfs all your senses at the same time.

Therefore, I have decided to do things a little differently this time and post tidbits of my progress as I go along so I’m not just living in my head such as word count and deadlines. I also decided to go completely crazy and let someone actually read it which goes against my rule of not allowing anyone within breathing distance of my first draft. There’s still time to retract that offer so we’ll see. The plan to this madness is to desensitize  me to the nervousness that will inevitably follow when I send soon-to-be-revised manuscript to a trusted reader/writer friend to look over. I’m already getting heart palpitations at the thought… (must find cat to get me through such times).

So the novel planning awaits…as much as a seat-of-your-pants writer can plan anyway.

Love and light

🙂

“It takes courage to be a writer. Courage to face yourself, work through your demons & make your art.”

-Terry Rossio

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