which means it's NaNoWriMo 2017
"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you." >> Ray Bradbury
It's time to gather your ideas, sharpen pencils (and minds), sit down and begin to write.
And write.
It's November, and time to celebrate National Novel Writing Month 2017. What? You don't have plans for a novel but you've been kicking around ideas for a picture book or memoir? You're in luck - November is also National Picture Month and National Memoir Month. If your genre is poetry or essays, pick up that pen. Sit at the keyboard.
And write.
Celebrate creativity every day this month. Write. Draw. Sing. Dance. Imagine.
Creative Sprint: Six 30-day Challenges to Jumpstart Your Creativity - Noah Scalin & Mica Scalin. Use the last song you remember hearing as your theme for the day (Day 4); write your recipe for happiness (Day 7); retell your favorite book or movie from a different perspective (Day 30).
The Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional - Agustin Fuentes. Humans may not be the only artists on the planet - bowerbirds (Australia & New Guinea) spend "a good deal of time investing in something we call art." Learn other fascinating flights of creativity in Fuentes' book.
Letters to a Young Writer - Colum McCann. Don't let "young" scare you off from reading McCann's brief collection of letters. Even if you can quote from memory all the writing advice...it's good to review occasionally.
Show Your Work! - Austin Kleon. Try writing blackout poetry. Open your mind to creativity. As Kleon advises, "don't turn into human spam."
Looking for more ideas? Check out Your Inner Critic is a Big Jerk: And Other Truths About Being Creative by Danielle Krysa; Spark: How Creativity Works by Julie Burstein; Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer; Journal Sparks by Emily Newberger; and Rip the Page: Adventures in Creative Writing by Karen Benke.
And make time to read November's new books.
Memoirs/Bios: The Mother of Black Hollywood by Jenifer Lewis; Rickie Lee by Rickie Lee Jones; The Vanity Fair Diaries by Tina Brown; Prairie Fires: The Life and Times of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser; Gold Dust Woman: Stevie Nicks by Stephen Davis.
Cookbooks: Tasting Hygge by Leela Cyd; Moto: The Cookbook by Homaro Cantu; Sullivan Street Bakery Cookbook by Jim Lahey; Naturally Vegetarian by Valentina Solfrini; Bread is Gold by Massimo Bottura.
Fiction: Midnight Line by Lee Child; Darker by E.L. James; Hardcore 24 by Janet Evanovich; End Game by David Balducci; In This Moment by Karen Kingsbury; Artemis by Andy Weir.
Celebrate these November days...
1 Howl and Other Poems (Allen Ginsburg) published 1956
National Authors' Day
2 Plan Your Epitaph Day
3 Cliche Day
6-10 National Young Readers' Week
8 Aid and Abet Punsters Day
10 Sesame Street premiere, 1969
Sinking of Edmund Fitzgerald, 1975
13-17 American Education Week
13-19 National Book Awards Week
19-25 National Game and Puzzle Week
23 Fibonacci Day: 11/23 >> 1+1=2; 2+1=3
30 The Joy of Cooking (Irma Rombauer) published 1931
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