Hey everyone! In case you missed it, #wordbound is back as of this past week! We’re officially on Week #25 after a bit of a summer break, and I couldn’t be more excited about getting back into the regular swing of writing with you guys.

This week’s prompt was a blogging specific one, and it was: What’s something you’ve always considered writing but haven’t yet?

The interesting thing about #NaNoWriMo (and having done it 11 times) is that most of my really big ideas I’ve at least attempted a first NaNo draft of. And while most of those projects I would probably entirely rewrite rather than attempt any sort of editing pass… it does help me sleep at night knowing that at least one version of many of my favorite ideas exist in some workable form.

There are a few things I’ve always wanted to try my hand at but haven’t, but I’d say those are much more of idea fragments, rather than full-fledged projects. Anything that gets past the fragment stage usually ends up just getting written in November.

Here are some ideas I’ve had and may come back to some time:

1. I’ve been wanting to write a series of weird short stories, ones that don’t have much to do with each other but still feel somewhat like they go together. I’ve maybe already written some things that would work with this idea, but I haven’t come up with any kind of defining thread so it’s a perpetual back burner project.
2. I talked about this in a blog post recently, but I’ve wanted to write something that involves North Dakota and my family heritage and the midwest for many years now. I’m still working out exactly what that project might look like, and how best to incorporate real history and traditions into a fictional story.
3. A few years ago Joe and I got in a car wreck which left us stranded in a snowy highway town in Montana, and I’ve had it in my head since then to write a paranormal version of that experience. I imagine that could be a short story. I really want to write it.
4. I’ve also been sitting on a non-fiction road trip idea in which I would write a series of blog posts about the various stops along the way. I first had the idea for the road trip a few years ago, and mapped out all the stops and how long it would take me, but then I never actually went on the trip. This is still something I would love to do.

I can’t think of anything else specific to share! Right now I am very focused on trying to actually finish a project that I haven’t let my mind drift too far into the realm of new ideas, because new ideas are attractive and shiny and distracting.

So many of the books I’d love to share with you guys someday are half-realized NaNoWriMo drafts in desperate need of more work, so I’m just trying to learn the focus needed to take first drafts to the next level. Taking writing classes and studying novel-writing as a craft has both armed me with the tools to hopefully do this, but also the additional self-doubt of realizing my story’s flaws more clearly. One step forward, two steps back. But I am trying to write every day. Even when it’s hard. Even when I walk through a bookstore and feel that crushing knowledge that thousands of amazing books are already out there… but possibly there are people who’d want mine too?

My goal is to finish the first draft of my current project by November 1st, in which case I’m hoping I can pick up one of these other ideas as a nice palate cleanser.

We’ll see, though. November creeps closer every day and I have a ton of work ahead of me.

So technically I already answered the prompt for the first week of #wordbound in my announce post, but I didn’t want to miss out on the fun of using it as an excuse to do more writing this week. So here I am! Writing more!

First off, the response to #wordbound so far has been incredible. Many of your blog posts have made me teary, and I’m so excited to do this with you guys all year long. And this week wasn’t even a fiction prompt!

The plan for the year is to start each month with a blogging prompt, something to regularly remind us why we write, what we love about it, and why it’s worthy of making time for. The rest of the month I’ll share “regular” prompts, which are meant to inspire fiction but can really be used for any kind of writing you want to do. There’s already such a staggering number of you following the Twitter and Instagram account – I’m just so delighted!

My writing goals for 2017:

• Complete an actual, real, solid draft of my Renaissance Faire book that I am happy with
• Update my blog more regularly
• Share some of what I write with the general public – not enough to spoil the book, of course, but a sentence here, an unrelated short story there. I’ve kept my writing in for so long… I want to start sharing more. Even if it’s scary.

What #wordbound means to me:

I already addressed this in the announce post, as I said – but I think can elaborate even more. And honestly, it might change for me too, as the year progresses. Right now, I’m realizing that no matter what slew of crazy new hobbies I take on… I always come back to writing, in one way or another.

I started writing my first book when I was seven or eight. I hand wrote it on special paper I got from school and illustrated it with crayons. When I turned eleven, I organized round robins with a few friends from school, and we literally mailed notebooks to each other over the summer to keep the stories going. In late middle school I discovered fanfiction. In early college I discovered NaNoWriMo. No matter what stage in my life, writing always found its way back in, and honestly – that feels like being #wordbound. I’m bound to my words. They always find me.

So this year, I don’t want to wait for the words to find me. I’m taking an active role in being the one doing the finding, and I’m going to do it every single week.

Happy writing, everyone. 🙂