It’s well established at this point that the organization NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is dead and gone. It’s also well established at this point that writers are stubborn creatures, and November has and always will be Writing Month™, which means we’re gonna be spending this month writing 50k anyways!
Well, okay, it depends on what any given author’s personal goal is—there are some folks, like those participating in Novella November, who are aiming for 30k; there’s the folks participating in ProWritingAid’s Novel November (NovNov!) aiming for 50k. And there’s plenty of folks who just want to do their own thing, so they’ve set their own independent goals.
My local writing group made up our own personal challenge. Our goal is 50k. I’m aiming for 60k, but at the rate I’m going...we’ll see. I may not swing it.
So, how are things going for my big writing month? Let’s take a look!
I set two goals for this month. Goal #1: pluck away at The Divine Archive’s currently unnamed sequel (okay, a mild lie. I have a working title, but it makes no sense given the context of the actual book, so it probaby won’t stick). Goal #2: make some headway on my cozy fantasy mail club project!
GOAL #1: TDA Sequel
I started drafting this sequel early this year, but because of other things coming down the pipeline (Floodwaters, Blood of the Gods’ edits) I’ve had to sideline it. For many, many, many months.
Ideally, I’ve wanted to spend November steamrolling my way through the first draft, but so far I’ve spent about ¼ of the month rewriting old words & refamiliarizing myself with what I’d already written, and ¼ staring at the same dang chapter (curse you, chapter 12!) because I know what I want to write but can’t seem to get it down.
I’m deep in what I consider to be The Big Act 1 Plot Point, and there’s so much pressure to get it right! It doesn’t help that I know I under-write (I tend to skip over most physical descriptions of things because my brain is so focused on “does it push the plot forward? No? Then don’t write it”). As a result I do feel like I’m missing a lot. The Big Act 1 Plot Point is one of those things that’s gonna lean really heavily into sensory details, atmospheric vibes, and my main characters’ collective rage. Karina’s angry at her parents. Stranger, whose real name I’ve sworn myself to secrecy on, is angry at the people in power. And Jonah...well, he’s just going through it. Poor guy needs some therapy after the events of book 1. And by “some,” I mean, “a lot.”
The rage is first draft stuff. The sensory details will be second draft stuff.
I want to finalize Blood of the Gods’ manuscript by the end of December. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from publishing Floodwaters, it’s that I need about 20x more time for formatting and finalizing things. So, for now, I want to throw every fiber of my being into TDA #2, so that when December hits I can turn back toward final pass edits and proofreading BotG.
TDA #2 currently has 29,000 words. Nothing to sneeze at, but I wish at this point in the month I had more than that.
GOAL #2: Cozy Fantasy
What’s this? A new project?
As I’ve been working on solidifying my business, Corvid Arcana, I’ve been contending with a rather difficult conundrum: I have too many things I’m interested in doing. You’re supposed to pick a niche when you build a brand—but how can I pick a niche when I like existing in multiple niches? I’m not exactly the most well-known for creating consistent content (just look at my Instagram, that thing’s a mess).
I have, of course, my publishing imprint Corvid Arcana Literary—but my interests extend beyond simply wanting to write and publish books. I want to do art, too! So...how does one combine art and writing into a product? Well, my solution? A snail mail club. The concept: someone pays a small recurring fee to receive a monthly letter in the mail, featuring an art print, a sticker, and a short story.
Now, this isn’t anywhere remotely near launch—I’ve got a lot of logistics to work through. But I’ve started writing out some of the short stories, all one page long, told in the form of a letter. Initially I’d wanted to write out twelve of these cozy fantasy letters this November, but I think a more realistic goal would be to write maybe three or four good, solid ones. I have three right now, but I’m not happy with them, so I’ll be doing some rewriting, some editing, to get them where I want them.
These letters take place in the world of _____ (I don’t have a name yet LOL) and follow a single main character, Juniper “June” Redbriar, as she writes letters to her partner, Marigold, who is for the time being living in another town. Yes, it’s lesbian. Because I’m incapable of not making things queer. It’s baked into the mission statement for my business: prioritizing the representation of queerness in the fantasy genre.
I’ve currently written about 1,500 words for My Darling Marigold.
Anyhow, between those two projects, I’ve got plenty of work to chew on. Then, of course, I’ve got personal projects, too. I’ve wrapped up a freelance coloring book project, which means I can finally start dedicating my art time to making tarot cards and looking into starting livestreaming! I haven’t done a livestream since 2020, and I’d love to get back into it, because it was always a joy to stream.
If you feel like getting ahead of the curve, you can find my Twitch account here. I’ll hopefully be doing a prototype stream sometime soon, but I doubt I’ll be regularly streaming until December at the earliest. The thought is to stream on Saturday afternoons, maybe around 2 or 3pm EST, but I’m open to other ideas if anyone wants to throw some times or days out there. DM me on any social media platform or email [email protected]!
For now, though? November is writing month, so I’m going to keep writing. See you all next month!
Wren L. Rivers
@corvidarcana [Bluesky, Tumblr]
@corvid.arcana [Instagram, TikTok]
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