In my writing I’ve always been inspired by the visual, which is why I seek out opportunities to view visual art in its many forms: film, photography, painting, sculpture, pottery, book arts, collage. In our “Write a Novel in a Month Class” today we did a series of writing sprints: 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, and then 20 minutes. I was completely surprised when characters inspired by the art of Finnish ceramic sculptor Kim Simonsson walked onto the page. I’d seen “The Fantastical Worlds of Kim Simonsson” exhibit at the American Swedish Institute this summer, and I admit to have fallen in love with his unusual and intriguing depictions of children and animals. I don’t know where this path may lead, but for now, I’ll just follow the tracks. No editing, no turning back, just keep writing.

I gave up today at the moment I hit 1500 words to be added to my first week’s total of 10,839. In class I won a prize for the most hand-written pages at the end of the first week of NaNoWriMo: a small sketchbook with a quote by Ernest Hemingway on the cover: “Write drunk. Edit sober.”

#NaNoWriMo18