Until I joined a writer’s critique group at a local library, I had never heard the term “NaNoWriMo”. I thought maybe it was some kind of Japanese thing like anime or something.  The term is short for, and a fun way to say, “National Novel Writing Month”.
From November 1-Novemeber 30, writers participating in NaNoWriMo commit to complete a 50,000-word manuscript*. That’s a pretty decent commitment in and of itself. But then you add to it the art of storytelling. What’s the point of spending your time adding 50,000 words to a manuscript if nobody will want to read it?
For that reason, I have decided the month of October would be the perfect time to launch a blog series entitled, “Just Let Me Write” This series will feature lessons that I have learned during my short time as a writer. And will continue to feature updates as I continue learning and developing in my storytelling.
I’m sure, at this time, you may be asking one of the most common questions I get when attending public events like school assemblies or book signings: How long have you been writing?
Since I was five or six. How long have you been writing?
I wrote my first story in kindergarten or first grade. It was a little flip book about Jack the Dog. No idea where I came up with the name, can’t remember what the book was about (probably have it buried somewhere around here) but it was my first story.
From there, I began writing through all kinds of outlets: poems, scripts, children’s stories, short stories, book series, parodies, and song lyrics. I loved reading books because of the adventures I was able to take with the characters. For the same reason, I loved writing even more. With writing, I could create the characters I would be taking adventures with.
In 2007, I published my first book and I was extremely excited to finally have something “professional” to share with my friends and family members who had taken interest in my stories. I’d no longer have to waste a ream of computer paper to share what I had written.
Around 2013, I published my first woman’s novel Annabelle’s Boots in addition to many of the children’s books I had worked on during my teenage years.
About this same time, I unknowingly became a publishing consultant and ghostwriter. I say ‘unknowingly’ because at the time I was just helping people accomplish their dreams of getting their stories out.
A year later, I found myself professionally ghostwriting for publishing companies.
Through all this, I continued with regular 9-5 jobs and really saw my writing more as a hobby than a profession. I wasn’t comfortable labeling myself as an “author” or “writer” because in my mind I lacked the degrees and book sales to be classified as a professional in the field.
In 2019, I decided to throw out my fears and jump all in. I was an author and I needed to act like one. I launched Teddyfly LLC and decided I would use the platform to feature my books and, if possible, help other writers along the way.
Now, what was the original question? Oh yes, why should you take time to read my blogs during the month of October? What qualifies me to give advice about writing? Let’s just say I got my writer’s education from the School of Hard Knocks located at 321 Writer’s Block.
If you’re looking for some degrees and letters behind my name to back up what I have to say, you’ll probably want to skip this segment of my blog. However, if you don’t mind learning from someone else’s mistakes this is the perfect place for you.
I am so excited to tell you about the thing that excites me most: stories. But this is not one sided. If you have questions about something I’ve said or advice to add please take a moment to do so.
And to all the 2020 NaNoWriMo authors, it will take discipline but you can make it happen!

​*What does 50,000 words in a month look like? Every NaNoWriMo participant would have to write this blog two and a half times daily (approximately 1667 words) for 30 days to complete their goal.

Have you ever had a moment where your life felt like it had come to a screeching halt? Things where moving along and then everything suddenly stopped. That was the end of 2019 for me. Those of you who followed my personal blog or Facebook page saw me blogging and speaking at schools. Then suddenly out of nowhere, radio silence.

It was me. All me, getting in my own way. I'm not sure if things weren't working out how I expected them to or if I was fighting them to work out, sabotaging myself along the way. But over the past few weeks the fog has lifted and I'm seeing things a little clearer now. Taking it one day at a time and focusing closely to stay on track.
This year I've been fortunate to find myself in the company of some very talented and very successful people. People that asked me what I was willing to sacrifice to get where I needed to go. This question shifted things.

I spent the majority of last year, fighting labels. What does that mean? Well it's kind of like this. Suppose I walked into an event with a "Hello my name is Nicole" sticker on my shirt all the while not realizing that I had six other "Hello my name is..." stickers stuck on my back. People are calling me by all these names and I'm confused as to what is going on.

Last year, I had people tell me that I was really good at public speaking. Well, that's funny because I don't see myself as a public speaker at all! It freaks me out- like a lot!

I also had people tell me that I'm very calming, whatever that means. Obviously, they haven't consulted with the people I live with.

I won't bore you with the list of things people labeled me with but it really had my head spinning. And when my head starts spinning I typically lie down. Only this wasn't a headache, it was life happening all around me so I couldn't lie down and take a nap. Instead I laid down within myself and shut off everything I was doing- writing, blogging, public speaking. I got into a funk as some might say. All the lights were going off and I had no idea I was the one flipping all the switches. I burrowed under my covers in escape from the confusion all around me and switched to auto-pilot.

Why am I sharing this? Because I bet you have labels that you are fighting as well. Labels that you don't understand so you're running from them, ignoring them, even trying to distance yourself from them- either on purpose or unknowingly.

The struggle is real. Boredom will arise. Rough days will come. There is no easy button to life. However, we can choose in every moment to stop, breathe, and find something to delight in. The frustrating streak on the kitchen window can be complained about every day for the rest of our lives or wiped away in a moment as we delight in the clearer vision.