wyrdbyrd

Author bio:

Last year I completed my second NaNoWriMo and won my first. The first year I managed to participate at all, my word count was just ... sad. I could not seem to gather enough enthusiasm to write fiction, even despite arguments that non-fiction isn't "real writing". Oddly, I've been hearing for a few decades now that I'm a really good writer by a lot of people who haven't tried to pressure me into writing fiction.

Everybody is a genius.
But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree,
it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
- Albert Einstein

Last year I took a few memoir writing classes at the Richard Hugo House in Seattle and was very inspired to write a series of non-fiction essays about my alcoholic father. The project was in direct response to a relative I met in 2006 who told me that they knew almost nothing about my father and wanted to learn more. I wasn't agonizing over plot developments or characters writing themselves, but I did dredge up a lot of old ghosts. I think this was good for me in a number of ways.

After I won I got myself a treat from the Office of Letters and Light store: a copy of "Ready, Set, Novel!" and a pack of badges; I was also recently gifted a copy of Chris Batty's "No Plot? No Problem!". This year I am trying my hand at fiction, if for no other reason than to try to ease the trauma of last year. eek.