Another Year of NanoWrimo

As many of you will recall, for the last two years I have participated in National Novel Writing Month.  I'm thrilled to have won both years, and of course find myself wishing to participate again this year.

I am also currently working on my Master's Thesis in a capstone course with Capella University.  This involves a lot of writing all by itself, so do I really want to add the challenge of writing 50,000 words in a single month on top of that?  I found myself floundering in my answer to that question.  Then when I was talking to a friend who was considering Nanowrimo this year, I told them the thing I tell everyone.

"Why not try?  Worse case scenario, you don't win, but will have a decent start on a novel.  Is that really losing?"

My own words rang true in my head, and I realized I needed to take my own sage advice, and at least try.

So I began thinking of ways to simplify the writing process.  The first idea: write a sequel to one of the other novels I have written, this way the prep work is done for me.  The first, Shades of Magic, is currently available on Amazon and Kindle, and I have had requests for a sequel to it.  The other, Liberty Springs, is still in the editing process, but has content I absolutely love and a really unique concept.

I began pondering which sequel to do, settled on Liberty Springs and began brainstorming ideas for the new book.  I stalled.  Hard.  Nothing inspired me at all, I just wasn't feeling it.  I hopped to Shades of Magic for a moment, but quickly discarded it as well.  Am I doomed to not be inspired for Nano?

Last night, inspiration came in the form of the Tao.  I found myself perusing the Tao Te Ching for inspiration (a common habit of mine) and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

What if I write about Taoism?  I love learning about new things when I read a fiction story, so why not introduce someone to the concepts of Taoism.  I don't want to write a religious book, though.  So what if I call the Tao something else?  What if I introduce the lessons taught in the Tao Te Ching through storytelling?  The juices are flowing now!!

Thank you Tao :D