NoQu 25: The Fire Unquenched

This November, step away from reality and into a whimsical adventure as you write.

Inspiration is a hunter, prowling through the rocks, watching silently until the time to pounce. And when inspiration pounces, you become completely consumed in its fire. It becomes your emperor, and you its pawn. It's a gale force wind and you are its sail. Barely containing its whims. Spilling over with magic.

And you want that, don't you?

It's the kind of thing that captures your imagination, makes you want to chase it.

And chase it you will, tonight.

The moon is full, the kind of milky brilliance that you have to draw the curtains for, so a little of its magic can spill onto the cold hardwood floor. A low fire on the opposite wall makes the rug orange, just warm enough to chase away the chill that nips your toes. A cup of lukewarm tea, half-drank, set aside since you'd mostly taken its warmth into your fingers in between pages.

You'd grabbed a blanket to wrap up in awhile ago. It made writing a little harder, what with the bulk of its cozy folds getting in the way of your hands and making you so... sleepy....

Dreams do funny things, most especially when there's something different in the air. It makes you believe in magic, and choose strange choices and hear strange music. Even now, in your room, the world of magic and the world of reality come strangely close, the wall between them shimmering and rippling in the moonlit breeze.

If you're not careful, you'll find yourself somewhere else- somewhere inspitation will seize you and not let go.

Welcome to NoQuWriCo 2025: The Fire Unquenched. This year, you will embark on a magical quest as you unlock the secrets of inspiration and ignite your imagination like a phoenix reborn. In this topic, you can announce your project that you will be taking with you on this quest! While the classic project is a new novel, you are welcome to do any other type of writing project, so long as it's written by your own fingers!

I just wanted to tell everyone who commented and interacted this NoQu THANK YOU. I've been writing the bulletins for NoQu for the past 4 years and it's been running for 5. It has really warmed my heart to see real community coming together and writing, regardless of how many words we got in.

I know in the absence of NaNoWriMo, many challenges have arisen to take its place, and I know that NoQu has a special role to play in that list. You all know that, and that's why you're here. Something about our message and values drew you here, and something inside you that wanted to be part of building something made you stay.

I am so grateful for each and every one of you.

If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

This year's bulletin was the last of the themes I remember brainstorming with Edna…

Well, if this challenge didn't go how I expected it to go, it went how I probably should have expected it to go. 50,000 words in one month as a beginning writer with a full-time job is too ambitious, even for Caesar. As I drew nearer to the end, I saw that my trajectory would land me around 25,000 instead, which suited me fine. 25,000 is a nice, tidy number, and half of the goal is a nice, tidy fraction. When I got past 20,000 words, there were five days left, so I said to myself, "This will work out perfectly. My average is 1,000 words per day, so there's just enough time to finish the last 5,000 and-"

At 11:59 PM, November 30, 2025, my document had 22,813 words.

Phooey.

That being said, I'm not done with this writing project yet. Theoretically, I could save the second half for…

It's the final day of NoQu! Letting go of November is a bittersweet thing, but thankfully it isn't time to just yet.

Enjoy the remaining hours of this challenge, and may this final installment of the bulletin give you a good last boost of inspiration.

💡 Prompt: "Are you ready to go home?"

⏳ Dare: Attempt to write 300 words in 3 minutes 3 times.

❓ Question: What lesson has your writing taught you this November?

🎧 Ambiance: Enchanted Island