NoQuWriCo 2026 Bulletin #1 November 1st

1,667 Words

True worth is in being, not seeming,—

In doing, each day that goes by,

Some little good—not in dreaming

Of great things to do by and by. Nobility, by Alice Cary

"To Whom it may concern," the paper read. It must be from the Archives— only they could have this sort of crisp, mechanical text. Anybody else had no access to the old typewriters, and almost certainly no reason to write in the first place.

Prompt: "To Whom it may concern…"

Not you, though. You'd trained for the Archives. You'd sweated and squinted and strove for something sacred— remembering. Most folks didn't care. Even some of the archivists didn't anymore. To you, though, the puzzle of Before was like the beans of the vanilla orchid— intoxicating, and hard to get to, and even harder to find.

Qummunity Challenge: Reach out to some other writers to find accountability buddies to write with. (Don't know where to start? Check out the Sprints, Crawls, and Word Wars group.)

The weight of the envelope hardly seemed real. Finally, a chance to prove yourself as a worthy archivist. The chance to remember that you'd been looking for all your life. It was strange, though. You read the letter again, trying to puzzle out what sort of assignment this could be.

Dare: Write for 45 minutes… twice!

"This burden of Memory I give to you, from one who knew the end of Before. There is a treasure locked behind apathy: a history muddled to make clear. Seek what is lost, and bring vibrancy to what has withered. The way to truth will reveal itself to you, if you look for it.

Question: What ideas are you excited to explore with this story?