"Starting the Journey," Pep Talk #1 - Bethany Spiller

This pep talk was written by Bethany Spiller in collaboration with NoQuWriCo.

A journey of a thousand miles begins long before the first step. An idea is formulated. A course is mapped. Luggage is packed and rest is encouraged and to-do lists are checked off and rewritten.

Many of us have spent this last month preparing for a journey of our own. This journey is not one of a thousand miles, but of forty-nine thousand, nine-hundred, and ninety words, one which already began, even before our writing “once upon a time….”

The hard work of preparing is over now. We've daydreamed in our day jobs and scribbled in our scratchpads and prepared the playlists and our minds, and now it's finally time to do the even harder work, to take that first step, that first word, the beginnings of a masterpiece in the making.

As we begin this journey, here's some questions to think over.

What does your map look like?

What steps have you taken to plan out your story’s journey? Do you have a detailed itinerary of what your novel will look like, or do you plan to just dive in and hope to find it (and maybe a little of yourself) along the way? Do you have any goals for how much ground you want to cover each time you sit down to write? Have you scheduled enough rest stops to keep from burning out?

What attractions await you?

What drew you to this particular idea? Are there any exciting monuments, characters, or activities you're excited to see in your story? Is there a scene so exciting that it's almost worth more to you than the destination? What relationships do you want to see develop along the way?

What’s in your luggage?

What do you love that you chose to bring with you? What elements of other stories you've loved inspired this journey? What have you written before that you're excited to re-visit here? What familiar landmarks await?

As you take the first steps in this month’s journey, we encourage you to think through these questions and share your answers. Whatever you plan to accomplish this month, I hope you achieve it, as we begin this year's NoQuWriCo adventure.