For the past two years I’ve written a novel for National Novel Writing Month.  It was a welcome distraction & radical departure from my life.

It also disciplined me to write 50,000 words in 30 days, which seemed really daunting at first but was actually doable.

Even though I just accomplished what I like to call zero drafts or just a really raw initial drafts each time, it was still fun and an amazing experience for me.

This year, I’m taking a turn.  I’ve decided to write a play. If it doesn’t like the structure, I can always turn it into a novel, but the idea came to me and seemed to scream “play”.

I read Harry Potter & The Cursed Child and loved it.

I’ve talked about & reviewed “Pieces of Me”  which I read pre-transplant & loved.

Both of these works inspired me to write a fictionalized work of the continuum of transplant experiences & cell memory through the eyes of a recipient, exploring connections to their donors as they make their new organs at home.

Some might be very subtle ways as they don’t know much if anything about their donor.  Some may be within the published scientific phenomenon explored (like changing tastes in music, or favorite foods for a small example)  & some may not even be able to be explained by science.

I’m hoping to do a full 3-act play in the end run.  Small ensemble casting. Trying to also shed light on multi-system lesser known diseases or transplant cases.  Hoping at some point it can be done for Gift of Life, or in a school,  or some other venue.

We shall see.

It could as I start writing turn into something wholly different, but I like the brainstorms I’m getting.

I’m focusing on writing the meat of the play first in November & then doing another pass after that’s done for the actual screen setting & formatting unless I get stuck.

I think that breaks it down in a manageable way for me since I’ve never attempted this before.

But I’m not one to shy away from a challenge just because I’ve never done it, or learned the “proper” way of doing it.  I’m looking at sources to learn more but using the same approach I start most of my projects – with a blank page.

NaNo (nickname for NaNoWriMo) itself has an interesting history with screenplays/scripts that not too many know about.

They used to have a project that ran concurrently for about 5 years called Script Frenzy.  It was discontinued though due to declining participation & donations.

But it’s still nice to see they offer support for us “Rebels” too who do something other than a novel.

I try to challenge myself in a new way each year.  This year is on the level of my first novel challenge, just trying something completely new to see if I can do it.

I’m meeting up a few Wednesdays as I can with my local group of NaNo participants I met in my last two years to just discuss brainstorms, notes, or plot things out a little (thus what we call Plotober).

I’m still primarily flying by the seat of my pants with this, but it’s worked before so it’s worth the risk.

Past Nano Journey Posts:

The Night before NaNoWriMo…

Finish Line Crossed

Halfway There…

I Dared Myself & Won

The Finish Line Is Near

Off To the Races Tomorrow