Hey writer, this is Stacy with Right It's Scared, and this is a bonus episode. There's no bells, no whistles, no intros, no outros. It's an off-the-cuff episode and probably a little unhinged because I'm so excited. I literally couldn't wait to drop my daughter off at school and get back to the mic to share it with you. So please excuse my rambling, but I want to share a different kind of November writing challenge with you, an extended invitation. So here's the point it's November. And for many writers, including myself, November has traditionally been about productivity. It's this last final push of the year to write something. And in previous years, I, like many of you, I'm sure, have participated in things like NanoRimo, which is gone now, but it was a writing challenge where writers attempted to write 50,000 words of a novel in a month. And as I said, nano's been gone for a couple of years now. But the spirit of people coming together to write is very strong. And there's a lot of organizations out there who are putting on nano-esque type writing challenges. And if you're participating in one of those, I write on, uh, I'm rooting for you. That is awesome. But I am not. I'm doing something different. And I'm calling it fuck around and find out November. And it is just about having fun with writing. No productivity measurements, no word count goals, no button seat time requirement, nothing like that. It's just showing up to explore and play with something. And a listener a while back asked me how to incorporate more play into writing. And uh I did a podcast episode on. Well, here's the opportunity. So let me explain how I got here. It was last week, and I was interviewing Amy Golmacher, uh, who wrote a memo, a beautiful memoir called Terms and Conditions. And I cannot wait for you all to hear that one. So, and if you're interested in memoirs about uh internal growth and self-awareness, go check it out. Again, it's called Terms and Conditions. I give it five stars. Anyway, Amy asked me if I was doing any of the novel writing November nests, and I was thinking about it. I'd been dabbling with a new story while I was waiting on beta reader feedback. So in theory, I'm in the right place, right, to jump in. But to be honest, I just didn't want the pressure. And I haven't really wanted that pressure in the last couple of years. I mean, I'm a mom, and this time of year, my my kid's gonna be out of school for a big break this month. And it's just this time of year's hard. And to be honest, I'm not really sure where I'm going with this story. And I have another idea cooking on the back burner. And what I mean, I don't really know where I'm going. That's kind of true, kind of not. I mean, I have the premise, the character's the conflict, but I'm realizing that the story is different than what I've written before. Uh, it's it's very character-driven, probably the most character-driven thing I've ever attempted. And so that leaves me kind of without an external plot. And I'm a bit stumped. So I don't know, I don't see those goalposts the way I normally do. And I've been writing in October here and there, and it just hasn't felt very good. But I thought to myself, like, okay, wait, what if this is okay? What if maybe instead of deciding that my lack of goalposts means that I don't know enough to begin with this? What if I chose to see it as an invitation to explore and to have fun? And so I was talking with Amy about that, and she said she wasn't participating either because she was still wrapping her head around a story idea, and she wasn't sure how she wanted to deliver it either. So we decided to coin fuck around and find out November. And so again, it's absolutely no rules, no word counts, no structure, nothing. And I love it because it fits the title of Amy's memoir perfectly, which is terms and conditions. There's no terms and conditions here. You make it up. So this is about putting stuff on the page or in the journal or wherever for the simple purpose of exploration and enjoyment. So I might take the story idea that I'm working on, see if I can make a short story from it, play with it, maybe even front-load it with a flashback and see what happens. So if you are in between things like Amy and me, or maybe you're just playing with something new and you don't want pressure, you just want to see what happens when you have fun. And if you're like me, sometimes having fun is the challenge. Consider joining us. Nothing formal. Just write and do your best to play with it. And so Write It Scared is going to host some write-ins this month, and they are completely free. You're welcome to join. Again, free and fun. And if you've never heard of a write-in, uh, don't know what that is, a write-in is where writers show up in some sort of space together. For us, we're going to use Zoom, and everyone comes with an intention, more or less, with whatever they need that to be. Uh, often they'll briefly share what they're working on, if only if they want to. And that takes about maybe 10 minutes. Then everyone goes on mute, the cameras go off, and we just work on our individual projects for a set amount of time. And then whoever organized the write-in, which is me, uh, will just call time, you know, about 10 minutes before maybe the hour is up. And people come off mute and they can share how it went, what they discovered. It is low-key, it is no pressure, it is not performative by any stretch. It's just the power of people connecting for a united cause, which is creativity. So if you're interested, I'm gonna put a Google form in the show notes, which has the details about when and how you can join the online write-ins with Write It Scared. And it will also ask that you agree to some rules, just simple rules of being a kind, courteous human, no interruptions, stay on mute, and understand if you don't do those things, the host, which is me, will kick you out. Because when I create spaces for writers, I do my damnedest to ensure that they are safe, kind, and supportive. And this is just part of that. And anybody who is truly interested is actually going to take the time to take a look at that form and fill it out. So uh it's a little bit of a process of elimination there. So here's to letting down the guardrails and making an intentional mess and being excited about it. Whichever way you approach your writing this month, I am rooting for you. And if you do decide to join me and Amy in Fuck Around and Find Out November, my only ask is that you share about it and that you extend the spirit and the invitation to others. Okay. Thank you for hanging with me. I know this was way off the cuff. But I'm coming back next week with a new guest episode, and we're gonna talk to psychological suspense author Mika Merrill Rice, who is gonna talk to us about protecting our writing time and developing a process so that you actually get that first draft finished. And I can't wait. So I'll see you then.