Prompt 350-Self Care

What is the best thing you could do for yourself right now?

It’s almost poetic that this prompt caps off another set of 50 prompts. Over the course of the blog, I’ve taken a few breaks, several of them at some multiple of 50. I was always planning to take a break again for NaNo, but after some reflection, and in a sincere response to this prompt, the best thing I can do for myself right now is to start my break here.

There are 19 days left until November 1^st. I still have a lot of prep work to do to get ready. I am determined to win this year. I have an incredible support group now and, while they love that I write these prompts every day, they’ve been more than adamant that I turn my focus to my novel(s).

Every day this month, I’ve been sending my mom and my best writer friend my vss365 posts. They have gushed over each one. After the 5^th or 6^th, my mother texted me back telling me to, and I quote, “Write. The F’n Book Already.”

I’m incredibly stubborn. And I do not like being told what to do. It’s an especially weird dynamic being 30 and having my mom tell me to Do The Thing™. Like, “yeah, yeah, I’ll get right on it.” But there’s also that voice in the back of my head that insists she’s only saying that cause she’s my mom and she has to be supportive.

So, I have other writer friends giving me feedback. And they’re echoing her. They’re telling me what a great voice I have and how talented I am and how they wish I would just focus on writing a novel because they really want to read it.

And still, the voice deflects. In my head, the Squinting Leo meme slides across my vision. The Anchorman gif of Ron Burgundy saying “I don’t believe you” follows it. They’re all just being nice because they don’t want to hurt your feelings, the voice cries. And I nod sagely, because of course, why would the voice in my head lie to me?

But I let their praises and book demands simmer in the back of my head for a couple days. I continued to work through my prompts. Then I saw the list for this week and saw this prompt. And the answer came almost immediately.

“The best thing I can do for myself right now is put myself in the best position possible to write my novel.”

Instead of working through my prompts for several hours every night, I can dedicate that time to plotting and outlining. I can get the interim blog posts ready, too.

I’m not abandoning the blog for 6 weeks. I’ve had plans in place for November for months. Remember when I came back from my June hiatus and was super excited because I’d finally finished a novel-length story? Well, I’m going to post it throughout the month of November. It’s “just” an anime fanfiction, but I did work really hard on it and it is evidence that I can write 50k+ for a story AND finish it.

It’s also Ali’s story. My original OC. The OG OC, if you will. So while it takes place in the world of YuYu Hakusho and borrows some of the supporting cast of the anime, it’s entirely its own canon and you don’t necessarily need to be familiar with the source material prior to reading. That said, I’m still going to do a context post before I start sharing chapters, just as a point of reference to give an overview of the existing characters and some of the aspects of the world they inhabit.

You also won’t have to wait until November to start reading it. I’m going to post a chapter a day and have the final chapter up on November 30^th. Since there are 34-35 chapters (I forget how many exactly, and I’m re-stitching the opening chapters so they flow better) that means chapter 1 will go up the last week of October.

I’m also still working through the daily Twitter prompts, and will probably do a special post or two to share those, just to fluff content so the blog doesn’t collect too much dust over the next couple weeks. I forgot to do yesterday’s because I was cleaning and cooking in preparation for my in-laws coming to visit. That’s also why this post is a day late.

So, to recap, or as the youths say “TL;DR”: This will be the last prompt post until December. November will be full of content! A whole 100k+ fanfiction! And the remainder of October will be sparse, but not a complete ghost town.

We’ll talk again soon. Have a great weekend!

PS-Like these prompts? Like the short stories I write based on these prompts? Want to show your support? Give the blog a follow! Leave a comment! Buy me a coffee! I put a lot of time and effort into these posts and your support means the world to me! Ok, now go out there and write!