NaNoWriMo with TaraShea Nesbit, CHPL’s Writer-in-Residence

Written by TaraShea Nesbit, Writer-in-Residence, Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library

Our 2024 Writer-in-Residence, TaraShea Nesbit, is an award-winning author and teacher. Attend her upcoming workshops and writers' office hours. And, listen to her as host of CHPL's "Inside the Writer's Head" podcast. 

Hello, dear library community,

As your 2024 Writer-in-Residence, I have the great honor to meet so many interesting writers working on SO MANY GOOD STORIES during office hours. Just last week, I got to hear about a children’s books to help kids with anxiety, a literary novel about the aftermath of grief, a memoir about family members who were interned during World War II, and so much more.  Thank you for trusting me with your stories.

A question I am often asked is:

How do you sustain a book-length writing project? How do you manage the middle?

Let’s talk about it!

For many, November has marked both the turning of leaves and the beginning of committing to writing a book. Though questions have circled around NaNoWriMo, opens a new window’s stance on the use of AI in writing, which might have tarnished the month-long event for some people, I still think it’s a fruitful endeavor and a great act of hope to commit to this endeavor. At the start of fall, before we head into winter—the best season to write in, in my opinion—to use the month of November to commit to a book-length writing project is a gift to yourself. A gift that requires daily work, but a gift to that part of yourself, the quieter, deep part of yourself that has always wanted to write a book.

My commitment to the project of writing a book draft in a month is also nostalgic for me, as it’s how I began the first draft of my first novel, The Wives of Los Alamos, and it’s how I maintained hyper-focus on a radical rewrite of my second novel, Beheld.

To get the writing done that month, and follow-through on my initial commitment, I did several things, from the large scale to the seemingly minor. On Friday, November 1, from 1-2:30 p.m. at the Price Hill Branch, opens a new window, I’ll share what I’ve learned and lead a session on writing and maintaining a book-length writing project. It’s my final write-in for my year and I’d love to see you there!

But it is not my final in-person event for the library—I am available to meet with you about your writing projects during November and December office hours, and if you’d like to hear a sneak-peak of my new novel, the thing I’ve been writing this year, as well as find out who next year’s writer in residence is, join us for a reception December 2 at the Forest Park Branch.

I’ll close today’s note with four ideas to get yourself ready to write in November, or anytime you decide to write a novel:

Four ideas for getting ready to write a novel:

1. Say yes, I’ll do it: articulating your commitment is the biggest, hardest, and most important step. Articulating that you will do it, and celebrating that articulation, is numero uno.
2. Plan your writing timeslot and writing space. Where will you write and when? I have a friend who would like to run every other day, but he plans it for “around 1 p.m.”, which is in the middle of his workday. Around 1 p.m. is truly not an available time for him—his boss calls, and people want memos from him via email. He misses runs because that time is realistically not an available time for him. I mention this to say: plan your writing time for when you truly can be available.

It doesn’t have to be the same time and place every day. But make a daily plan on a calendar and put it on your schedule, as an appointment with yourself. So, when an invitation comes up you can say “I wish I could but I’m writing at that time,” or when work calls and asks if you have time for that 8 a.m. meeting you can say, “Sorry, that time is booked.”

1. Make yourself unavailable in other ways, too. Download Freedom, the app that blocks you from distractions for the amount of time you set. Turn off your phone for an hour, or whatever else amount of time you can commit to writing.
2. Plan how you will treat yourself after each writing session. You might be thinking: “Every day I celebrate?” Yes. Every. Single. Day. We celebrate. Celebrate your daily accomplishments with a walk with a friend, ice cream, a cheesy movie, a bath, a sports game, listening to a new album, or whatever else turns off your thinking brain and helps you laugh and find ease, so that you will be even happier to get back to writing the next day.

Look forward to seeing some of you at office hours, opens a new window in November and December, and at the NaNoWriMo kick-off event November first, opens a new window!