My NaNoWrimo Journey (The beginning)

Hello There! My name is Madeline Mae Smith and I love to write! Though that love quickly turns to the five stages of writer grief when faced with a project: Denial, More Denial But This Time With A Snack, Instagram Scrolling, Reluctant Guilt, and "Okay That Was Decent."

What the heck is NaNoWrimo? I’d heard about the NaNoWrimo writing extraveganza (part celebration of writers and their craft, part torture) for years, but was never brave enough to take on the challenge for myself! (NaNoWrimo Challenge = write 50,000 words in the month of November)

My relationship with writing has always been a fickle one (isn’t it always?) because I was an English major as an undergrad, but I also majored in French. After studying abroad and falling in love with the language and culture, I ended up finding a home within the French Department and continued on with my Master’s Degree French.

Suddenly my writing seminars and late nights of creative writing were replaced with a lot of verb conjugation, teaching undergrads, and never quite managing to climb out of the mountain of French literature I was assigned.

One I graduated, I transitioned to working in publishing, which is where I am now and I love it! But I was burned out after grad school on reading, writing, the whole thing. But in the last few years, I’ve missed having a community of readers and writers, and so I started a Bookstagram (@madelinemaesmithauthor) and have begun writing again.

I’m taking on the November NaNoWrimo challenge in 2021 to hopefully reignite some writing inspiration, to flex my storytelling muscles, and, idk, have fun? Maybe that’s unrealistic given the 50,000 word circumstances!