It was a dark and stormy night……….

Do you remember this, or something very similar from school? Writing class, creative writing, or some other name for a class that you positively groaned over.

You had to come up with some creative story? Original? Using adjective and lots of descriptive words.

Or if you were lucky you were given an opening sentence. Or a scenario.

sigh

Well, you are a grown up now, and things have changed just a little.

Novempurr is here, and along with it comes NaNoWriMo.

NaNowhat, you might ask?

National Novel Writing Month. And the month is November.

Yes, it is a thing.

From the website, in their words,

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. 

Throughout the country (and world) people are feverishly writing – and yes it really is feverish – with the goal of crafting a novel. Wrestling with thoughts and words to get them out and make sense. And create.

With a goal of writing 50,000 words during the month and the chance to get your novel published, the NanoWriMo website is full of suggestions, advice, forums, tools, motivation and so much more to get you to write your novel. Which really is only a creative writing exercise, just a big bigger.

So, what does this have to do with cats?

The connection between cats and writers is well known (like cats and knitters only with words and without the knotted wool).

If you are here you are no doubt a lover of cats, the owner of cats and completely mesmerized with cats.

So, here is a thought……

What about writing a story about your cat?

A memoir.

A fantasy.

A tail (!) of the fluff ball you call cat.

Before you run away shrugging your shoulders consider this. There are an enormous number of books about cats. Some are memoirs of real cats that actually existed. Many, many more are fictional accounts of cats that are either pure creation, or inspired by real felines. Goodreads lists about 219 books about cats. That is quite a lot of books.

So why would you like to actually write about a cat, your cat?

Most cats are characters. Full of mischief, mayhem, love, devotion, charm, mystery and much more. They steal our hearts. What better way to immortalize them than by writing about them? If you have had a few cats there is nothing stopping you for merging their shenanigans together, or creating a cast of characters.

There  is no wrong. And that is the joy of NaNoWriMo. The goal is 50,000 words, and then you might get a publishing deal. But few writers ever reach that. And that is ok. What is important is that you are engaging in a creative activity and writing about something you love. Taking the moments of your life with a creature you love and ensuring it lasts.

In the future, when time has passed and memory has faded there will be a written record of a certain fluffy creature who stole your heart and shared your life. Then you will truly understand why using the month of Novempurr to write is an excellent idea.

Write about a cat.

Write as a cat.

Write about a cat family based on cat’s you have known.

Chronicle your life with the host of characters and enjoy the memories.

There is no right or wrong.

So what is stopping you?