Around this time of NaNoWriMo, perhaps your momentum is slowing. Your perfectly imagined story is starting to show a few cracks. You're behind on your word count. Maybe you have even gone a day or two without writing, and your story seems far away.
With Veterans Day tomorrow, I think it is a great time to consider the idea of writing in honor of someone you love or someone you've lost. Whether they are a veteran, whether they are dead or alive, sometimes writing for something greater than yourself can help you going when the writing gets slow.
So tomorrow, when you have a little extra time, consider who you might honor with your story. Perhaps you weave some of their story into your own. Perhaps you create a character who captures something of their spirit. Perhaps you listen to some stories at StoryCorps about veterans who have served in post-9/11 wars: http://www.npr.org/series/4516989/storycorps
Perhaps you just write like crazy for all those who can't tell their own stories anymore.
Today I think of Mr. Johnny Cash, the country musician who was so vocal about the injustices faced by so many people in our society. His song, "Man in Black," explains who he was honoring in so many of his songs: the poor, the prisoners, the veterans, the downtrodden. No matter what you think of country music, this is a great example of honoring others though art:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t51MHUENlAQ
Also, an opportunity for all you young poets that are sophomores:
The Kenyon Review, a prestigious literary magazine is hosting the "Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers" during the month of November. If selected your poem will be published in the literary journal and the winner receives a full scholarship to the 2015 Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop in Gambier, Ohio next summer.
This is a great opportunity to get your work out there, and it will look fantastic on your college application, especially if you are a winner! Submission is free, go to:
kenyonreview.org/groddprize
Check out last year's winner, it is stunning:
http://www.kenyonreview.org/wp-content/uploads/jenkins_michaela.pdf
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