Last month, I took part in my third #NaNoWriMo – attempting to write 50,000 word novel (or part of a novel) in a month.

After last year’s dismal failure, I was keen to get back on the winner’s podium this year and despite a bit of a slow start because I was relaunching Can I Compost This?, I managed to hit my 50k target on Day 21.

2013 NaNoWriMo winner

As happened in my first successful NaNoWriMo year, this year’s story ‘All That Is Solid’ was a combination of a few ideas I’d been throwing around for a while – and much to my delight, I used a lot of the fake historical source material I wrote in my failed effort last year.

The end of November was busy with crafting things so once I hit my 50k, I didn’t feel particularly compelled to continue – but I might come back to it at some point. I think what I’ve done will need some serious reworking but I like the premise – which is all to do with perception and (self)-illusion, drawing from resources as diverse as Jung, Zen Buddhism, the Kübler-Ross model of grief and World of Warcraft’s lore. It also includes a description of a Greek meal that made me hungry.