Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #20 November 2015 | Page 4

Gothic NaNoWriMo Heroes

by Valery Riddle and Ana Marija Meshkova
Participating in NaNoWriMo this month? Aren’t you just the hero that stands before a mighty obstacle
they need to overcome? Sometimes the pressure is too much to bear, but you must persevere.
A hero? But that means… you must be a main character of a book! Your book. Just what kind book is it,
exactly? Is there any hope at the end of it?

Setting:
It’s a harsh world we live in,
having to manage 9-to-5’s,
housework, and social life. But
the brave ones that stand high also
commit themselves to writing
over 1.5 thousand words a day in
the dreary month of November.

Protagonist:
Depriving themselves of sleep and
food, surviving on coffee only,
writers sit in their dark corners,
creating something so beautiful
and fragile, they feel like gods.

Villain:
It looms on the horizon. It follows
them in their dreams. They see it
in every picture, read it in every
article. Cats sing it in the street at
three am. 50,000 words. That or
nothing.

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