Week 2 Novel Quest 2025

This is Writing Quests’ Official Newsletter.

We are a couple of days in… how are we feeling? Here are some quick Tips for getting through this week’s Novel Quest Goals.

Give yourself a reward for meeting a goal- a Piece of chocolate, take time to read a chapter in a book, etc

Staring at a blank page? Write out a quick synopsis of your favorite book (similar to your story) and why you like it, why your story is different, to get yourself excited to write again.

Starting a new day of writing? Reread your previous chapter or scene to refresh your memory on where you left off, and write a brief list of what you think should happen next. Then write it.

Who are you interviewing this year?

We have a full schedule of authors we are excited for you to meet.

Margo Margan | November 9, 11am central time

Watch her interview here:

Preferred Pronouns: She/ Her

Website: https://boardgamesmargomargan.wordpress.com/

The CroXdome Fandom Community Discord https://discord.gg/u9w2JG99Da

The Game Crafter Designer Page - https://www.thegamecrafter.com/designers/margo-margan

Brief Bio: Margo Margan is a freelance copywriter and columnist. As a hobby, she produces fiction of various forms, including short stories, comics, TV scripts, and tabletop roleplay modules. However, she hopes to take her fiction writing to the next level in the near future with her soon-to-be-self-published novella IVY. She is also an indie tabletop game designer. Her most notable title is the accolade-winning CroXcards, a strategy board game mixed with trading card game elements, featuring playable characters from her vast library of creative work.

Dr. Latanya Hughes | November 12, 6pm central time

Preferred Pronouns: She/ Her

Dr. Latanya Hughes, known as Dr. H, is a Global Mentor Coach, author, and international speaker dedicated to spreading HOPE. She has written several books, both fiction and non-fiction. Her doctoral project, *PILLARS for Christian Mentoring*, emphasizes the significance and methodology of mentoring, and she followed it up with *PILLARS for Public Servants*.

In addition to these works, Dr. Hughes is the author of *The A+ Leader* and three A+ devotionals. Most recently, she co-authored a devotional specifically for executive Black women. She has also contributed to peer-reviewed projects on ethics and compassionate leadership. Occasionally, she explores her creative side by writing fiction and poetry; her collection, *Beautifully Spoken: Poems from the Heart*, along with her other publications, is available on Amazon.

Her live stream link: https://youtube.com/live/lZ60HY1Ypig?feature=share

Check out our next newsletter to find out more about who we are interviewing next…

We are seeking volunteers to help with the Questy development. In particular, it would be helpful to find individuals with skills/experience/interest in

• php/Symphony dev

• React web

• UI and UX

We are on a journey to create a flexible writing progress tracker (Questy) that will have some nice features, including:

• supporting common Quests (defined writing challenges)

• supporting individual projects of different formats (novels, series, plays, short stories, etc)

• supporting some community communication capabilities, beginning with buddies

• supporting community/buddy progress tracking graphs (similar to what NaNo Faces provided when it was active).

You can read more about the project at GitHub (especially see our plans on our wiki).

Hello Novel Questers!

We are in the thick of it. It’s week two, the week where we’ve heard it’s the hardest. Those ideas that seemed to flow so easily just a few days ago sometimes get harder. Some days, it feels the muse just does not want to come out and play.

This is what we call normal.

Ignore the voice in your head that makes you feel overwhelmed. That voice is wrong. You can do it. It’s not too much.

There are a couple of things you can do. First of all, if you don’t know what to write, just spend a few moments looking at where you are and where you want to be. Make a short plan on how to get your novel there. Don’t worry if the plan is good enough; you can fix it in editing. Don’t worry about sticking to the plan; wandering down a side plot for no reason can be helpful. You might find out something about the character you don’t know.

You can go on social media and see if there are any prompts that might kick something loose. That’s ok.

Or maybe you need a break, and ten words is all you get. That’s ok as well.

This challenge isn’t about hitting your goals every day. It’s about being true to your creativity and your voice. It’s about taking a risk on yourself. It’s about your story. There are no right or wrong answers. There is only you, down there in the trenches, fighting for each word. That’s the way it is.

But, as sure as there is sometimes a dark cloud overhead, there are also sunny days. Write today, and if you’re not feeling it, you’re not feeling it. Tomorrow, come at it and try again. You can do it. We believe in you. And we believe your voice is important. Your story is important. And you can do it.

Love, Your Quest Guide

Ansley Ashe