Aspiring novelists gather in Evergreen Park for support as they take on NaNoWriMo challenge

Writing can be a lonely, singular activity. But Evergreen Park-based author Zachary Jeffries knows as well as anyone the power a sense of community among writers can offer to keep everyone on task, especially when there is a challenge to hit a certain word count.

“There’s a small bit of competitiveness, but there’s also a big sense of ‘a rising tide raises all ships,’” Jeffries said. “Even if you don’t say a single word to someone else, you and that other person are both going to reach new levels and put down more words together than you would by yourself.”That is the driving idea behind National Novel Writing Month, a November-long push that calls for writers to churn out 50,000 words in 30 days. Jeffries, who has published books he wrote during previous Novembers for what is more commonly known as NaNoWriMo, stopped by the Evergreen Park Public Library in late October for a pep rally designed to get area teens and adults to realize their dreams of becoming novelists.“I think the concept of writing a book is really daunting to people,” Jeffries said. “But I think there are a lot of people who feel like they have a story, a big book, in them. It’s just too insurmountable of a project to do. But you can do it. You really can.”

Children’s book author Valerie Doherty is among those “taking the leap” into novels with the group at the Evergreen Park Public Library. She said she has been looking for a critique group for a long time and saw NaNoWriMo as a chance to meet people and talk about the craft with other writers.“I have wanted to participate for a long time,” Doherty said. “I thought I’d try it this year with a group.”Doherty was still trying to gather her thoughts, but has an idea for a novel.“I’m not sure if I can do a novel, but I’d at least like to get a novella done,” Doherty said. “I’ve kind of cheated here. I have some characters in mind. I can’t fly by the seat of my pants.”Evergreen Park Public Library is joining NaNoWriMo for the second time this year. The library is providing space for five “write-ins” over the course of November, offering community support for writers as they work. NaNoWriMo participants also can track their progress and see the trajectory of their work on a graph.Jeffries compared writing a novel to an adage about how to eat an elephant — “a bite at a time,” he said. It is less about immediate gratification and more about trudging along, putting in the work and seeing it come together over time.Ceili Erickson, a career copy editor and hobbyist writer who grew up in Evergreen Park and lives in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, is hoping to finally tackle that accomplishment this year. While she has finished what she called “full-length” projects of connected stories, a cohesive novel has thus far eluded her. She did NaNoWriMo a couple of times in high school but never hit the word count.“I’ve always really wanted to publish, but I haven’t gotten there yet,” Erickson said. “I’m looking to get back into long-form writing, and I thought it might be nice to do that with some other people around who are also doing that. I’m really excited to continue to write and meet other EP writers.”

Jeffries got started by writing plays, short stories, poetry and screen plays. But he, too, once struggled with long-form writing.“I could never really get a novel going,” Jeffries said “I would start them and abandon them.”But a buddy from work told him about NaNoWriMo. He started in 2013 and found it was a good resource to push through, learn more about structure, find support and be part of a community that cheers on its own. Though Jeffries has only completed the word count once, he has participated in NaNoWriMo eight times. And he has found other writers, critique partners, a cover designer and editors through the online community.“I absolutely love the writing community I have found through this,” Jeffries said.At the rally, Jeffries — who publishes books as Z Jeffries — talked about a few of his books from his “Hide & Chronicles” series for young adults, two which were written through NaNoWriMo.Evergreen Park’s program is also geared toward teens, who have school, work and family obligations that can get in the way of writing, Jeffries said.“It’s not about prioritizing your writing over that,” Jeffries said. “It’s learning how to fit writing into your life and not feel like you have to give up friendship, family, fun events, holidays. It can be something that fits into your schedule.”Jeffries grew up in “horse country” in Georgia but moved to the Chicago area roughly a dozen years ago. For the last three-and-a-half years, he has called Evergreen Park home.

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“The library was greatly helpful in becoming part of this community and finding activities and events that my family and myself could be a part of,” Jeffries said. “This is a fantastic library. Whether or not I was a writer, I would be here all the time. This is another way of community building, which is a big thing libraries do that people don’t think about. It’s not just a place that holds books. It really is a cornerstone of a community.”Krystyna Herrndobler, of Evergreen Park, participated in a scary story contest at the library last year and loves to write. Herrndobler also puts together “tiny” projects with her friends. But the aspiring novelist is hoping to learn how to write “an actual book” during NaNoWriMo, while making some new friends. The hope is that a story will emerge through the process.“I’m just going to see what happens,” Herrndobler said.The old saying is that everyone wants to be a writer — to have written. But no one wants to go through the process of writing. A big part of NaNoWriMo is giving participants the chance to find out whether or not writing something long form is for them.Staring at a blank page can be intimidating, Jeffries said. But people also often get lost in the middle of a story, feeling like it is too big.“What I found out is I really enjoyed the process,” he said. “I enjoyed the struggle of getting better.”Bill Jones is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
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