Check Out Your Imagination... Have Fun with Your Story

This year, we’ve invited you to tackle NaNoWriMo and check out your imagination at “The NaNoWriMo Library”. We’ve asked some real-life librarians for their best tips on finding inspiration in the stacks. Today, Nancy Aravecz at the New York Public Library challenges you to find the fun in your novel:

There are so many inspiring things about working at The New York Public Library—I count myself lucky to be a contributing member of an institution that is so dedicated to empowering New Yorkers of all stripes by linking them to technology, books, education, and fun! I’m especially passionate about that last bit: the fun!

The questions that patrons at Mid-Manhattan Library ask never fail to amaze me. Even the wackiest of requests can result in a collaborative and creative journey to find the answers to questions like: 

How many times was 33 a powerball number last year?Do you have any books about the history of alien abductions on record in the U.S.?I’ve written this guide to preventing hexes, can you add it to the collection?

Helping these people from behind the information desk is actually a really big help to me in my writing. That powerball question inspired an anecdote in a short story I wrote a few months back. The anti-hex activist was the inspiration behind a character in the novel I’m writing this November. I think that the best way to approach creative writing is to keep your eyes and ears open in real life—compelling characters and situations arise all the time, whether you work with the public or in a sea of cubicles.

Need some other sources of inspiration?

I really love to read the blog, brainpickings.org. It is filled with unique perspectives on famous writers and important literary concepts that frequently inspire my writing. Another favorite website of mine is Wikipedia. I’ve spent hours going down the rabbit hole that is hypertext on Wikipedia—and most of that time has retrospectively turned out some real (and really energizing!) research for my novel. Here at Mid-Manhattan Library, we are hosting two, 2-hour write-ins per week on the 4th floor PC Lab. You can find the links for these events and reserve a spot by clicking here. Also, we’ll be tracking the progress of some of our participants on nypl.org’s blogging platform. Meet our MML novelists!

Nancy Aravecz is a Library Information Assistant at the Mid-Manhattan branch of The New York Public Library. She earned her M.A. in English Literature from NYU in 2013, and holds a B.A. in English and History from Wagner College. A dedicated teacher, while she’s not connecting New Yorkers to knowledge at NYPL, she works as an Adjunct Lecturer in English Composition at Pace University, and moonlights as a fitness instructor at The Bar Method SoHo.