I became a Robin Hood writer today

Aside from medieval peasants, I might be Robin Hood's biggest fan.

I've had a well-documented fascination (OK . . . obnoxious obsession) for the legend of Robin Hood since the ripe age of three. I grew up on the edge of a vast nature park and spent countless summer days in the woods playing Robin Hood. I've seen every film/television version of the tale ever made, and once even had an entire row on my bookshelf packed with different versions and adaptations of the story. The day I actually split an arrow was one of the proudest of my life. We all have heroes. And the timeless tale of a noble outlaw who robs the rich to help the poor strikes every cord in my personality, and I can't seem to get enough of it.

(Dressing like Robin Hood was cute when I was 4. It was less cute when I was 21.)

But here's a hard truth, especially for modern fandoms: just because you're a big fan of something, doesn't necessarily make you the best voice for it.

Robin Hood is my favorite story, but I'm rubbish at telling it. I've wanted to write a Robin Hood book series for years, but always struggled with it creatively. First off, I'm not English. I was born in New Jersey and grew up in Michigan, hardly Robin's homeland. I've never explored the historic sites of Sherwood Forest, Nottingham, or Kirklees Priory, nor do I have vast expertise of the medieval world. Whenever I'd work on my books, I'd write myself into dead-ends, lack the cultural understanding to write my way out, get discouraged, and give up. That cycle grew frustrating. Imagination matters, but so does experience. Additionally, the more I studied other works on Robin, the more I felt creatively intimidated. Thousands of more experienced and admittedly, more talented writers and artists have left their mark in the Robin Hood mythos. Angus Donald and Nathan Makaryk - currently my two favorite Robin Hood authors - are already creating groundbreaking Robin Hood books that dazzle critics and readers alike. Frankly, at this point, who cares what I have to add?

Inexperience and insecurity leads to creative procrastination. And I've procrastinated badly with my Robin Hood writings. I tend to procrastinate because I'm scared of failing. In this case, I was scared of creating unlovable art about something I loved wholeheartedly. I didn't feel ready. Strangely, I could so easily understand and see my Robin in my imagination, but I just couldn't sit down and type him into words. After years of floundering on the project, I put it on the back-burner. I was already a professional writer, life was busy, and my creativity found more easily rewarding outlets. And for years, I accepted the lazy, cowardly answer of not returning to Robin Hood unless a miracle happened.

A couple months ago, a miracle literally fell into my lap: I was asked to write a commissioned Robin Hood radio drama. My script is due in December. When everything finalized, I sent a professionally-worded email of gratitude, then knocked over my chair doing the most ridiculous happy dance. 2020 has been the lowest of lows, and for an opportunity this personal to randomly come out of the blue right now . . . all I could feel was thankful . . . until 2 minutes later when I start feeling scared. My deadline's in a month, and I'm not making the same mistakes as before. So, I signed up for National Novel Writing Month (affectionally known as NaNoWriMo). It's an online, creative writing project that takes place every month of November. Us "wrimos" attempt to write a daunting 50,000-word manuscript from November 1 to November 30. The annual event, which has hosted more than a million writers, also features online resources for writers, networking, educational tools, and pep-talks from successful authors.

I tried doing NaNoWriMo last year, but failed because I went in alone without accountability, and - yeah, you guessed it - got discouraged, and gave up. Not this time. This year I joined a solid group of writer friends, and we're already prepping up a storm. I'm so lucky and excited to be doing this with them. Today - November 1, 2020 - is our NaNoWriMo start day, which technically means today is the day I officially became a Robin Hood writer.

Wish Friar Tuck and I luck. We've only got 30 days to save a wedding.

“To some extent I happily don't know what I'm doing. I feel that it's an artist's responsibility to trust that.” ― David Byrne

NaNoWriMo Submission Title: The Gospel of Friar Tuck Type of project: Script Genre: Adventure, Historical, Religious/Spiritual

Synopsis: When the disillusioned, former knight hospitaler Father Tuck takes a priestly commission to minister to the poor citizens of Nottinghamshire, he finds his faith leading him outside the law as he joins forces with the mysterious outlaw Robin Hood to bring two star-crossed lovers together.