Reflections on NaNoWriMo with Writer and Editor Amanda Bintz

Aurora Airwaves • Episode 30

Jordan’s friend and fellow writer Amanda Bintz is back. In this episode, we reflect on our experiences with NaNoWriMo—National Novel Writing Month—and the surprising realizations we uncovered about our writing processes.

Together, we explore what worked best for us, the challenges of meeting external goals, and the importance of following intuition in storytelling. This episode is a case study in remembering how to tell stories in a way that feels good, focusing on creativity and authenticity rather than just ticking off word count milestones.

Once you’ve listened, read Amanda's blog post, "Why I’m Not Doing NaNoWriMo After All".

Amanda, a regular Aurora Airwaves guest, is a Philadelphia based writer who began writing creatively around the age of 8 and completed her first novel, “Wolf Warrior,” when she was in the fourth grade. She’s drawn to stories about women and feminism, environmentalism and nature, folklore, legends, history, and magic. Her work has been published in several literary magazines, including Luna Station Quarterly, BarBar Literary Magazine, Rathalla Review, Talk Vomit, and orangepeel literary magazine.

More Aurora Airwaves with Amanda:

Ep. 17 • “How to Start Submitting to Literary Magazines” with Writer and Editor Amanda Bintz

Ep. 14 • Writer and Editor Amanda Bintz on Writing Competitions and Submitting to Literary Journals