The stories written for this month's writing challenge have dealt with more serious themes than last month's did -- and the exercise in part calls for this. Based on a short story by Abigail Thomas, the exercise came to me through a friend who was completing an MFA at Sarah Lawrence. The idea is to portray a character at two different points in time and show, in 500-600 words, how the character has changed. Since change often comes through struggle, it's only natural that we would see more dramatic conflicts at work here.

To get a better idea of what I'm talking about, read and comment on the selections that have been submitted so far. Then see what the exercise challenges you to create.

Now that NaNoWriMo has officially kicked off, we want to hear about the events and write-ins that are keeping wrimos going. I started the storytelling off earlier this week with a short description of the November 1 write-in organized by About.com folks here in Brooklyn. As always, I was amazed at how much more I wrote when in the company of other writers. Have you attended or hosted a write-in recently? Did you find that it helped you crank your words out for that day? Tell us about your write-in.

Want to host a write-in, but not sure how? Find write-in advice from wrimos around the country. Photo: Intrepid guide coordinator Sue Funke is writing a memoir this year.

A reader named Angie wrote in, asking me to post her predicament here. She wrote, "This year I moved into a new apartment -- and in with my boyfriend -- and I've had writer's block ever since. My old one-bedroom was right by the highway in a fairly industrial neighborhood, so there was always a jack hammer going off somewhere. I also had this courtyard that was really more of an airspace, and there was always music playing or a baby crying or a couple fighting. When I moved out, one of the MOVERS even looked out my window at my gritty little courtyard and said, 'You lived here how long?'

"But by hook or by crook, I did a lot of writing in that apartment. I thought that in my nice, new office, in my new, quiet neighborhood, I'd reach new levels of productivity -- I'd live happily ever after. But that hasn't been the case. I never feel quite right here. I've never been precious about my space (see above, if in doubt), but I need help. Writing space therapy, please! What can I do to make the office work for me?"

Does anyone have advice for Angie about how to make her writing space work? How did you get the chemistry right in your space? Let us know, below, in the comments, or even better, in our new user answer form. (You can even upload pictures. Angie sent a picture of her space: I told her to save it and do a "Before and After" once she's put our suggestions to work.)

Today I kicked off the first day of NaNo 2009 at a write-in organized by one of our lovely managers at About.com. With Halloween candy, coffee, and beer for some (as the afternoon wore on), we all hammered out the first chapters of our November novels, several of us going over the 1,1667-word goal, just for good measure. Did you host or attend an opening day write-in? Tell us about it in our new show & tell tool.

After touring Brooklyn Creative League (BCL) in South Brooklyn, I almost wished I didn't have an office at home -- so I'd have an excuse to join. Created with both the environment and the worker bee in mind, BCL offers an airy, sunlit space as well as ample opportunities to network and socialize with other Brooklyn writers and professionals.

Where do you write? Share the story of how you found or fixed up your space.

For this month's writing prompt challenge, we have an exercise based on a story by Abigail Thomas, "Hey Jude." The instructions are to write 500-600 words, starting in the present moment, going back to some moment in the past, and then returning to the present. In this way, both past self and present self are revealed in a very short space. It can be autobiographical or fictional. (For an idea of what this might look like, read a sample, submitted by a reader named Casey, or look up "Hey Jude" in Thomas's book, Safekeeping.)

The closing date for submissions for this project is Friday, November 27, 2009. Submissions must follow these guidelines to be included in the prompt portfolio. If you'd like an immediate response, or would like a response on some other piece of writing, please post it in the forum under "Share Work." Either way, thanks for sharing your work.

The end of next month brings excellent opportunities, including the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival Fiction Contest (Nov. 16), the Birmingham-Southern College Hackney Short Story Award (Nov. 30), and the Fish International Short Story Prize (Nov. 30). See the contest calendar for other short story prizes, as well as residencies and fellowships with November deadlines.

If you're planning to submit to the October 2009 writing prompt challenge, get your submissions in this weekend. We'll be closing submissions after Monday and announcing a new challenge sometime next week. (NOTE: If you've sent me something and haven't heard back, please let me know. As of October 25, I've posted the ones I've received.)

Read the rules for this month's writing prompt, or read and comment on work already submitted.

I'm endlessly fascinated by the lives of other writers: how they schedule their time, where they write, and how they balance writing and other demands. Partly I'm hoping to discover the key to high productivity or brilliance, and partly I'm just curious. Hence the burgeoning "How I Write" series. If, like me, you're interested in knowing how writers such as Dorothea Benton Frank, Phillip Margolin, and Jasper Fforde make it happen, read more.

Photo of Dorothea Benton Frank © Jack Alterman

For the past week, people have been posting excellent stories about their experiences with NaNoWriMo, including ArOhBeWyEn from Maine who started doing NaNoWriMo when she was 14, Janice from Dow, Illinois, who came to NaNo with a plot she'd concocted and set aside twenty years before, and Angie, who says "writing at the speed of NaNo" is a great way to "overcome perfectionism." (She also reminds us not to host Thanksgiving.) If you're a veteran wrimo, share your stories and advice. If you're coming to it for the first time, or just want to be inspired for the month ahead, read what others have written.