journal

Journal Writing

October 22nd, 2026

My Nanuscript

NaNoWriMo is coming up in November. Every year, I set out to write a novel but end up writing so little that the nano part of it is right. You might have heard of microfiction, which is a complete, self-contained story told in 300 words or fewer.

I don’t even write that. Instead, what I write could almost be classified as nanofiction. My stories are so short you’d need a nanometer to measure them. That’s roughly three gold atoms lined up side by side. Which, technically, makes my writing pure gold. Try telling that to a publisher.

Maybe there’s a whole genre of fiction hiding here at the atomic level. I could be writing nanobooks for nanobots. Even microscopic machines shouldn’t be deprived of the joys of reading. I already have a title in mind: The Adventures of Atom—a nuclear fiction. The story chronicles Atom’s turbulent love life. His relationship was already as unstable as uranium. Then a particle accelerator came along and split them up.

If Atom bombs, I could always try my hand at Na-Nu fiction. You know, fan fiction from the show Mork & Mindy.

I bet my girlfriend would enjoy that. I swear she’s an Orkan herself, perhaps even a distant cousin of Mork’s. Of course, if I keep splitting hairs over her extraterrestrial tendencies, she might decide to split, too. Or worse, send me into orbit. At least Atom had a particle accelerator.

Shazbot. I hope she doesn’t read that. Comedy is forbidden on Ork, which could make selling my Na-Nu fiction a little difficult. On the bright side, if I get arrested for writing it, at least I’ll finally have a captive audience.

Come to think of it, I might actually finish a novel for NaNoWriMo this year. A lengthy prison sentence on Ork would give me plenty of time to write. Provided they allow microscopic pencils.

Ryan Olejnik is an author, computer scientist, music journalist, musician, record producer and photographer. He is currently writing a novella, an anthology of short stories and a volume of poetry. He is a music journalist for Tapevine Magazine and a record producer for Farm Out Music. He has a sci-fidelic rock project known as Starjelly and releases instrumental electronic music as Torchard.

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