The last day is the shortest.
So, Nano happened.
I took a break from the novel (and the blog, apparently).
I wrote whatever the heck I wanted.
That was good.
There was this essay, which I can’t post, because for once I actually submitted it to something, which led to an audition, which could lead to reading for the Listen to Your Mother show in May. (I hope so!)
And there were a few short stories, and a hundred poems, and some letters.
It’s been good.
But I’ve noticed that motivational posters and Ted talks seem especially loud lately. Little sophistries like, “Done is better than perfect.” They all seem to pertain to that fat stack of novel on my shelf. Guess break time is just about over.
NaNoWriMo Win!
NaNo is finished.
And I am FINISHED with NaNo.
It felt really, super, crazy good to finish something.
I wish that meant I finished my novel, but it doesn’t.
At the end count, I had 51,196 words, but only about 39,000 of those will probably make it into the actual novel, and I’ll still need about 30,000 more to finish. But to be honest, I’m relieved to be done with the rush. It feels good now to savor the process of writing each chapter.
Careful and slow is my new motto.
For now.
I’m starting to understand that there are a million ways to write a novel, and you’ll probably end up using half of them at one point or another.
That’s okay, too.
In the meantime, there’s a new short up in the Unrelated Shorts tab. It’s a three-minute fairy tale. (Apparently that three minute bar suits my short attention span as a writer. It is what it is.)
Thanks for cheering me on!
Now I will mount my virtual trophy on the sidebar.
Bling!
Chapatah 10
ALMOST done. I’m expecting to knock it out during the write-in today, along with Chapter 11.
Yeah, Nine happened last week, quickly and stealthily. Like a ninja.
This process might be getting easier.
The next obstacle will be
EMOTION!!!
TURMOIL!
SEPARATION!
ANXIETY! (The words ‘separation’ and ‘anxiety’ will forever be linked. Motherhood.)
And all that drama that I just don’t do, not in real life anyway.
But I’m going to suck it up and conquer my fears and be
DRAMATIC.
Without the all caps. I swear.
Not the kind of drama I meant, but it’s true, nonetheless.
I Am NaNo. Hear me roar.
Boom. Chapter 8.
Never underestimate the power of peer pressure and bad coffee.
Today I locked myself into a library boardroom with twenty would-be novelists. We spent three frenzied hours in silence, tried to type just a little faster than the two people at our elbows.
On another note, writers are anti-social weirdos with ego problems.
I am one of those weirdos.
Feelin’ the love.
I SLEW THAT BEAR.
The monster is DEAD.
Chapter 7 is WRIT.
Wassup? Take that, stupid trepidations!
Also, I signed up for my first NaNoWriMo, which means I’m committed to at least 1667 words a day. Yesterday I did 3500.
This marks the beginning of a new modus operandi:
Write November; edit December.
I’m trying to make peace with the rough draftiness of it all. The peacemaking needs to wrap up in the next hour, because I’ll be at my first NaNo write-in, typing frantically with a bunch of other NaNo heroes at the library around the corner. Onward.
Let’s bag us a Chapter 8.
Progress
Why, yes.
Yes, I am still writing Chapter 7.
Still.
STILL.
I’m writing it, and that is sufficient.
It’s not important that it happens to come out in tiny pieces, all over the map.
It’s not important that I’m bad at jigsaw puzzles. Like Chapter 7.
It will come together in the end, and it will be acceptable.
Just keep writing.
P.S. You must try Write or Die. They have a free web version, if you just want to give it a spin. I’m in love.
NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo Winning!
Write or Die
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