In an attempt to get myself back into a rigid, impermeable, impervious, impenetrable writing schedule I singed up for NaNoWriMo. I started out strong, got sidetracked, then re-sidetracked, and now I’m about seventeen thousand words behind. I think it’s safe to say I’m not going to “win” this year–at least not win by the organizers’ definition.
In my opinion, I’m already winning; I’m planting my butt in the chair every day and writing. My prose is not the most brilliant (in fact I think it’s safe to say I could let my cats tap dance across the keys for two hours with similar effect), but it is a consistent flow of semi-intelligible words formatted into sentences and paragraphs, and, hey, that’s the reason I signed up for this gig in the first place.
Honestly, I’m rather enjoying this guerilla style of writing. As I have routinely stated, I am an obsessive mess. It’s not that I shoot myself in the foot; I never stop aiming the freakin’ gun. I organize, chart, plot, think, write, re-write, re-write, re-write, re-write. I get a paragraph down and then dissect it for four hours. I am, in many ways, my own worst enemy. This little experiment is teaching me to stop looking back (even if I have to shrink my screen to the size of my current paragraph to do it). It’s teaching me that a first round of mainly crap is okay as long as I fix it later, and waiting to fix it later is even more okay. And you know what all this is making me realize?
Writing is fun again.
Who’d’ve thought?
Hell and Wheels 
November 25th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Happy Thanksgiving Avery 🙂
November 22nd, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Writing fun? I've decided that when I die, I'll still write. It will be more effective coming from a dead man. That being said, I think making a game of writing, setting short term goals, challenges, whatever it takes, can indeed spark creativity. Creativity, after all, is about work. It's not about waiting for something magical to happen.So good…I am glad you've broken through that wall. Keep us updated, Avery. See you on Facebook…and throughout cyberspace.
November 18th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
I'm so glad that writing is fun for you again. As Capt. Picard once said, "Sometimes we need a kick in our complacency…" 😉
November 14th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
"Writing is fun again."& that's what really counts 🙂
November 12th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Oh, and Rick, thanks so much for stopping by!!
November 12th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Rick — Indeed. I know there are a lot of naysayers against NaNoWriMo, but for me it's been the perfect structured environment to re-dedicate myself to daily writing.Charles — I dread the thought, but it does seem at times that the only way I'll stop my obsessiveness is to wholly exhaust myself–or by dropping dead (the latter being more likely).
November 12th, 2009 at 5:08 am
I'm glad it's helping. I've got a bit of that obsessiveness myself but I'm trying and trying to get better. It is a long fight but over time one does improve. Or maybe you just get tired. And, yes, the fun is important.
November 12th, 2009 at 3:18 am
What more can you ask for than incentive to write again? Sounds like you're having fun with this and that it's jump started your writing. Maybe next year I'll give it a try.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Christina — Mine is the opposite problem. My plot keeps holding me back. I keep thinking, "Wait, that doesn't work for how this, and this, and this is supposed to go." Two paralyzing issues, huh? Maybe if we switched stories we'd get somewhere?Travis — Good to hear not all of us need to be guilted into actually doing work.Pirate — I'm glad, too. Mostly because when the blood gets in the keyboard the keys get all sticky and weird.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
So glad you found the fun again. Hate to think of you tying yourself in knots, drops of blood falling Joycean from your forehead as you wrestle for 'le mot juste'…
November 11th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
I've been really productive the past few days even though I didn't sign up for Nano.
November 11th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
"I could let my cats tap dance across the keys for two hours with similar effect."That was cute. You know this is the closest I've been to finishing a NaNo in all five years of doing it. I've never finished because about 35,000 words in, I feel like I'm about to lose site of my plot, and this time it's about 40,000 that the feeling came. I'm going to finish it but writing scenes that I want to put into the book, but the plot is gone. *bangs head* I hate writing without thinking. I feel like it's such a waste of words and time when thinking and planning is needed.Congrats to the both of us! We are at least writing and now I know how LKH must feel. Does this get any easier if we did this all the time? I think a book in 2 weeks was just too much. I like my book in a year and 2 months process.