Well, I AM a Writer, Too

I keep forgetting that I haven't, oh, updated this blog with one of the four passions listed in my very blog title: Writing. I've talked about gaming, talked a LOT about knitting, and the geekery has pretty much been evident, I think...but writing?

Of course, this could also be because I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo, and I'm completely frazzled. For those of you who don't know what the insanity is all about, here's the short version: You have to write 50,000 words in ONE NOVEL between November 1 and November 30. You can't write the same word 50,000 times, and you can't count anything you've done before November 1 or after November 30 toward your word count. You also can't edit, can't rework, can't stop yourself from writing whatever comes out. It's all about quantity over quality, for as they say, "December is for editing."

As of this moment, my word count is at 33,002. I have eight days in which to write the remaining 16,998 words. I can do it, actually.

I tried this a couple of years ago but had to stop due to an arm injury. Last year I didn't remember in time, and I realized I had missed it right about at Thanksgiving. This year, I'm going to do it.

I'm bending one of the rules slightly, since my story IS actually a work in progress, however, I don't count anything I have done before, and in fact my story has taken a very different turn at times because I'm starting from scratch with it. I know the characters, I know what I want the scenes to contain, and I know what I want the end to be. I consider everything I've done before to be a really detailed outline for this month.

I've also learned some things about myself and how I write. For instance, I found that saying "omg 2k words per day?? TOO MUCH!!!" is nothing but a way to convince myself it's impossible. Now I think 2k is a cop-out, since I have had days where I've done 4k without breaking a sweat.

Another thing is that I write more when I'm supposed to be doing something else. XD If I write between calls, I find that I'm eager to get the next few sentences down THE SECOND my customer hangs up. :) This keeps me moving all day, since I have time while the customer is on the phone to mull over what I'll say next--and before I know it, 4k is done.

At this rate, I SHOULD be done by now, but honestly, I haven't written every single day. I do far less on the weekends than I do during work days.

I ALSO found that I like round numbers. Seeing a word count of 2875 makes me think, 'why can't I get to 3000? Not even 200 words away--hell, 200 words is usually the limit on a bio on a forum, and I always get cut off on those!' And before I know it, I'm actually to 3542, and I think, 'less than 500 to get to the next thousand...I have half an hour, I can do it!'

Granted, what I'm writing is mostly crap. But there is a lot to be found in there, and under the stilted dialogue, the melodrama, and the angsty characters, there's a lot that is salvageable and honestly good. It feels SO GOOD to see this story develop into a real tangible thing, something I can print out and read, something I can say, 'ok, time to change this' instead of saying 'I'll write it someday'.

And that's the REAL point behind NaNoWriMo. Someday is NOW. There is no reason why you can't write a novel in a month. 50k? Pfft. Go for 100k. Write your 50k and then don't stop. Keep going. Edit it later, get it all out now. Don't think about it. Let your characters talk to you. Let them get secrets off their chests. Let the plot turn silly or serious.

So, yes. Writing.