Here it is, twenty-two days into NaNoWriMo and I've barely broken 7,500 words. In the five (or six) years I've been participating, I've never struggled like I am this year and I blame the fact that I finally published my books. I've resigned myself to the fact that I am not going to "win" NaNo this year, and that's okay as long as I get useable words out of my effort.
No longer can I just "vomit" words onto a page and feel okay about it. Editing sucks. Taking all those crappy words I threw up onto the page and trying to make something useful out of them is one of my least favorite chores. Now that I know this, I'm struggling with putting the "right" words down the first time. I understand why Tara Janzen says that writing is "excruciating" and "that it's like placing individual pieces of glitter with tweezers".
I find that I have to know where the story is going, whereas in the past I didn't care. I find myself thinking things like, "will this tie into what is going to happen in chapter so-and-so?". Or, "is this even believable?". Things that never once crossed my mind in NaNos past.
And you know what? I miss the free writing. I do. I just want to be able to shut off the "inner editor". Now, just as soon as I figure that out, I'll let you know.
I'm currently working on two books: LYON'S RAGE and PICEANCE BASIN PRINCESS. My thought was that when I hit a wall with one, I'd switch to the other. It worked beautifully for a couple thousand words.
LYON'S RAGE is a book, still early in Stacy's career as a Protection Specialist. Her recent past comes back to haunt her when a potential client tries to hire her to kill his spouse.
PICEANCE BASIN PRINCESS is Skeeter's story, how she came into my life after losing Her Highness. It's not going to be a sappy, oh-she-saved-my-life story, because I honestly hate those stories. It's more the reality side of things. Yes, I loved Queen Estes and yes, I love Princess Skeeter, but it's hard work to keep from comparing the two. It's more of a "she's different from Estes and I still love her" kind of story.
If I finish the month with a good start on both of these, I'll feel really good. I've taken vacation time over Christmas break, so I plan on continuing to write. I'd like to have RAGE in a publishable state by June 2015, and the other by the end of the summer.
3 comments:
I think that's how I've been feeling about blogging lately; plenty of material to blog about - no desire to 'share it with others'; just feeling really selfish lately with time spent with my horses.
Besides, YOU don't have time to write. You have a horse to train - namely the Princess!
Mom
When you find time to write, just tell the story. It's okay. You can fix it later. Just tell the story.
Bill
Bill - it's the fixing it later that sucks. "Just tell the story" isn't working for me this year :/
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