I did it. I accomplished something that I barely took seriously when Sue first mentioned it. I completed NaNoWriMo. And I completed it early - 50K by November 20 and finished with almost 64K on November 24. Wanna know what was great? Well, a lot of things actually, but the best was how it got me to sit down and write every day. I wrote from 3 - 6+ hours every day this month except for November 1st (had company) and November 3rd (was waiting on some input). And it wasn't all about the NaNoWriMo novel either. I got the Dan/Honey wedding story done as well as a good chunk of CWP#8. And, dammit, it felt good!
Another wonderful thing was the different approach to writing I took. Normally I obsess about everything: the characters, the names, every last character trait, every last physical detail, every geogrphical detail. I draw charts and graphs and maps and schedules and timelines and everything else. And I never finish.
This time, I didn't worry about ANY of that - and it flowed. I didn't force a storyline on the characters - the characters told ME the storyline. I was just a conduit to tell their story. And I think that is how writing is supposed to be. Of course, I have been slowly learning this by listening to the Trixie characters, but these were MY characters. And I completed the novel. In essentially three weeks. I gave up my sanity to do it - well, not really, it actually kept me sane what with all of the work mess going on (sidebar: when your unemployed friend hears only a small portion of the crap going on and actually thanks God that she's unemployed, you know things aren't good!). And I needed that escape desperately.
The beginning of all of this was amazing. On Oct. 1 I heard about NaNoWriMo, thought and maybe I'd do it, but I knew November was going to be a nightmare. I decided to wait and see. Succumbed to peer pressure and registered on Oct. 3. A few days later a guy named Marc Chelios jumped into my head. Don't particularly like the name Mark, and HATE the name spelled Marc, but okay - this is apparently my guy. Not going to obsess over the name, as I usually do. By November 1, Marc hadn't given me a plot or anything to work with. Decided not to do NaNoWriMo.
November 2nd - sitting in blessed peace watching my soap on tape. Darci Winchester THROWS herself into my head and says, "Write." I ignore her. She keeps pestering me. Half an hour later I turn off my soap and write 1200 words. It's a start, but I am still not committed to this. Decide to let it simmer.
On November 4th, start typing, realizing I have no plot, but the characters want to talk, so maybe I'll just listen to them and they'll take me somewhere.
And they did. The words flowed up until about 37K when Darci left. Marc got awfully quiet. And scared me, quite frankly! But then he bought a dog and met Jennifer (who also suprised me), and the words flowed again. It was hard to keep motivated after 50K, but I got myself out of that rut quickly, and pressed on.
And I finished. And I think it is overwritten drivel (something happens to you when you obsess about word count and not about writing well!) but dammit, I like the story. I like the characters. I like that I have 100 pages of story to work with, to draft, to recreate, and to polish. Will I do all of those things? Maybe, maybe not.
But I can. And that's the point.
Thank you, Chris Baty.
