Today marks the beginning of National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo, aka writing 50,000 words in 1 month, aka the thing I tried in August and failed, aka the thing I’m trying again. Erin and Aurora bullied convinced me to give it another go. Other awesome peeps I know that are doing it include Mandy, and Therese and Kathleen from Writer Unboxed. Not sure if Eric is, but I’m trying to bully convince him to.
I had a decent morning session (970 words), but football cut me off in the afternoon. Now let’s see if I can get in another good session while Andy watches Game 4 of the World Series…
(Yes, our house/life is ruled by sports. As my mom likes to say, Andy is a “ball junkie.”)
Random factoid: I’m finding techno/electronica very good for writing music right now. Something about the heavy beats and simple lyrics (or lack of lyrics), I think. It stimulates without distracting.
Edited to add: Shano is a perfect example of the kind of music I’m talking about! Thanks to Angie for linking me to this free download.
How come no one is up to keep me company when I write late at night? Even my boyfriend and my dog are asleep. Sure it’s less distracting this way, but… okay, no, I know it’s better this way. “Books are written by the alone for the alone,” right? Sigh.
Actually I’m finding that I write really well at night, when everything is dark except my computer screen, and the world is sort of removed, probably doing more interesting things with their Saturday night.
Earbuds (and good music) help provide that sense of isolation during the day, but it’s a little different when a coworker comes up to my desk and asks me to proofread something, or Riley pokes me in the leg with his chew toy. I’m not complaining about those things, just saying they don’t tend to happen at midnight. In fact, if a coworker came up to me at midnight with copy to edit, I might have to call the cops.
In completely unrelated news, 17 Again is a pretty good movie (if you’re into that sort of thing, which I obviously am) and Riley has a new “Shipoo” (Shitzu-Poodle) buddy named Kingston. When they run around in the backyard, they look like two giant, smiling marshmallows with legs. It’s very cute.
One night Claudia wakes up alone in bed. Well, alone with the dog Max, anyway. “Eli?” she whispers. If he had trouble sleeping and moved to the couch, she doesn’t want to wake him, but if he’s just wandering for some reason, she’d like to know that he’s there and safe. “Eli?” she calls again.
“The first duty of the novelist is to entertain. It is a moral duty. People who read your books are sick, sad, traveling, in the hospital waiting room while someone is dying. Books are written by the alone for the alone.”
Sometimes I think writing is the worst thing in the world. And still I love it, I can’t imagine doing anything else. Does that count as an abusive relationship?
Word Count – Aug 21, 2009:
I can already see this becoming an 80k in 2 months instead of 50k in 1 month thing. And I’m okay with that. I’ve pushed myself hard these past few weeks. Hard for me, anyway, which some people would probably think is nothing at all. That’s the thing, though. One of the many things I love about writing. It’s not a competition. I don’t need to beat anyone. The only person I measure against is myself. I guess not everyone understands that. Unfortunately it’s hard for me to pretend I don’t care what those people think.
I do think I’m neglecting Twenty-Somewhere, though. I’ve been so excited about getting it onto Amazon that I’ve stopped actually writing it. Uh, whoops. But I do have the next dozen episodes planned out (in a handy Excel sheet — I’m such a nerd) so expect that to start up again next week. I hope there are still people who care, haha.
Sometimes it feels like the whole world is sleeping peacefully while I stay up, struggling to write, forcing myself to sit up, hold the pen in my hand, and push it across the pages…
Word Count – Aug 19, 2009:
But then again, that’s what happens when you don’t write fast enough. 10k is great, but more than half the month is already gone. 3k a day for the rest of August? We’ll see.
Potential additional obstacle: carving out 600 words (and who knows how many hours) for this prompt-based contest from NPR. Looks like a pretty cool opportunity for all you other writers, though!
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is a pretty good movie (if you’re into that sort of thing, which I obviously am) and Riley has a new “Shipoo” (Shitzu-Poodle) buddy named Kingston. When they run around in the backyard, they look like two giant, smiling marshmallows with legs. It’s very cute.
