So, I sit here on my bed with various pages and notes wrapped
around me like a border. I tend to
collect scraps of paper and business cards like some people collect socks. My problem is that I have a hard time trying to
organize them most days. It's not until I succumb
to the absolute need to make sense out of all the story ideas and random
thoughts that I clean up the clutter.
Add to that I am once again in the throws of NaNoWriMo. And yeah, okay, it’s November 24th
and I’m only 17,655 words into what should be a 50,000 word plus story in 6
days, but hey no pressure. Honestly, I
don’t think I’m going to make it through NaNoWriMo this year. It is disappointing, but the reasons are
good.
The main reason is the world building for the story that I
started for NaNoWriMo. I’m writing a Sci-Fi
YA romance/adventure and I have to make sure I understand the rules for the
world, I’m building or the writing just won't stand up. If I
can’t wrap my mind around the rules, how can I expect a reader to get it and to
follow along? So today I did nothing but
make sure I understood all the parameters for each character and their
respective arcs, along with what make their world unique.
The other reason is that I just re-released a book and am
trying to edit two others. Last year I
didn’t have that problem and so NaNoWriMo was a lot easier to win.
The bottom line is that I’m okay with no winning this year. Mainly because I think I really got the
lessons last year from competing in it.
One, you learn that you can complete a first draft fairly quickly. Two, you are a better writer than you give
yourself credit for. And third, you
learn to embrace your inner writer.
NaNoWriMo is a wonderful experience and one I wouldn’t trade for the world. But for this year, I’m okay with the
possibility of not winning.
What about you?