Then in 2011, amidst a long
long dry spell, I decided to try it. And
you know what? It was liberating in a
way that other writing projects hadn’t been in a very long time. I shot for the word count, not caring so much
about the direction of the plot, not caring about quality. Just pushing for that 1600 or so words a
day. And I did it. I ended with a novel just short of 60,000
words. Now, it’s not a novel that I will
probably ever try to revise (though I make no promises – there were a few
scenes, even complete chapters that I really liked. There’s some promise despite its issues…). It’s not a very good narrative. I changed main characters midway
through. It took thousands of words
before it really found any kind of direction whatsoever. And when I was done, I felt more burned out
than I had felt for a very very long time.
But I had done it. Me – whose longest
story prior to 2011 was probably 800 words.
*I* had written a novel. I had
proven that I had it in me. I had proven
that I could still write. And I learned
that I apparently work better under a deadline – a lesson that I need to keep
reminding myself of, honestly.
Unfortunately, I didn’t
follow through in the following years.
In 2012, I tried but fell far short of the necessary word count. I was scattered and just couldn’t make
anything come together. (Truth be told,
I was in a pretty bad place mentally and emotionally and I think that had far
more to do with it than I was willing to admit at the time…) Last year, I didn’t even try. You know, I can’t remember why I decided to
pass on it. Maybe because of my crushing
defeat in 2012. The same reason that I
considered passing this year as well.
But I decided that I was going to go for it again this year. Sort of.
I’m cheating. And I’m ok with
that.
Luckily, I have had quite a
few of my short (flash and micro, still, despite finishing that novel…) stories
accepted this year in various places.
The problem is that I am running out of polished, finished stories to
submit. It’s definitely a nice problem
to have, don’t get me wrong. But I have
written very little fiction in quite some time.
And so I am cheating at nanowrimo this year – I am not going to try for
a novel. Instead, I am going to try and
write 50,000 words worth of short stories (and poetry, if I become inspired
along those lines…). Hopefully, it will
give me some pieces worth revising and finishing up, but I am going to try my
hardest not to worry about that as I go along.
The first day hasn’t gone so
well. Yesterday, I came down with some
crazy stomach bug that my wife brought home from somewhere (she was sick last
week) and spent the night huddled on the bathroom floor. Today, I’m dizzy. My head feels like every single sound is a
fireworks display. Pushing the words
from my head down through my fingers into the keyboard seems like a monumental
task. But I know what happens when you
fall behind with your word count, so I am persevering. So far, it is all junk. But I’m exercising. And if I can hit the daily word count feeling
like this, I think it can only get easier from here on out… Right?
Regardless, if you’re a
writer and have never tried nanowrimo, I definitely recommend it to you. It’s
one of the hardest things you can try, but it is really exciting at points,
too. The days the words just flow out
are brilliant… You’re reminded (if you’ve
lost the feeling like I have) of what it feels like to simply overflow. It’s an odd thing: The word count can become your muse. Today is the first day, so you have plenty of
time to catch up (in 2011, when I completed my novel, I actually started a week
late…). Join in. And if you do, let me know your
progress. I’ll be updating mine
throughout the month. (Today, so far, I’m
at roughly 1200 words.) You may not end
up with a novel, but if you fail, you still wrote – probably more than you
would have in that same timeframe. And
maybe you’ll end up with something truly great out of it.
And if anyone has any
particularly helpful writing exercises or prompts, I’d love to hear them. I’m going to need help to get through this –
at least with stories that are worth going back to…
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