I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year; short for National Novel Writing Month, I decided to try this year to take on the challenge and write 50,000 words within the month of November. Even though I have fewer obstacles in my way this year, at least in terms of everyday things, life still throws unexpected roadblocks into the mix, and over a two-week period, I’ve had quite a time just trying to put 1,700 words (or more) on a screen every day to keep up.
My first week went very well. Starting on day six, I had an overnight trip to New York, and the WiFi failed on the bus on the journey in, and didn’t do much better on the trip back. Add to that my return to work, evening meetings, a birthday and a complete Windows update, and I fell short of my daily word count.
The real challenge is whether I can continue chugging on or not. I took advantage of a write-in on Wednesday night, and cranked out another 1,500 words. And that made me feel like I’m still in the running. Not giving up is the key, first and last on the list of unwritten rules of writing commitment. Another rule is that it’s okay to write crap, as long as you’re writing, darn it.
Since I’m not an outline writer but a pantser–one who writes by the seat of my pants–and I suffer from first draft perfectionism, it has always been tough for me to just write everything down without regard for spelling, punctuation or grammar. Imagine being your own worst writing partner. I have perfection as the angel on one shoulder and the urge to write it all down and the heck with it as the devil on the other.
This is why I blog with a time limit, so I can try to unbind myself from those restrictions and learn to edit later. If spell check doesn’t catch it, I try to let it go, or I’ll find it later on and fix it. With a daily expectation of writing 1,700 words, however, when there is no daily time factor (only a deadline of November 30), but there is regular living on the line, I’ve found that my self discipline comes in spurts, and I have to take advantage of them. A few times that has meant the 11 o’clock news has ended and I’m still cranking out crap absentmindedly.
This morning I did a quick free-flowing write-in and did over 500 words. This evening I will do another 1,000 or more. Tomorrow I’m sitting and writing 3,200 more along with some other torture-minded writers in a virtual group meeting. The life of a writer, especially when you’re working a “real job” and writing on the side is a test of writing character, an inward look at one’s commitment, and an opportunity to actually focus on something of value which may go unfulfilled when everyday life gets in the way. I consider the time writing to be a gift, so this is thirty days of gift-giving.
When it’s finished, I can add an award to my writing credentials, and I may have a good deal more of a first draft on record than before. What comes afterward is taking time off (yes, they encourage this) and then editing what I’ve written. That’s when I’ll glower at misspellings and mentally flog myself for bad punctuation. Like Leonardo daVinci, I have a bad habit of never declaring something finished, but I may find myself one step closer this time.
Excuse me, but I have to produce more free-flowing crap.
Susan's Scribblings the Blog 