Wednesday, November 14, 2012

The NaNoWriMo 24445

(If you are looking for Fall Fancies, I will post this on Friday.  Tomorrow is Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, so instead, my NaNoWriMo check in will be today.)

24445.  A magic number. It's just under 25,000!  If it wasn't for NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month which pushes us to write 50,000 words in 30 days, my word count for November would have been - zero. (Well, except for my blog, and except for all those emails I write at work as part of my job.)

I am struggling right now, and, considering this is a fictional memoir with elements of truth, I don't know why the characters in my novel have turned their backs on me.

They aren't talking to me.  For most people, voices in their head means mental illness. For writers...well, it might mean mental illness, but I am told that characters will sometimes take their stories over and take them into new directions. Or so I am told.

On the NaNoWriMo website, there are author forums.  One of them has a thread called "Cry, and Apologize to Your Novel."  Right now, my Cry would read as follows:

"Dear Novel,
I don't know why you picked me to tell your story.  I am not worthy of you  My story seems so small now that it is on paper.  My words do not flow like liquid chocolate.  They flow more like sticky pancake syrup.    I have a feeling if I really wanted to make a book out of this exercise in frantic writing (after NaNoWriMo ends) I would end up tossing 80% of my output.  Yet, I am going to perservere.  I am told the rewards are plentiful. And, I will have something I didn't have when I started this journey on November 1.  I have faith in that  So I will keep flinging those words until I run dry. Forgive me, Novel, and I will try to justify your faith in me."

I want other would be authors to have this experience, too.  So I plan to contribute to a special NaNoWriMo fund raising event today.  Some of the proceeds will go to develop talent in young writers, which is a special interest for me.  As for me, I've already won my prize.

24,445 words.

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo?  Have you reached the Hour of Despair?

3 comments:

  1. It'll come, don't worry!
    I'll even bet you that the final, edited, cut, re-written and re-edited draft will be quite different from what you're writing right now.
    Never mind, just keep spilling ideas on paper (or typing, whatever), and you'll have plenty to pick from when it comes to National Novel Editing Month (or two months, or how long you want it to take).
    Just keep writing.
    I'm still struggling behind, at ~18,500 words.

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  2. Yes. And no. I'm at the point where I'm losing myself to my characters and if I don't bring me back, I'll be done for a few days. I can't deal with the emotional roller-coaster being my characters puts me on. It's a problem. On the bright side, my stories seem to flourish from the pain. Some yin for my yang I guess. You're right in saying you've already won. I'm glad you've come this far. Remember, if your story isn't working, change the last paragraph and try again. WRITE ON!

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  3. Maybe you could write a novel about writing a novel?

    ReplyDelete

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