POSSIBLE INSECT SWARMS AHEAD: NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo · 11/25/2005 05:47 PM

When I’m writing, it’s fun. When I lost the last two years, I lost because I wasn’t committed. I didn’t do the work. I just assumed it would happen and then… it didn’t. This year I knew what the problem was. I wasn’t trying. This year, I thought I could do the work, I thought I could make it happen. It didn’t happen.

The first year, I lost because I didn’t have a clue as to what I was in for, didn’t know I had to work. The second year, I lose because I didn’t work hard enough, even though I knew I should have. This year, I lost not because I didn’t want to do the work or because I didn’t put the effort in because I didn’t feel like it. None of mental hangups got in the way this year.

I was defeated by own body. I spent the first four days of National Novel Writing Month 2005 stuck in a hospital, when I had been planning to write myself into I have extra words territory. That didn’t happen. Instead, I planned and made lists and gave The Girl hell so I could catch up. I was within reach of catching up. I was going to be where I needed to be today. I had it all planned out.

Then I started Thursday, the 24th of November, by vomitting spaghetti and sausage. I spent the day curled up on couches and beds throughout the house. I didn’t, I couldn’t, write one fucking word. Today, Friday. The day where I was supposed to be on easy street, writing a mere 1667 words, I spent in bed, aching. I didn’t get up until nearly 2:00.

I’ve already put off so much already. I can’t put it all off any more for the sake of a novel. This is no reason to kill my GPA, is it? This isn’t a reason to drive The Girl into an angry madness, is it? I hope I’m right.

I have to live another year longer, to do this thing right.

In other news, go listen to Brian Eno’s latest, Another Day on Earth. It has that great depressing-yet-reassuring quality that made me love Brian Eno’s work in the first place.

This calling
This burden
This falling
The world is turning

Tags: {music, nanowrimo, sickness, writing}

Next year do you have to start a whole new novel? What are the stipulations of this contest?
— Whitney 11/25/2005 08:10 PM #
The rules are one new novel every November. In the mean time between NaNoWriMos, you can do as many plot treatments, character outlines, plot outlines, doodles, and the like as you want, but you’re supposed to actually sit down and write an actual draft of 50,000 words in the month of November.

I’m still going to work on what I’ve got written. I found that I don’t know nearly enough about the War in Iraq to fictionalize about it in any kind of a realistic way. In fact, I think I’ll be eliminating a character (and adding another to replace him) in a sort of 1st draft part deux to make it easier to write. But I really did want to see an ending happen this month. 50,000 words is just right (I almost wrote “wright”) for a small first draft, to be built up later. And I would’ve been happy. Instead I’ve got an aborted novel. Meh

Since I made the original post, my canker sores started to hurt less. This is a very small consolation prize.
— Daniel Beck 11/25/2005 08:40 PM #
Oh, and there isn’t a prize for winning, except for a cool form you can print out once your text document has been validated by NaNoWriMo’s word counting site. However, after making three attempts so far at finishing this damn thing, I see that there is definitely a prize in surviving the month with my ego still intact. Failing isn’t healthy for your mind.
— Daniel Beck 11/25/2005 08:42 PM #
I think you should be careful about me and the angry type madness. It doesn’t sound like a good idea, considering some of the thoughts in my head recently.

Did you know Whitney had no idea about your SMART research project?
— The Girl 11/25/2005 08:48 PM #
I would rather write a comic book. I might write a comic book. It would be awesome.
— Whitney 11/27/2005 11:07 AM #

NaNoWriMo Update

NaNoWriMo · 11/25/2005 05:47 PM

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