Don't Diss Courage

In my last post, I talked about my NaNo novel from 2912 (more like 2012), titled Times. I talked about how it was poorly written. I want to talk about that in this post.

There is so much to do with this story. I'm talking editing wise. I need to rewrite most of it, now that I know the real relationship between the characters. I also need to rewrite most of it because there's a lot of looking:

Talitha looked at David. He looked at her, then at Isaac. Talitha looked at Isaac, who wasn't looking at anyone.

In the spirit of NaNoWriMo, we call this word padding. Ugh.

So you can see why it's hard for me to read. And if I can't read it, I can't edit it.

Enter discouragement.

After reading a page or two, I quickly exit out of the program, and walk away from the computer, feeling as though this story isn't as awesome as I think and know it is. It will never be what as it is in my head: a best-seller, soon to be a movie. I just want it to be good enough to be publishable, really.

It's been eight months since I finished it. If I remember correctly, about five pages have notes on them. I can't quite get past this next part. Or maybe I just don't have the courage to.

When you get discouraged, you diss your courage to try.

I won't sit here and tell you to keep going, to keep trying, to keep doing. Because I'm not. What I will say is, every day I feel more and more like I'm getting to the point of getting there. I did write one note on it yesterday. It was a small note, but it was a start.

Now, how did I get here? Time. Patience. Building up my confidence by writing other things. Also, getting annoyed at the fact that I haven't gotten there yet.

It's ok, we'll get there. We will.

Cheating During NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo is less than a month away. Can you believe that? Just last month I told myself, "Eh, I have awhile to plan." No, no I do not. In fact, planning should start in August.

Before I begin, what is NaNoWriMo?

NaNoWriMo, also known as NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth, starts November 1st and ends November 30th. You have the whole month to write 50,000 words. That breaks down to approximately 1,667 words per day.

Sound hard? For some, it is. Children, school, work, etc. For others, it's still hard, but they persist. Some are planners, some are pantsers, but we all have one common goal: the end.

Now, technically, you're supposed to write a novel. But, of course, you have those rebels who have other plans. Like me, last year. I tried to write about everything that happened that summer. But since it had just happened, it turned out to be crap. I only wrote about 10,000 words (if that) when I got to the end of my story. I decided to write the remaining words elsewhere. It was a bad year.

This year, I'm cheating again. First, I'll tell you why. Back in 2012, during NaNoWriMo, I started a novel called Times. I finished it at the beginning of this year. I started to edit it, but it's so poorly written, I can't even look at it. But I love it. It could potentially be great...it just isn't (yet).

My characters told me there's a second book. I love the ideas they're giving me. I want to start it, but I will not subject it to the craziness of November. I really don't want two poorly written stories (even though I probably wouldn't let it get that way).

I'm in the process of writing a murder mystery, but I'm stuck. If I can't figure stuff out now, I have no time to be doing research when I have 50k words to write!

Instead, I will be writing short stories. My stories usually run between 2,000 and 3,000 words, so this should be fun. And who knows? I might find a novel in there somewhere.