Third Time’s A Charm
It’s that time of year again. I’m not talking about Halloween (which I love, by the way), but NaNoWriMo. This will be my third attempt. The first was in . . . 2005? I can’t remember. It was a total failure. I didn’t write so much as the title, though I recall its origin in great detail and have since applied it to another story that has absolutely zilch to do with the former. Last year, I set out to do this right. I sat down and started outlining, I wrote character sketches and downloaded a couple of fancy new programs – Write or Die and Q10, both of which I continue to use and highly recommend, especially if you’re a procrastinating wretch like me. And when the clock struck midnight on November 1st, I started writing. There was a kink in my technique, however, as I never wrote more than 800 words in a day. After about 9,000, I shelved it. There was too much else to deal with at the time, and I’d already begun losing interest. Just like with books, if I can’t stay connected with what’s happening on the page, I move on to the next or cease all activity until inspiration returns. Often times, months will go by before I return to a story. Blame this on on-again, off-again depression and the fact that I juggle eight jobs (all from the comfort of my own home! no boss, no schedule! why, what a marvelous life, et cetera, et cetera).
So why am I doing this to myself again? If I’m going to succeed as a writer, I’m going to have to treat it as seriously as any other job. I have to set deadlines. I have to set word counts. I have to start doing all the things real writers say you must do in order to reach the end. I have to imagine I’m 13 again, when I wrote poetry in the margins of my homework and I concocted complex plots and back stories not out of boredom but because it was fun. And NaNo is fun. I’m not that competitive a person but I’m drawn to challenges like these like moths to a bug zapper. Only the zap is shorting out and the moths are starting to plot their retaliation. NaNoWriMo, along with my first professional sale earlier this year, is the push in the right direction I’ve needed after all these years of taking notes but forgetting where I’ve put them, of starting a chapter then getting distracted by something in the background. Enough excuses. It’s time to write.
Here’s a breakdown of what I’m bringing with me into the void:
• my aging PC, Hal, and an external drive
• Q10 for drafting scenes, Write or Die for slower days, and OpenOffice to sew it all together
• assorted notebooks and pens
• fingerless gloves
• scented candles, oils, and incense, depending on my mood
• tea, lemonade
• animal crackers, discounted Halloween candy
• photo of Hubba Bubba, who continues to be my muse
• scene-specific playlists
• a ragged copy of Grimm’s fairy tales
I will update along the way to keep myself on task. Wish me luck, and to those of you taking the plunge this year as well, be it the first time or the fifth, I wish you luck as well. Forward march!