That was December (last post). This is August. So what has happened to the novel since? Well, let's go back through the steps.
1. Go to the TGIO party Sunday night.
Did that. Sigh, only three of us showed, but had a good chat nevertheless.
2. Loan the manuscript copy out to friends who've asked to read it. This will get YT into the recommended getting-some-distance period.
Did that, too. Loaned the manuscript out to C., who was amazed at the length but little else. Then YT exchanged hostages with Miss Tiff, after which both novels languished. (The arrival of Tiff and Geoff's baby boy may have contributed.)
Then the choices are:
3a. Write the obvious next chapter.
3b. Spend time working out the plot and story arc, resume after Xmas.
3c. Walk away for a few weeks.
Choice (c), then never came back.
4. Regardless of the choice in (3) above, practice saying "Why, yes, in my first novel I ..." in appropriate social situations.
Absolutely did that. YT didn't even have to strain to hard to find those appropriate situations.
...And then YT realized just how far beyond redemption Too Lucky This Week really was. But there were good side effects. Writing in general has gotten easier. YT has learned to trust the forc^^^^ flow a lot more. The words come out looking pretty good without all the agonizing beforehand, and if it's not right, well, it can always be fixed.
There's a saying that goes: an investor takes his choices much more seriously when it's his own money he's playing with. YT thinks the same goes for writing. It's your own words flowing onto that blank screen, and you run up against your own limitations a lot faster than a non-writer might think. Perhaps that is the big reward of WriMo month: learning one's own limitations. Of course, the fun of NaNoWriMo is very much in blithely ignoring them.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
What happened next...
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1 comment:
Ah, MontiLee, the estimable proprietor of The Diner. Sure, take the plunge, with the attitude of "fourth time's the charm."
What are your goals for November? Without trying to beat the point made many times here any further to death, I think one of the reasons the NaNoWriMo month works is that people are willing to set their expectations low. Way low. Over in The Diner, you pretty much set out the reasons you went off track in '04. From the point of view of a writer trying to live up to her talent, taking nothing else into consideration, your decisions made good sense.
But that's not NaNoWriMo. So a question to ask you, neighbor, is: how much are you willing to compromise in order to keep writing regardless? The answer may tell you something about whether it's worthwhile.
Whatever your answer, Yours Truly will still answer "yes" to you joining WriMo again, if only to build up the cadre of repeat offenders.
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