Apparently Failure is an Option
Zero posts in November. For those of you who participated in NaNoWriMo, you completely understand why!
Sadly, I did not reach the 50K words in November goal. I have failed to win NaNoWriMo. Sigh. Between the many hours at the stable, band performances, Girl Scout responsibilities and family in town for a week (the only week stretch I wrote exactly nada), I could not squeeze out enough words to reach my lofty ideal.
Oddly, I do not feel defeated. Maybe a little disappointed, but NOT defeated. For I did manage to add 29K words to my book, putting me at 69K. The previous 40K words were written over a six month period. I almost doubled my story on the screen in ONE MONTH. That is impressive!
I learned how to shut off my editor. Successful writers online, at Comicpalooza and at Dragon Con preached to kick your mental editor out the door while committing your first draft to the screen. This advice alluded me. The concept of writing down dribble, just to finish the book. What good is a finished novel if what looks back at you is a pile of unpublishable rubbish? My bucket list does not include write a book. That line says, “Become a successful, published author.” (It’s directly below “Attend Dragon Con from a host hotel” (check, reservations set for the Westin 2015) and above “See the humpback whales in Hawaii.”) The strict daily word count goal helped me throw my perfectionist out the window. Hopefully, she landed on the mattress I set out for her, because I’m going to need her for the revising phase!
What should not have surprised me was my immediate attachment to the charts and word averages and competition with my buddies. I do, after all, love to jump on video games and collect as many achievements as I can. I explore one quest after another until I’ve exhausted the sources of that town. Then on to the next. The word count charts and goals motivated me more efficiently than a random I need to finish this chapter of undetermined length or I must finish the book, ummmmm, eventually. I’m keeping this as part of my writing process. I found a fantastic chart I’m using for December and will continue to use year round: http://svenjaliv.com/2013/its-here-word-tracker-for-2013/. She even has different themes. Thank you, Svenja!
I set my December goal at 35K, making it 6K more than I wrote last month. Wish me luck! Wait. What? Luck has nothing to do with it? I have to dedicate time and energy pushing down keys to make this lofty goal? Good point. I need to go. These words don’t count.
My book recommendation for this blog is Death Warmed Over by Kevin J. Anderson. Yes, it is the second time I’ve recommended this author’s work. This novel, however, is drastically different from Clockwork Angels. The protagonist is a recently reanimated corpse, Dan Shamble. Yes, you heard me correctly: ‘shamble,’ like a zombie. Written in the Noir style of the early 20th century detective voice, Anderson brings this ludicrous world to life with humor and humanity. It is a quick, enjoyable read. Let me know what you think!
Delve into the unknown; you might experience the extraordinary. Read more books!
Checking out comment section to see if it will work as intended.