Wednesday, November 5

Another November, Another 50,000 Words

Quiz question: you have three freelance jobs, two of which are due in the next week. You have a ten-week-old son who needs near-constant attention. You haven't been to the gym in a couple of days. You have a few hours of freedom because your husband will watch your son. What do you do first? Answer: Duh, you go to Diesel Cafe to start your Nanowrimo 2003 novel (and then waste more time blogging about it).

It occurred to me on Friday night that Halloween meant the next day was November therefore it was time to start my next novel. I don't know why this came as a surprise to me given this is my third year of Nanoness. Friday night, the Doodlebug and Adam both fell asleep at 8 p.m. as I tossed and turned all night trying to figure out what I was going to write about. I thought about blatantly cheating and continuing last year's novel. Last year I hit 50,000 words, but really only wrote half a novel. I could have finished it (Nanowrimo is all honor system and I figure as long as I write 50,000 words, I'm good) this year, but realized the rules are right: you have too much invested in a previous novel to really write more crap. Besides, as much as I want to finish last year's novel, it would be too limiting to work on it now. I need freedom to go off in a total new crap direction. Anyway, I woke up the next morning after fitful sleep (not helped by the four feedings the Doodlebug demanded) with nothing other than a name (somehow I knew my main character was Amanda). I arrived at Diesel to meet up with a couple of other folks who wrote last year, and amazingly was able to eke out my 2,000 words based just on having the name Amanda. Unfortunately, this is the novel that will have to go into a closet until a number of people have died. Right now it may be a blubbering mess, but it's a blubbering mess that hits a little too close to home for some folks. But, if I can somehow maintain my daily quota of words, it'll be a fun one to write.

I have to say, it feels so good to be working on something new again. I've been tinkering with some older pieces, doing revisions, and I love doing that, but it's nothing like creating something new. I don't know how I'll manage it on an ongoing basis, but I've got to keep writing. It's a high like nothing else.

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