Disillusionment
and
Resolve.
Disillusionment:
This is always the time I become disinterested in writing: at the actual writing stage. After all of the fun, and brainstorming, and oh-my-gosh-this-is-the-best-novel-ever-ing, I sit down, Word open, pumped, listening to my thought-provoking Simon and Garfunkel playlist... and divert my attention to League of Legends. Or the TV. Or banging my head against the wall.
"I hate my sidebuuuuurns!"
For some reason this always happens to me. I always get the greatest sparks of inspiration, but once that new-project sheen wears off I can't bear to look at Word without feeling immense stress and fear. Either that, or I just can't be bothered to allot writing time into my busy (read: League of Legends) life.
Maybe it's a sign that I shouldn't go into writing, but I'm not into signs much. Instead, I plan to force myself to write this ************* (child-friendly!) novel or perish by my own pencil trying. That's where this whole senior project comes in. That's where this blog comes in.
That's where NaNoWriMo comes in.
Resolve:
NaNoWriMo is the tongue-friendly acronym for National Novel Writing Month, which is the best way to raise your blood pressure since deep fried foods. The goal is to write 50,000 words for an original novel in a month, which happens to be November, which happens to be the deadline for most of my college applications.
People always misinterpret what I mean by "headbanging".
Moving on!
To add to the number of stress factors associated with this novel, I've decided to participate in NaNo. And, keeping with the spirit of NaNo, I've decided not to write a word of my novel until November 1st.
Insanity? Maybe. Laziness? Definitely.
There are three reasons for this*: 1) I don't want to start the novel right now, when I'm likely to write poorly and get frustrated, 2) I work much better under pressure, and 3) this gives me time to finish my college applications as much as possible in October so that I don't have to worry about them later.
However, don't fret, my sweet little duckling(s)!This doesn't mean that you're going to have to wait till November to read any of my writing.
Remember the thirty question survey? I'll be writing those throughout October, since I probably won't use any of them directly in my novel, and it will help me find my characters.
October starts tomorrow, so I better get a move on...
Tiredly yours,
Abby
* Like the number of crime dramas I have patience for, zero of these excuses are true. I'm just lazy.
I really admire you for doing NaNoWriMo. That's always amazed me that so many people manage to pull that off every year.
ReplyDeleteAnd I know what you mean about writing. So many of us go through that. I wonder if that's something all writers go through--or if there's something we're all doing wrong.
I've given up on maybe half a dozen novels. I've realized I need to actually be a writer before I write a novel. And that means I've got to figure out what I'm doing, how, and why. It's more than falling in love with it--it's needing it. Getting obsessed. And for that to happen, something's got to change in the way I write--or maybe in the way I'm living my life.
Good luck!