nano - latest: 19,958

[likethebeer]

Got an e=mail from the biggest organizer/front man this week:

[T]his email is not for those doing exceptionally well. It's for the rest of us---authors with underdeveloped word counts, overdeveloped novel-guilt complexes, and sensational procrastinating abilities. Because we are the ones who are going to begin having serious misgivings about this whole escapade in the next seven days.

Why?

Because it turns out we are too busy to do this.

Or because a crisis has brought some novel-eating turmoil into our lives.

Or because our stories are really, really bad, and we're wondering why we're sacrificing so much of our time to produce a consistently crappy book.

It all adds up to the fabled Week Two Wall---a low-point of energy, enthusiasm, and joie de novel that strikes most NaNoWriMo participants between days 7 and 14. This is when our inner editors, who largely turned a blind eye to our novel flailings in Week One, return to see how things are going. And their assessments are never kind.

The plot is draggy. The characters are boring. The dialogue is pointless, and the prose has all the panache of something dashed off by a distracted kindergartner.

That last paragraph completely describes how I'm feeling.

Bleh. I think I need an explosion or something.

If you're feeling any of these things---or find yourself starting to feel them this week---know that nothing is wrong. In fact, you're likely on track for a great NaNoWriMo. Just lower your head, pick up your pace, and write straight into the maw of your misgivings. If you are thinking about quitting, DO NOT DO IT IN WEEK TWO.

I'll listen to Chris Baty and keep writing.

You know the saying: "You have your whole life to write your first novel. And 6 months to write the second one."

Comments

[djymm.livejournal.com]

I must be ahead of the curve, I was feeling the need for an explosion before I started.

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to be serious, I guess, after last year's success.