So, I wrote a novel. Those of you who have been following this and any of my other 99 blogs for any period of time know that this was not my first experience with NaNoWriMo. In fact, this was my fourth consecutive novel, which I will admit is pretty impressive, and if you are so impressed that you want to buy me shiny things I am totally okay with that.
In keeping with tradition, this year’s novel sucks. As usual, I started with the best of intentions and then things quickly went by the wayside. I’m starting to think that writing fiction is not for me. This thing has so many plot holes that it’s the literary equivalent of Swiss cheese. I know 30 days is not a lot of time to write a novel, but previous experience with coming up with “a plot” and creating “character development” leads me to believe that my novel wouldn’t have been any better if I had 300 days to write it. Still, I keep on trudging down this road every November, thinking that maybe this will be THE YEAR where I write something that’s worth working on after my 30 days are up. For now I’ll just hold out hope that next year will be THE YEAR.
Even though my novel is horrible and I’m so glad to have it done with, seriously, I was so tired of looking at it, now I am feeling a bit lost without having writing a novel to occupy my time. After I ran it through the word count validator last night I said, “Now what?” “You could play Gran Turismo,” the el duderino suggested, and while that was a valid option, I was mostly asking what I should do in a larger sense. (Gran Turismo 5 is super bad ass, though.) Certainly there’s more writing to be done, but I don’t really know what to do or where to start, so it looks like I might be taking a little hiatus while I figure things out. That ought to give me plenty of time to post random useless crap here. You’re welcome. If you have any suggestions, let me know.
I recently forced myself to contact the editor of the tiny little neighborhood paper that I get once a month on my doorstep. I offered, they accepted. Getting that first article out felt like what I imagine giving birth to an elephant would feel like, but it helped remind me that I can, indeed, write stuff other than "what my dog's poo looked like today". The writing itself will be pretty pedestrian and as journalistic as the "Community Reporter" can be, but it felt good nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I know I have a good novel in me somewhere (and HUGE kudos to you for writing four!), but I think I need to explore other types of writing before I can squeeze that puppy out.
Wow, your fourth one?? That's the "Citizens on Patrol" of NaNoWriMo entries. I'm wicked impressed! So what's it about?
ReplyDeleteHaving never written a novel, I can saw I am in awe.
ReplyDeleteWM: That's awesome! I've been thinking about doing that for the LHE paper since I moved to the 'hood. Now that I know you've done it means I probably have to, huh?
ReplyDeleteJon: Thanks! It's about a 13-year-old girl who finds out she's a superhero. Good in theory, lacking in imagination and a sensical plot in execution.
Thanks Hannita! You should give it a try next year!
ReplyDelete