It’s mid-October and some of my
associates are considering NaNoWriMo aka National Novel Writing Month. Last year I managed to convince myself that
shadowing the NaNoWriMo contest concept was for me. I would write a novel in the month of
November. 50,000 words. It could be done but it certainly takes focus
and dedication – every writer needs both.
I found this essay written at that
time.
Slugging
it through this misbegotten project has been hard. Plain and simple, I’m not cut out to write a
novel. This is not my Moby Dick. A novel is not this writer’s Holy Grail. But I’m not ready to quit the
project yet. I committed myself for the
month of November and I will stick it out.
I knew that going in, and made the public declarations of intent that
would force me to keep this promise. If
nothing else, I thought, I would learn something in the process. In short, I have to dig deeply into my bag of
tricks. Long view, I have to find the
elements of success that I will take forward.
I am learning how to push through some of my stall points. I am adjusting my goals to accept those stall
points, or to challenge them. I am
slugging it through. I’ll report my December 1st
evaluation. Then I’ll go back to short
stories, my first love.
This year, again, I attempted a large
book project – non-fiction and via the blog method. It definitely was a challenge. Liz’s Lymphedema Logbook is the result. It’s smaller than I first envisioned. It was harder to write than I first thought and
it certainly took longer than a month.
But I made it through and I discovered more writer stamina, and
strengthened my tenacity. I know more
about commitment and organizing my time and energy for a project. I could maybe consider attempting a novel. However, I still love my short stories, so no NaNoWriMo
for me this year. But the best of luck
to anyone participating.
