A full 21 days into this thing, I finally got brave enough to put an actual excerpt from my story on my profile page (Click "turn" in the lower right-hand corner to see the excerpt). I'm not going to make any judgment, negatively or positively, on the quality of my work. It's there, and you are welcome to have a look.
I will say this though; both last year and this year the main character of my story has been male, but also in each story I ended up creating a female character who I hadn't planned on in the beginning. They really just got put there so my main character would have someone to talk to, and in each case she has turned out to be the most interesting person in the story. I just think it's interesting because I think of myself as being more tuned into the male mind, and yet for two years running, I've done a better job (I think) at writing female characters than I have with the male ones.
I keep writing, and keep thinking I'm going to get caught up and pull through at the last, but realistically I don't think it's going to happen. What's funny is that things keep coming up that force me to make choices that put the relative importance of this project in perspective. A friend calls while I'm writing and needs help preparing his lesson for the next day. I meet with another friend and I end up staying later than I meant to because he needs to talk for a while, or else I put off writing simply because I don't feel like being alone for an evening. Also this month, I've made some major decisions that are going to affect the next several years of my life, and maybe even my entire life. That's not the kind of thing you want to squeeze in between chapters.
Finally, I've worked really, really damn hard over the past year to bring some balance to my life. Last year, doing Nanowrimo brought focus and direction to my life. It was exactly what I needed at the time. This year it was throwing my life out of balance, so it had to take a back seat. Perhaps next year, or further down the road, I'll be able to surrender some of that balance knowing I can get it back at the end of the month. Right now is not the time.
If it sounds like I'm making excuses, I am. This has been a deeply educational experience, if not a hugely productive one. To sum up what I've learned, I'm going to blatantly paraphrase (steal) Suze Orman's tag line: "People first, then Nanowrimo, then free time."
I will say this though; both last year and this year the main character of my story has been male, but also in each story I ended up creating a female character who I hadn't planned on in the beginning. They really just got put there so my main character would have someone to talk to, and in each case she has turned out to be the most interesting person in the story. I just think it's interesting because I think of myself as being more tuned into the male mind, and yet for two years running, I've done a better job (I think) at writing female characters than I have with the male ones.
I keep writing, and keep thinking I'm going to get caught up and pull through at the last, but realistically I don't think it's going to happen. What's funny is that things keep coming up that force me to make choices that put the relative importance of this project in perspective. A friend calls while I'm writing and needs help preparing his lesson for the next day. I meet with another friend and I end up staying later than I meant to because he needs to talk for a while, or else I put off writing simply because I don't feel like being alone for an evening. Also this month, I've made some major decisions that are going to affect the next several years of my life, and maybe even my entire life. That's not the kind of thing you want to squeeze in between chapters.
Finally, I've worked really, really damn hard over the past year to bring some balance to my life. Last year, doing Nanowrimo brought focus and direction to my life. It was exactly what I needed at the time. This year it was throwing my life out of balance, so it had to take a back seat. Perhaps next year, or further down the road, I'll be able to surrender some of that balance knowing I can get it back at the end of the month. Right now is not the time.
If it sounds like I'm making excuses, I am. This has been a deeply educational experience, if not a hugely productive one. To sum up what I've learned, I'm going to blatantly paraphrase (steal) Suze Orman's tag line: "People first, then Nanowrimo, then free time."
Labels: Nanowrimo
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