It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.
Leonardo da Vinci
Happy December!
First of all, I want to apologize for this being a day late. When I finished the final day of NaNoWriMo, I told myself to take a week off and not do… really anything writing related. And I’ve committed to that, but I didn’t quite want it to spill over into here since, well, this is where it all began.
And now, the reason we’re here. How did it go? Did I finish or flame out? Was it worth it? Is anything usable moving forward or was it all trash? What’s the plan now?
I did finish. I closed November with 52,145 words of the 50,000 required to be considered a “winner” of NaNoWriMo. Ooh, a winner, you say – well, don’t get excited about that. Since NaNo is entirely voluntary and self-reporting, there’s nothing of any merit that comes from being a winner since, well, people can just lie about it. I did get most of the useless badges though, and if you know me you know how much I love me some achievements, so A+ there. Though I did misread one and missed it due to that, so that’s annoying, but hey, live and learn.
I think, especially for a one-time event, this was worth the effort. I learned a great deal about how I write (which at this point I thought I didn’t need), how to steal pockets of time to write, how to write with distraction and breaks, and how to always push forward. I’m glad I did this, but I’ll be honest and say it won’t be a recurring goal. Beyond that fact that, well, November won’t always line up with a new project, I just didn’t like how it necessarily pulled me away from people I love and want to spend time with. There’s too much I want to do with my family on a standard month, let alone one with a holiday, a birthday, and a wedding anniversary. Check NaNo off the writing goals. Maybe I’ll be back some year.
As far as whether what I wrote is usable or not, it certainly feels as though it is. In previous NaNo posts I’ve expressed my take on writing without editing and how difficult it has historically been for me, but now that I’ve had to bury myself in that way of creation it’s no longer a problem. Since I want to write this book, obviously, it’s not like I’m going to throw away 50k+ words because they’re unpolished. It’s always unpolished until it’s done, something I think I finally understand. I forget the exact quote or who said it, but it goes something like “Creative work is never finished, it is merely stopped.” Absolute truth, right there.
Now what? Well, as I said at the start, I’m taking a week off to relax, clear the head, actually enjoy some time with people, and prepare. Prepare for what, you say? Well, for one, I’m hoping some of the copies of Residuum I sent off will start filtering back my way – and to that end, if you would like one to read over and critique, don’t hesitate to ask – so that I can begin another round of editing there. I’ll be continuing Jennen, Lance, and Yanis’ story in Catalyst, though at a more measured pace. And, there’s at least one more contract waiting in the wings that will require my attention. I’m certainly not hurting for things to do.
But, for now, I’m going to play a little Guilty Gear and try to get my muscle memory improved on this new Hitbox while watching some absolutely braindead content. I think I’ll allow myself to say I earned that.
Themeattics 