I've done it. Yesterday I finished the contest for the month for NaNoWriMo at 50,334, but this doesn't mean I am done writing. I feel both good and bad about it. Why? Let me tell you.
I have been working on a new project this month. It has been wonderful since it has also been a while since I've written, really written. This idea came to me in the form of a book title, and then the first chapter, and then it kept going. I've gotten a little sidetracked in it and it will need some major work, but at least it is something, and it might even, eventually, be something good. It feels good to have written, and most days I actually got 2,000 words, which means it isn't impossible. The problem, or at least what I tell myself is a problem, is that I am also an English Professor, and I often have 2-4 classes of papers I have to grade, and I have to do it in a timely manner. Do you know how hard it is to write and grade papers at the same time? Well, for me it isn't easy because I get so stuck in the editing of everything and making sure my grammar is correct that I don't know what to do.
But, I can do it, if I space things out properly and don't have to grade all of the papers from all of the classes in one week, which I have planned for better this next semester. So I am planning, after this weekend because I need a break from thinking so I can read for a minute, to write every day like I have been, and my continued goal is to write at least 2,000 words, which is not impossible.
I feel bad because I shouldn't have been working on something new when I have the last installment of my zombie series to complete. I know, sometimes as a write you can't help but get sidetracked by an idea, but I have been, and it hurts because I really do want to get this zombie novel out of me, and round out the series. I know where it is going, but I've been having problems getting there, partly because one of my characters is refusing to die, and I need them dead. Now, there is a flip side and a good part! I know I can keep writing, so next week I will be working on both books, it might be one thousand words in one and on thousand in the other, but I can do it. I look forward to doing it.
My new novel might be crap now, and honestly it probably is, I mean no one writes a great novel in the first draft, no matter what they say. There is always editing, and cutting and refurbishing, and if they tell you any different they are entirely full of themselves. Even the greats don't have a perfect first draft, and they are honest about it. I'll keep plugging away, and we will see where it gets me, and we will see if you out there in internet land even likes it, or me!
I have been working on a new project this month. It has been wonderful since it has also been a while since I've written, really written. This idea came to me in the form of a book title, and then the first chapter, and then it kept going. I've gotten a little sidetracked in it and it will need some major work, but at least it is something, and it might even, eventually, be something good. It feels good to have written, and most days I actually got 2,000 words, which means it isn't impossible. The problem, or at least what I tell myself is a problem, is that I am also an English Professor, and I often have 2-4 classes of papers I have to grade, and I have to do it in a timely manner. Do you know how hard it is to write and grade papers at the same time? Well, for me it isn't easy because I get so stuck in the editing of everything and making sure my grammar is correct that I don't know what to do.
But, I can do it, if I space things out properly and don't have to grade all of the papers from all of the classes in one week, which I have planned for better this next semester. So I am planning, after this weekend because I need a break from thinking so I can read for a minute, to write every day like I have been, and my continued goal is to write at least 2,000 words, which is not impossible.
I feel bad because I shouldn't have been working on something new when I have the last installment of my zombie series to complete. I know, sometimes as a write you can't help but get sidetracked by an idea, but I have been, and it hurts because I really do want to get this zombie novel out of me, and round out the series. I know where it is going, but I've been having problems getting there, partly because one of my characters is refusing to die, and I need them dead. Now, there is a flip side and a good part! I know I can keep writing, so next week I will be working on both books, it might be one thousand words in one and on thousand in the other, but I can do it. I look forward to doing it.
My new novel might be crap now, and honestly it probably is, I mean no one writes a great novel in the first draft, no matter what they say. There is always editing, and cutting and refurbishing, and if they tell you any different they are entirely full of themselves. Even the greats don't have a perfect first draft, and they are honest about it. I'll keep plugging away, and we will see where it gets me, and we will see if you out there in internet land even likes it, or me!
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