Uluru

During NaNoWriMo, the organizers have arranged for published authors to write weekly pep talks that are emailed to participants. I find these pretty helpful, because here are people who know exactly what you're going through keeping you company and giving just the right dose of advice and wisdom to take you through your next 1,000 words.

Take for example the week 2 email from Maureen Johnson. She started her email talking about Australia, and how she's never been, always wanted to go, the fact that her friend has been trying to get her to go, etc. Of course, I'm thinking, "What does this have to do with writing? Doesn't she realize I don't have time for chit chat about travels?" But I bite my tongue and continue reading, only to discover that she is setting up Australia or more specifically Australia's geography as a metaphor for writing a novel.

You see, almost everything that's fun and exciting about Australia is located on the coasts. The novel equivalent of that is the beginning and the end. Once you wander past the city limits and the signposts disappear, the vast middle of Australia consists of poisonous snakes, sudden weather changes, and virtually no end in sight. It is a hard place to be. This is where Uluru is located, in the middle of the vast Middle of Australia and where I currently am in the writing process, which is where in fact 95% of a writer's time is spent... in the vast stinking Middle.

What's nice about NaNoWriMo is that at least I'm traveling with a posse of thousands, making our way through mountains, through the valleys, across the creeks, and fighting the beasties. And then I soon discovered that every day presents a new way of looking at my novel, a new adventure for the hero, a twist, a turn, and unexpected possibilities for my story. There are good days and there are bad days, as you can see below.

But in the end, I'm taking each day at a time. Taking each 1,000-word goal at a time, and embracing all that this process has to offer. Here are the chronicles of the past few days.

Nov 12: Once again, fell behind as life got in the way. There weren't any scenes that I could jump into quickly. (19,698 words)

Nov 13: After procrastinating a little this morning, I knocked out a great battle scene in the water. Hoping at least for an opportunity to put some more writing in at lunch. (21,429 words)

Nov 14: Getting a lot more fight scenes done, which I didn't expect I would enjoy. Need to get 3,500 words done today just to catch up. Goal is to get to 25,000 words today. Ugh. Just thinking about it 1,000 words at a time. (25,032 words)

Nov 15: Finally relaxing into the story and hoping there's enough complexity in the remaining chapters to keep the story interesting. Discovered that I shortchanged some prior chapters so I will definitely need to expand on some of them further. (27,158)

Nov 16: A cooking project sidetracked me this morning, so I only got an hour in this morning. This will require a big push tonight to make sure I stay on track. Did not get far at night. FAIL (27,897 words)

Nov 17: Goal is to get to 30,000 words today. It is strangely surreal to write when you're half asleep. Then to wake up and see what you typed in your stupor - fascinating! (30,095 words)

Nov 18: I'm seriously wondering if this story is too complex. Will probably also need to add more memorable settings as there seems to be too many generic mountains, forests and tunnels described, which could be confusing. (31,760 words)

Punchlines

You know, it's moments like these that I'm reminded of Cardinal Richelieu and his immortal words...

"I think we can settle this matter with a little tonsil hockey, don't you?"