Scary Stuff From the "What the Heck Was I Thinking?" Department

Tuesday, October 31, 2006 0 comments
Today is October 31st (Halloween). Tomorrow is November 1st. Tomorrow also begins National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo. I can thank (blame?) the illustrious (infamous?) Elemental Mom for encouraging me to attempt the challenge this year.

The goal is to write a 50,000-word novel during the month of November. In case you're interested: that works out to approximately 1,667 words per day, or 6.7 manuscript pages per day. On a good day, when the muse is full of herself and speaking long and loud, 6.7 pages is a stretch, but not unattainable. But to exceed the cardinal rule of "a page a day" by 5.7 pages every day for 30 days(!) is a significant undertaking.

Here's my page in case you want to track my progress: http://www.nanowrimo.org/userinfo.php?uid=129927.

Let the adventure begin!
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Judgment Day

Friday, October 13, 2006 1 comments

You don't say, "I've done it!" You come, with a kind of horrible desperation, to realize that this will do.
Anthony Burgess

A friend of mine was telling me why several of the projects around their house were not completed. I started thinking about all of the writing projects I have in progress and my equivalent issue with getting most of them done. (For the moment, we'll ignore the concept that "Nothing motivates like a good deadline".)

I'm currently a bit blocked on the current chapter I'm writing for "Battlefield", so was considering working on one of the other projects. Of course, the Virgo part of me protested, "No! You must finish what you start! Stick with it!" The muse, on the other hand, just pleaded, "Don't listen to him. Just write something!"

It did get me thinking about what happens when you finish a writing project. Once you're done, that's the point where someone else usually gets to read it. That's the point in the process where your work gets judged. It's very difficult to throw something out there that you've spent days, weeks—or even years—working on and then wait for it be ravaged by family and friends.

I was thinking about two short stories I wrote recently. One was written for what I knew would be an appreciative audience. The other was intended really as just an exercise and never meant to be shared immediately (but possibly scavenged later, if needed). I blew right through the writing, finishing each in a matter of days. In both cases, I had no fear of judgment, so my internal editor was basically silent, and the writing got done.

So, I realized that I need to find a way to tell myself that my work will find only an appreciative audience--and not that no one will ever read it! I will imagine that audience is waiting anxiously to see it. That just might help me get these projects finished.

Of course, if I never finish it, then it never gets judged and critiqued. But if I never finish it, it's never going to get published. That is the goal, after all. Right?

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Taming the Muse

Monday, October 09, 2006 0 comments
I was talking to a friend of mine earlier today who told me that she hadn't had lunch yet because her "muse had her by throat". I knew exactly what she meant.

Muses appear generally benevolent to other people; writers know better. They are persistent taskmasters who demand nothing less than our undivided attention when they have something to say.

The joyous part comes when you become solely the conduit for the work: when your characters speak to you in your head, conducting entire conversations among themselves without your prompting, and then they act of their own accord without (or in spite of) your stage direction.

I don't know about other writers, but I often find it difficult to keep mine focused. I stopped counting the number of writing projects I have in progress--and perhaps that's a big part of the problem. My muse might shift from day to day what she wishes to work on. While it certainly can fulfill the "page a day" regimen, it does make for slow progress for specific projects.

I know that the muse can be tamed through the judicious use of a deadline. Too many of those too often, though, and the muse rebels--choosing instead to go off and sulk. (There's few things worse than a sulky muse.)

I begin to wonder . . . Is there a Muse Whisperer out there?
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