It’s been too long since I’ve updated. My wrist has been severely slapped. I’ve received several frowns from my love (which is worse than any punishment I can think of).
I am signed up and doing NaNoWriMo 2012. I’ve had my best writing come out of NaNoWriMo
I have some thoughts to share.
Personal thoughts:
I am stoked. All the members of my writing group are signed up this year. These people were the core group from my first attempt in 2006 (which succeeded and gave me Revenant, to date my best novel draft). If anyone can get the juices flowing, it’s these guys.
I needed to do something because I broke the golden rule and fell into a slump. I won’t say a writer’s block because there’s no such thing. There’s writing and there’s NOT writing. I was firmly in the NOT camp.
I even considered quitting. I gave it a serious thought.
The fact that I’ve decided to do NaNoWriMo this year should speak volumes about what I’ve decided.
Repeat after me: I like myself better when I am writing.
That’s a fact.
I may fail. I may not write for stretches of time (and that’s never good), but I will always feel better, feel stronger, feel more confident when I am writing.
This is what I need to snap out of this funk and get back into a groove.
My personal goal this year is to get to 50K and to get another 2K word count on December 1st!
Novel thoughts:
It’s going to be fun.
Listen to this: Space Pirates. Say it with me. SPACE PIRATES. Arrrrr! What’s not to love right?
Here’s the synopsis:
The Generation Ship Intrepid arrives at its destination after almost 10 generations of interstellar travel only to find that the planet they planned to colonize has been destroyed.
An advanced automated beacon ship from earth is waiting for them with a message: Earth has been destroyed by an advanced alien empire bent on genocide. Do not return. Flee or hide.
Stuck in the middle of a galaxy spanning empire bent on their destruction with nowhere to run or hide, the crew of the intrepid does the unexpected and decides to turn to piracy on the space lanes in order to survive, thrive and eventually get revenge for the destruction of their home.
Sounds good right? Right! I am stoked! SPACE PIRATES! C’mon!
Thoughts on NaNoWrimo:
I read a disturbing tweet question the other day:
“Guys, do you find that NaNoWriMo cheapens the writing experience?”
I have a one word answer: Bullshit.
Here’s a longer answer:
We can argue whether the spirit of NaNoWriMo is still the same (and as valid) as it is when it began over a decade ago. (I’ve heard some very good arguments on either side. )
We can argue that as NaNoWriMo has succeeded and cast a wider net, there’s a certain, “less writer, more social” element to the community. I will certainly agree that the community did change over the years that I participated in it. For me, 2006 was a golden year that may never be recaptured again, and that’s normal.
In the end, more people are writing and that’s a good thing. It doesn’t matter if you feel the community is flooded with less writerly types. Ignore them if you wish. It doesn’t matter if the feel has changed, if a certain segment is more concerned about the social aspects of NaNoWriMo over, you know, actually WRITING.
(Personally, while I love the community aspect of NaNo, I find the notion that writing is becoming a social thing ridiculous for many reasons. I say this having made a good portion of my current friends by attending NaNoWriMo events.)
It doesn’t matter because in the end, more people are writing and that’s a good thing.
It doesn’t matter because I am writing.
And that’s a good thing.
The Basement Office 