October is here! And with the gorgeous Fall colors of the Appalachian mountains comes a yearly tradition: The sudden indecision that precedes National Novel Writing Month.
Shortened to NaNoWriMo, this is a glorious month to be a writer. It’s the marathon we look forward to and somewhat dread for the other eleven months. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in a single month. It doesn’t have to be polished (impossible), but it has to be complete (quite difficult).
I have competed and “won” the last two years. Of course, you’re only competing with yourself. With your other life responsibilities, with your word count, with the calendar, with sleep, with plot difficulties.
But boy, is it sure worth it. Last year, I wrote a pretty decent draft of THE HURRICANE, which cleaned up brilliantly and is one of my favorite works. The year before, I wrote HALF WAY HOME, a fan favorite (and my wife’s top choice among my books). My idea for this year’s work is a new story I came up with over the summer. But of course, as soon as October hit, a half dozen other potential works began screaming for their chance.
I went through this last October. I even made a post on this site and asked for suggestions. Several of the books that I presented then are still waiting to be written, and two of them, INVARIABLE and BRAVO, CHARLIE, have been waiting patiently for quite some time. But, and this is the bane of all writers I believe, I have more ideas popping up all the time. More books to write than I possibly have the time! So while I *think* I know what I’m going to write about come November 1st, I find myself daily vacillating.
It’s the month of indecision. Only three weeks left!
My stats for NaNoWriMo 2010:
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