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Touchdown!

Okay, so maybe y’all have had enough of the football analogies, but I can’t help it. I love the sport! It’s dirty and gritty–full of conflict and heartbreak.

Just like any good story!

As most of you know, I’ve spent the month of November participating in NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. Those of us insane enough to make it official signed up on their website and pledged to write at least 50,000 words over the thirty days in November.

Over the past month I’ve wrestled with my characters as I tried to meet my goal. I’ve fumbled the plot a few times, watching in horror as my characters spun across the page searching for their purpose. I’ve had to change my game plan, tackle a few opponents (like exhaustion and Black Friday shopping) but with time running out on the clock I drove down that gridiron for the go ahead score!

I reached 50,000 words last night at approximately 10:30 p.m.  I’m not the only one celebrating the achievement. My husband can’t wait to see the dining room table again (I kept my Thesaurus, idea notes, word count sheets and lap top set up there for easier access!) My kids will be happy that they won’t have to wait for me to come to the end of a scene before I’ll talk to them.

No, I haven’t completed the entire novel yet. I anticipate another 30,000 words will be needed to wrap the loose ends and fill in the blanks I left in the plot as I hopscotched to scenes I had fully realized in my head. But I’m excited to have achieved my goal. Thanks to all of you who commented either here or on FaceBook, I couldn’t have succeeded without your encouragement (and nagging!)

And now, I’m sorry to say, I have to leave you. I may have scored a touchdown, but my characters are still waiting to see who’ll win the game! I’m off to finish their story, just at a little less frantic pace!

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The Agony of a Field Goal Kicker

I’m lining up on the thirty yard line, waiting for the snap before the ball is set before me and I kick it through the goal posts to win the game!

At least that’s my plan…

There are only six more days in November…six more days to complete my NaNoWriMo goal of 50,000 words in a month! That’s the most I’ll ever have written in a thirty day period.  As of right now I’m at 38,116.

I’ve learned a few more things along this journey so far. I’m learning that the first draft doesn’t have to be perfect, it doesn’t even have to be that good, as long as the story and characters are evolving. I don’t have to make it great before I move on, I can tell the story and polish it later.

Once again, my characters have surprised me by making me tell THEIR story, not mine. Whenever I try and force them somewhere they don’t want to go, those stubborn little figments of my imagination dig their heels in and throw a hissy fit. I spent two days scribbling in a notebook various possiblities for the plot until they finally yelled “That’s the way we want you to go!”

And I confirmed to myself that I’m a people pleaser. When my friends stopped asking me about my word count after I’d come home exhausted from a conference, I let myself slack off. But when I started posting my progress and people started prodding me on I forced my muse to come out of hiding and made my way back from a 4800 word deficit.

Now the end is in sight it’s time to steady my nerves, take a deep breath and kick that ball through the posts…um, pound those keys until I reach my goal!

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Of Brains and Words and Epitaphs…

I’m wondering where my brain went today. It seems to have wandered off. Perhaps its lingering in the remaining powdered sugar from the Dunkin Donuts I indulged in over the weekend. All I know is, I can’t find it.

This brain abandonment always occurs after a writer’s conference and that’s where I was this past weekend. I kibitzed with other writers, listened to interesting lectures and I sat down with editors to discuss my various manuscripts. The angst alone of those meetings is enough to send my brain underground. Throw in the lack of sleep and the abundance of people and I’ll be lucky to find my mind before Christmas.

On the plus side, I got lots of good feedback, insights and new avenues to pursue. A small publishing house, Written Word Communications, is interested in looking at my novel Deborah: Woman of Flames. Another contact insisted I try my hand at writing screenplays and helped to rekindle my desire to do theater again.

But now it’s back to reality and I must find my muse again. The NaNoWriMo count awaits and I’m two days behind. No matter what the future may hold, I have to remember the goals of the past and get back to writing my story.

Maybe I need another donut…

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A Discovery

I’ve learned something about myself this week, which is always exciting when you’ve got enough years behind you to see the crest of that infamous “hill!”

I learned that it’s not so much the threat of a deadline or the setting of a goal that gets my juices running and my muse musing– it’s the fact that I told so many people about my obligation. I wrote it on this blog for all to see and now I hate the thought of failing so publically that I’ve found myself squeezing in time to write when I’d normally shut down and tune out for awhile.

Granted, I’m only on day 4 of NaNoWriMo and the insane weekend hasn’t come yet, but I’m still hopeful. I’ve already plotted to get up early on Saturday before my road trip to the Husker game so I can type out a few hundred words. Sunday will be a little more difficult what with church and an afternoon singing engagement with my husband, but I’m hoping to have a little energy left in the evening to write.

I guess it’s my desire to please that has spurred me on this week because I’ve set my own private goals before–for writing, house cleaning, dieting– and I always fall short. I honestly worried that I’d already be behind in my NaNoWriMo goals long before now, but because I let you all know my plans, I’m paranoid to fail.

So thanks to all of you who have commented so far to let me know you’re reading these blogs! It’s  keeping me on track to succeed in something I didn’t think I could do! You all rock!