Today marks the official deadline for this year's National Novel Writing Month, which commenced November 1st. I crossed the finish line with just over 50,300 words. The goal is to write at least 50,000 words with the thirty day crunch. This year marks my fourth "win". Yes, I have managed to write that much in a relatively compressed period of time. My body has taken the toll with aching wrists and tense shoulders.
As always, I am not very impressed with the results, but I keep reading in different sources that it is important to just put it away for a while (some suggest two weeks) and then go back with the red pen and your inner editor sitting on one shoulder.
The problem is that I am not finished after 50,000 plus words. I cannot seem to find the beginning, middle or end. What I have is a fairly thick gruel of characters and some possible conflict, but no real plot in sight. I thought the magic would happen,(the magic that I've heard about so many times), but it doesn't seem to work for my brain. I seem to learn things very slowly and ponderously.
I think I will take a couple days off and then have at it again. Not as a rewrite, but as a generating more material exercise so that I have a hope of finishing it at some point.
It can't be that hard. After all, there are many writers out there who aren't particularly very good (I'm thinking of the Danielle Steele quality) who make fortunes off of their meagre talents. There must be hope for me just to finish a book. Perhaps I am more in need of a plot 101 survey course intensive.
The important thing is that I DID it. Again. And for that I am happy with myself.
