Well, I've only 4 writing days left and I'm about 6k behind schedule. By the end of the day I think I'll be about 2 - 3k behind where I want to be. Funny though, in years past to fall behind wasn't too worrisome because I could pump out 5k words in a couple of hours if I wanted.
Now days, not so much. I think what I write is more readable now certainly, but it ain't fast. I figure that going so long without writing anything at all has dulled my skills somewhat, but also I have found that it takes some effort for me to figure out what happens next.
And that is my real frustration, in my younger days of writing I had the opposite problem, stuff was happening all over the place and I had to reel it in a bit to avoid overwhelming things. Now it isn't unusual for everyone, good guys, bad guys, folks in between, to all stop and use the restroom, eat, take a nap. Whatever they need to do, they do.
I'm sure that it has much to do with how much of my day to day existence boils down to my desire to do those sorts of things. It wasn't that long ago that staying up all night, going straight to work and then back out again afterwards wasn't too abnormal for me. Now, as soon as it hits 8:30 I'm wondering if I took my pills or not.
Oh the woes of a thirtysomething.
So, I've complained about my lack of advanced plotting already and I won't rehash it here again. But I feel that I've changed in the past few years. I'm just not the person I was not so long ago. I would like to say that I'm better all around, but I feel more like if I could have looked at myself a few years ago and seen who I am now I would be a bit disappointed.
C'mon self, be cooler. Write better. Nothing like Nanowrimo to take my soul and crush it.
Sigh.
Til next time.
4 comments:
Hi Rusty,
Thanks for the invitation to follow your blog, I will surely do so. And you're about 45K words ahead of me on NaNoWriMo. Yay, I'm your 5th follower!
KarenG
Thanks for following, I've been following your blog for some time as well, I've just never commented before.
That said, Nano is a great excuse for lazy writers (like me) to actually do something. I'll spend the next 11 months procrastinating and trying to revise/edit what I produce now and failing miserably.
Regardless, as my 5th follower I must say I feel a bit popular these days. Despite the fact that 3 of the other 4 are family members or friends who just felt sorry for me for having no audience.
Cheers.
Ha! And I followed you over because when I read your comment on Karen's blog I felt like a bit of a kindred spirit. I also feel pretty darned capable of spurning out a first draft, and... while I feel like I am slowly improving at editing, my stamina isn't there because it saps my soul... so the stuff just doesn't get READY. Determined to change this...
Interesting observation here, too, about the changes... I am relatively pleased with where I am compared to half dozen years ago... but then I am in my 40s, so maybe your bump is coming.
Hey Hart. I thank you sincerely for following. I did try to do the same to your blog but only found that I am having technical difficulties... I'll figure it out I'm sure.
But after reading several of your posts I must say that I agree with most of your assessments of the classics (at least the ones we've both read).
In my bio it states I have a closet full of manuscripts that will most likely never go anywhere. Unfortunately, that is totally accurate. I'm a first draft warrior and an editing coward.
And here's hoping that my 40's will be better than my 30's were. I'll let you know soon.
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