Nanowrimo: Week 1, Scrivener and 23k

Day 1 of NanoWriMo is upon us and I'm 23k words in.

No, I didn't write them today. I wrote those words nearly 6 months ago. I'm doing NanoWrimo with a project that has already been started. I used to feel like this was cheating. NanoWriMo is about beginning and finishing an MS in 30 days. But it dawned on me this year (my fourth year trying to do it), that finishing a story isn't the only way to win. Reaching 50k is the easiest and perhaps most popular way of doing it.

Besides, 50k might not even be a whole story for genre writers like myself. My current WIP is Sci-Fi (/ ugh, dystopian, maybe?) and I think it will run about 70-80k. So this headstart will help me reach 2 ways of winning, reaching 50k and actually completing the story I want to tell.

I've never won NanoWriMo before but I really intend to this year. I feel like I've been able to address my common problems so that while writing a novel (especially one that involves world building) can often be like this:

I'm hoping this year, I'll have an experience more like this:

Writing like a Got-Damn Disney Princess

1. World Building
1. Only this past year have I successfully created a well developed world and characters for a story to grow. This took me 5 months for a High Fantasy story--Like I said, I'm not really a high fantasy writer. I found it much easier to create a sci-fi environment
2. Outlining/Plot
1. I can't talk about Scrivener enough. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to write my novel. I wrote 113k words in 5 months. I'm sure I can do 50k in thirty days as long as I have my precious, precious software. I've never been good at outlining but Scrivener makes it incredibly easy.
3. Pacing/Momentum
1. I'm usually very enthusiastic about things from day 1 to like day 14. But the middle of the novel is hard and worse than hard, its daunting. It's the point where you feel like you don't want to keep writing. Like your story is shit. Like the world might as well just end now cus you're an idiot who never should've picked up a pen (or downloaded Scrivener). However, I just read Stephen King's "On Writing" and I've also learned so much about perserverance throughout the past couple of years. I'll probably do another blog post on this but basically "You can always edit if you have something written. But if you don't write, you can't edit." So breeze through the middle--fuck it, put in shit you know you won't ever keep. Whatever gets you to the next scene. Just keep putting one word after another.
4. Dependence
1. Writing, "they" say, is a solitary art. But I'm a social person. Hearing other people's ideas or even the sound of them typing, turns me on (in a way. No lawsuits please). In the past, I've never gone to the write-ins or bothered with writing buddies. But this year I'm going to go the extra mile to really experience this amazing event. I've already completely filled out my profile, complete with picture and even an excerpt.

So those are my four issues and what I am hoping are their solutions. I feel good. But then again, it IS only week one.

Eureka: The Artist and the Lightbulb

A friend of mine just had her "moment".

You know what "The Moment" is. It can happen at work, in bed, in the shower, even while walking down the street. It's kind of like catching the holy ghost.

You just wait til they start hikin' up their skirts and stompin the floor!

"The Moment" is when someone--be they artist or arithmetician--realizes their calling and cannot ignore it any longer. My friend is an excellent writer. We share a common struggle called "Shit Happens". Shit Happens is exactly what it sounds like. It's your dog dying, your wife divorcing you, your boyfriend leaving you, your girlfriend throwing away your favorite worn out Converse sneakers. Shit Happens is anything and everything that will offer you an excuse to not do your work. I don't mean to seem unsympathetic, I AM unsympathetic. I am looking at the "old me", or really just regular me a few months prior--and about 40k words less, mind you--who was making excuses for herself. She had real problems; she was jobless, her relationship of 3 years seemed like it was failing, she was losing friends left and right and couldn't understand why.... And she let those very real and very depressing things distract her.

In truth, there are no excuses. If you are upset, write and distract yourself. If you are in a hurry, write on napkins or in the note app on your cell phone. If you need to clean the house and can't sit down and type, use dictation software. There is no valid excuse unless you say so. There is no teacher to chide your absence, no boss to deny your vacation days. If you are not writing there is no one to blame but yourself. 

You have to realize that before hand, because that takes up space and "The Moment" needs room to move through!

I imagine "The Moment" is a big diva who doesn't need to make herself known. When she arrives, you KNOW

I wish I could remember my exact moment. I thought it happened in February of 2013, almost a year ago. I quite my real estate job because I hated it and, by that point, all I did was rush through my work so I could write my novel in Google Docs. I quit, completely unprepared, convinced I was going to start, finish and submit the novel that would get me a deal. 

In September of 2013, I got a new job.

I had to admit that I half-assed it. And furthermore, I had a tumultuous summer--which I know now is irrelevant to my work but I didn't know that then and I let it stop me completely. Suddenly after I started my new job, I got this wave of invigoration. I started to write every day. I made plans for events and conferences. I started to read more. I submitted and applied to fellowships. I am averaging about 10k words a month and my draft will be finished in January. 

Ever since I had my "moment", I haven't had writer's block for more than a couple days and I've been active about fixing it, instead of hoping it will go away. Since I've had my "Moment", people have been telling me how inspired they are by me and how they wish they could be as motivated. I'm inclined to say that all they have to do is stop "wanting" and "wishing" and just do it. The roughest part of writing the book is sitting down to write. Once the fingers move on the keyboard and the words start flowing, you never want to leave. 

But I could be wrong. It might not be that easy. If you want to induce your moment--yes, like pregnancy--read The War Of Art. It's a good kick-in-the-pants and a quick read. The bottom line is, there is no reason you're not living your dream right now. JK Rowling was on welfare when she wrote Harry Potter--and she did it by choice because she's just more of a G than you are.

Note: this is not an actual picture

Write that book. It really won't write itself.