If you’re anything like me, you attempt to do NaNo each year
with all the intentions of a zealot. Passionately plotting – declaring yourself
ready, willing, and able – determined beyond belief. But inevitably life gets
in the way. And while the mere attempt has merit in and of itself, there’s something
to be said for finishing.
As writers, we so often start new projects. Ideas are never
in short supply for the creative mind. It’s the road to completion that’s paved
with stumbling blocks, distractions (hello, Internet), and the lure of moving on
to the next best thing.
Sure, there are times when an idea just doesn’t have the
legs to go the distance, (good, luck NYC Marathon runners) but most of the time
we surrender just before the magic is about to happen. This is my attempt to
get out of my own way, to get out of my head, and jump into the plot.
Hey, a bad novel is still a novel. Plus, as the saying goes…you
can edit bad writing but you can’t edit what’s not there.
So I’ve decided to blog this journey, mostly to force myself
to face the page no matter what’s going on. This will be my mirror, my
chronical of NaNo, and in the midst of the chaos I hope to learn more about my
own writing habits.
After all, the creative life is a process… and revisions are
part of the plan.