I'm Sad To See

November is nearly over. I have 4 days left to finsh my 50k words for NaNoWriMo. It is a sad day indeed when I realize that this month is at its end. I have 4k words to go in order to reach my goal although I'm guessing it will take another 10k to finish the story I'm writing. That's okay. I plan to keep writing into December until I have completed the initial first draft. I say initial because this draft is sort of like vomit. I just threw it all out there and it's a mess right now. Unlike vomit, however, it will not always be a mess. I will clean it up and edit it and someday it will even smell good. Someday when publishers start using scented paper for books . . .

In the meantime, I am sad to see that November is going away. The rush of NaNoWriMo is like nothing else. I am convinced that if not for that rush I would not do this writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days thing. After all, it's kind of a crazy thing to do. I enjoy the rush. It puts me back into the writing mood and helps me become more disciplined.

In fact, last year, post NaNo happy writing vibes kept me going for months. I nearly finished editing a book by the summer. Of course, my perfectionism caught up with me eventually and I was afraid to write again. That's how I am. I use NaNo as a launchpad to throw me back into a more disciplined writing schedule. I know that eventually I'll run out of fuel and have to come back down to earth for a few months until the next November. Then I prepare the fuel again -- a new plot -- and get all set to blast off into the stars once more.

That's NaNo. I've done it twice now and I love it. It's a great way to remind myself what writing means to me and it keeps me going for a while.