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Instructional Design, James Patterson, NaNoWriMo, national novel writing month, postaday, Writers Resources
Or as a friend always says “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”
The iconic image of the Hand of God giving life to Adam, used since the series’ inception. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Let the excuses begin.
First it was “My I slept later than I expected, might as well call my friend Linda to see if she still wants to have a salad for lunch”
Then later it was “Too early to write now, let me check emails and whatnot first”
Follow this with a hearty, yet unexpected … no really … nap on a Sunday afternoon.
If I recall correctly, the nap happened approximately five minutes after I laid down … to brainstorm a better plot outline for my novel.
Note to self: Do not do plot outlines laying down on a cool, lazy Sunday afternoon.
It would almost have to be a better outline than I have now, which more closely resembles “MC goes to lake, heartbroken. MC lives happily ever after.”
But I am definitely not getting words on paper … or screen … today.
Instead I am waffling, procrastinating, avoiding and all around beating myself up mentally.
“See? You can’t do it. You can’t even put two sentences together today. Who told you that you could write? A novel? Really? In a month? Delusional, that’s what you are. Delusional.”
Hey, James Patterson said sanity is over-rated.
The inner-critic doesn’t want to hear it.
The inner-critic thinks I can’t do it.
The inner-critic reminds me that other than dry boring technical type Instructional Design and Technical Writing and Proposal Writing, I have not gotten paid real money for writing.
English: Digital photo taken by Marc Averette. Cut-away view of a genuine Key Lime pie (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The inner-critic has no sense of humor whatsoever.
The inner-critic also thinks the five pounds I have lost in two days on my simultaneous one-month diet is a fluke.
I’m pretty sure the inner-critic wants a piece of Key Lime Pie.
So I do have some grapes, left over from the last trip to the Amish farm market.
Maybe the inner-critic will be good with those instead.
But so as not to have the day be a total waste, I did do some reading on how to write, which I am going to share with you here. I recommend you read the whole article. Really.
1. Cardboard cut-out characters
2. Overcrowding – Too many characters
3. Over-writing – Too many words
4. Tormented heroes – Too many thoughts, not enough actions
5. Lack of Setting – Where am I?
Happy Holly Project 
Perhaps shifting your goal will work for you.
NaNoWriMo to me is an exercise in work ethic. Making yourself sit down and write X amount of words–even if you know it’s all going to go in the bin later–is not a futile exercise because you’re establishing routine. When you get used to writing a certain amount of words a day, it gets easier.
Think of those people who practise playing the piano or guitar – at the start it’s difficult, tedious or even frustrating. Then after working on it, it gets a little easier. NaNoWriMo can be your instrument. Use it as an exercise and not as a means to an end, and maybe it will feel achievable.
Good luck, and thanks for the link to that great article.
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Excellent suggestions! Thank you for the comment.
Although I don’t usually count words as a goal, I have written every day since 11/1/11 (the first NaNoWriMo). It usually consists of 1K-5K words in a private blog, another 1K or so here on HHP, (which hasn’t missed a day since 6/24/12) then whatever else comes along.
But for whatever reason, I am not “feeling it” today for this story. Truth? I need a better outline for something this long and purposeful.
Back to “It was a dark and stormy night” 🙂
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