Happy Halloween - NaNo Begins! Not the most flattering visage of Mr. Leo, but it makes me laugh all the same.
Samhain approaches and brings a lot of goodies with it. I went to the store and bought Halloween candy, and I’m wearing my jingling pumpkin earrings. We’re carving jack o lanterns. As far as Halloween goes, I’m golden. but at midnight, that’s when the real spooks and goblins come out. Nanowrimo 2009 will be here when the clock strikes twelve, and I am ill-prepared. I want to win this year. I’m not psyched out, I’m more just kind of calm and wondering if I can do it.
A lot of my fellow Nanoers have created hefty plot outlines, full backstories on characters, have created soundtracks, have researched all types of methodologies to best craft their work. Me? I kind of just want to see what the baby who shows up on my doorstep is going to look like. I got married last week, so haven’t had the focus to get all Nano’d up. Partially I think this is a good thing. In another way, I’m kind of freaked out.
Still, a couple characters I’ve played around with in the past are stepping forward. I’ve never had to wrangle a character through the duration of a novel, but I reckon this year will be the year to learn. Usually, I just let them do what they want. As far as being a Novel Mommy goes, I guess I’m the kind that lets her characters smear chocolate all over her white suede couch just because they look so darn cute doing it. The thing is if you keep going at that rate, you’re getting a phone call at 2 AM to bail them out of jail.
When Sun was having one of his many 2-hour rebandaging sessions, a nurse said to him that he used to ride motorcycles and then moved over into photography. Mr. Nurse said a lot riders talk more about riding than actually doing it. The gear is just so cool. The road is exhilarating but can be dangerous. The same can easily be said about writers and writing. For myself and a lot of other writers, it can be so tempting and easy to talk about writing in workshops and forums, think about writing, and plan to write that the actual writing never occurs. I mean, I can get so absorbed in preparing the chai to set the mood for writing that I’ll actually prefer to grind my cardamom with a mortar and pestle than actually sit down in a chair and face the page. Hand ground? Pre-ground? Pre-ground & mixed? Procrastinators can appreciate the murky territory of even attempting to make a cuppa when there’s fiction to be written.
The Procrastinatory Writer's Dilemma
That’s my relationship with fiction. Poetry comes like a lightning bolt, essays and creative nonfiction come with thoughtful reflection, journals entries are like taking out the trash or getting my eyebrows waxed (a necessary maintenance), and morning pages are like drinking water each morning. But fiction? Fiction I struggle with. I think one of the biggest problems is I take it too damn seriously.
Enter NaNoWriMo, a month where the focus is on output and not quality. My goal for Nano this year is really just to have fun and loosen up. I intend to think of it as a month of intense play rather than a frenzied month trying to do something great. Whenever I try to do something great, it’s usually mediocre at best. So, I’m going to have fun. I’m not going to write the great American novel, but I am going to play. This should feel like coasting downhill in the snow more than trudging up hill with sled in tow.
So Happy Halloween, and Happy Trails, to my fellow Nanoers, procrastinators, witches, bibliophiles, and lovers of Reese’s pumpkin eggs. This is our night! This is our month!
Essentials: Chocolate. Candle. Elements of Style, No Plot No Problem, Making of a Story. Antics of something furry.
