Edgy Mama

Okay, I’m certifiable. I signed up this year. I’ve flirted with the idea for the past two years, but stopped short of actual consummation. Now I’m cosummating hard. I’m ready for a month-long roll in the hay with my novel. I’m already cursing myself.

Here’s how I plan to reach 50,000 words in one month (a month that also contains a holiday during which I’ll be traveling and my one writers’ conference of the year–and we all know no one actually writes at writers’ conferences). I’m going to write, every day during the week from 9:00-11:00 a.m. Only fiction. No blogging. No journalism. No catch-up phone calls, bill paying, housework or exercise. I’m going to write fiction.

Of course, already I’m going to have to build flexibility into this system. For example, on November 1, the first day of National Novel Writing Month, I have my non-transferable, every 12-week cut and color from 8:30-10:00, then I’m driving to Hendersonville to interview a guy for a business profile. So, on the first day of NANOWRIMO, I will have to write from 8:30-10:00 p.m. I will be grumpy as a result.

But, what the hell, right? It’s one month. Thousands of people are doing it (they’re predicting up to 75,000!). There will be parties and write-ins and lots of support.

My problem, of course, in the word production game, is that I learned, when I wrote Janus Watchers, that I can’t just write open-endedly and see what happens. I ended up writing a big-ass mess that makes me want to vomit every time I consider editing it. So today, I’m trying to get caught up in other areas of my life, and spend some time with plotlines and character bibles.

If you’re not into fiction writing, but you’re looking for a challenge, you can join Fussy’s NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) and sign up to post every day in November. Fussy has designed a cool logo for NaBloPoMo.

I don’t think I can handle both writing fiction and blogging daily, but I will probably blog a bit about writing. So beware.