Bring Me to Life

Aside from being a rocking song by Evanescence (insert shameless advertising here), this seems to be what my characters scream at me the longer I work on my nanowrimo. Of course, once I begin doing so, I realize I need to review my previous work to make sure it all meshes. Clearly, I will never reach the finish line like this. This requires some drastic action on my part. I must remind myself again and again that...

...I will have a whole year to fix it if I break it because I don't remember every detail.
...I will be much more charming to live with if I meet my goal of 50,000 words though I linger under 25,000 and the month is already halfway over.
...my characters will have a more enriched life when my brain reveals exactly where they are going and why. I know I am not alone in realizing halfway through the second half of the story (3/4 of the way through) that those two characters, whom I thought were going to have a happily ever after, were never meant to be together in the first place.
...sometimes my characters have to speak for themselves. I need to stop trying to tell the readers, only me at this point, exactly how they are thinking or what they are about to do.
...someone out there really wants to see the finished product because they have faith it will be awesome.

Keep writing with me, reading with me, and most of all commiserating with me as I go searching for words in the mess of my mind.

Bake Your Muse a Doughtnut

Those who wish to create with paper, paint, words, stone, or any other art medium know musings about the muse. Today my musings distract me from the ever important task of typing more meaningful words. How have I coped?

1. I watched some television.
2. I chastised myself for not writing.
3. I forced out a hundred words.
4. I played in the leaves.
5. That led to playing with the compost.
6. I cleaned off leaf parts and dirt.
7. I baked doughnuts.
8. I am not hiding from the doughnuts.
9. I will type more words today.

Stay positive other journeyers on the path of nanowrimo.

A Little Inspiration

As I fight my way through word after word of this years nanowrimo challenge, I find myself searching for that spark that causes those words to flow. Most often, I realize that the problem is trying to force the words. We have all done it from time to time if we have an interest in writing. Sadly, the words aren't always there when we want them. I admit that sometimes it is a struggle to move the story forward, but I sometimes question the reasons why we write.

I believe that we should write because we love it. We should write because we have a story to tell. We should write to inspire others. We should write to inspire ourselves. We should even write because someone asks I to. Sharing is important when we write. After all, we should hide neither our light nor what we write under a bushel.

I have met many people who write for the wrong reasons. Sometimes I am one of them. Some of us seek fame. Some of us seek fortune. I've met those who write only what needs written to fit the pattern of what they like to read. I have met people who appear to write with the express purpose of using the same word over and over again. Sometimes reading the ramblings of people who don't write completely for the love of it is painful, so show a little love when you write.

Now why did I ramble about this today? I have been cranking out words for my nanowrimo. My sense of integrity tells me I can only count the words in the novel of the moment. Maybe next week I will share a snippet of that work with you. In the meantime, keep writing, keep reading, and keep enjoying the world around you.