After the rather (for me) alcoholic weekend in Brussels, I fell behind in my word count for NaNoWriMo. I have just managed to catch up. Today I have made a massive effort. I wrote over 6000 words and I am very proud of myself, if rather mentally exhausted.
In the process I have discovered a couple of things about this writing business;
I can write about 1000 creative words in an hour. That’s not my actual typing speed, but seems to be the limit of my creative output, as it doesn’t matter whether I hand write or type, it works out to be the same. It’s the speed at which my brain and hands coordinate to make sense I think.
So a relatively good output level.
Unfortunately after about 2 hours, my brain starts dribbling out of my ears. I simply cannot sustain creative endeavour for longer. Obviously I need to build up my level of creative stamina. In order to get to the 6k today, I had to write in blocks. Two hours of writing followed by two hours of time out and total zombie-hood. And it was truly exhausting!
The creative life is also a lot about avoiding procrastination… it is really hard to make yourself sit down to write. And I am very good at procrastinating. But that is the amazing thing about NaNo and the target of 50k words in a month. The panic induced by the deadline and word limit makes you work. It forces you to just get stuff down, and forget and forgive yourself for all the mistakes you make. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you park yr butt and DO IT!
I have, in the past, been able to sit down and spend five or six hours writing, where the story just poured out of me, for perhaps two or three days at the max. No conscious thought involved really, it just flowed. I thought that this was the way you were supposed to write. The problem was, that this only happened about once a year when the muse was feeling amiable. The rest of the time, it was sessions of a half hours flow or less, once a month if I was lucky. And these only happened when I’d actually been writing consistently – writing anything, not necessarily a story.
Not once has this happened this month… oh, for moments, maybe. For a flow of half an hour perhaps, but then, thought intrudes once more, and I plan and I stage manage and I think; character 1 needs to go over there, and maybe character 2 can come here. I keep waiting for it to catch fire. And it seems like it has been on the brink of doing so for ages. But it doesn’t.
I have had some interesting discussions with my characters… and a couple of arguments too, which is incredibly disturbing, but it has been a collaborative discussion, and each step along the road they all make has to be worked out in detail as I go along. No liquid gold.
BUT, and this is a big but, I think that what is happening now is the way a writing life should be, and the way it in fact actually is. There are occasional bursts of inspiration, but the majority of the time it is going to be all about planting your butt on a chair, and your fingers on the keyboard or around a pen, and writing. Come rain, hail or shine, hell or high water. Repeat. Ad nauseam.
In the end, it is all about perseverance. I am incredibly grateful to NaNo for giving me this insight. Oh, sure, there is the craft, and the story and a whole lot of other things to pay attention to, but if you don’t get the words onto the page then you don’t have anything.
I don’t care if I am never published, I love writing, and I love telling stories. They make my life greater than it ever could be. I can be a hero who saves the world in my own head. I can be a villain without actually killing anyone. I can be in love with a thousand people, and I can cry my eyes out in grief, crown kings, make people happy, and make people great, all without leaving my house.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not all about living vicariously! I’m overseas doing the city hopping thing every chance I get at the moment, and intend to have a lot of real adventures before my life is through. But I don’t think I’m ever going to get the chance to save the world… well, at least I sincerely hope not. It is fun to imagine I can though…
And I can do it through writing. Thank you NaNoWriMo.
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