Thank you all

[pegkerr]

Thank you for your encouraging messages to me on my last post. I've taken your encouragement very much to heart. I haven't given up on the book, and I'm going to try to get back to it. Kij and I have talked about trying to do the National Novel Writing Month challenge. (by the way, Kij, I found a community: nanowrimo. Anyone participate in this last year? What was your experience like? bohemianspirit, I think you participated last year, didn't you?

One thing I know I must do is that I must contact the architect who is designing this year's palace. I know I'm being absurdly nervous about this. I imagine if I call him up and say, "I've had two novels published, and I'm writing a new book where the hero of the book is the architect who designs the St. Paul Winter Carnival ice palace and I wondered if you would be willing to talk to me," it's not the sort of call he gets every day. But I imagine he can't help but find it an intriguing prospect. Anyway, I hope so. Sometime in the next week, I absolutely promise. Hold me to it, people.

Overheard in the backseat from Miss Delia this morning: I had given her a smidgen of my lemon scone (we were on our way back from karate): "I'm like a hobbit, because I like second breakfast, too."

We're off to return books to the library and to get new ones. Then we'll go shopping for outfits for them to wear on picture day on Tuesday. Then to Pat Wrede's open house for her new home (I feel smug: I found a bottle of wine at Surdyk's that's called "Novelist" that I'm going to bring). Then minnehaha B & K's party tonight. I'll see some of you there.

Peg

Comments

[brenk.livejournal.com]

I did Nano too. The upside was that I announced it to the family who cut me a little (ok, a *very* little) slack. I churned out about 75,000 words in about 3 weeks, in fact, which was beyond my wildest expectations but I really tried to get into the idea of just getting it down within the month.

The downside was my 'inner editor' as someone else said. Heck, I *am* an editor so I was all too aware of bits where the structure faltered, the characterisation was way off, or even that the plot threads were less than sound. The temptation to go back and re-work was huge, but I resisted. After getting the word count confirmed (I refuse to call it 'winning') and enjoying the euphoria that lasted for a few days, I went back and stuck in some notes and yellow highlighter all over the place, with the intention of working some more... and never did. Work is partly to blame, but so is a mixture of fear (that it's bad - I waver between thinking it has potential and thinking it's lousy) and frustration (I don't have the time, the resources and particularly the *drive* to get on with it).

And yes, the hordes of barely literate teenagers taking part was... surprising. I dipped into a few novels at random, and found myself being my scathing, bitchy, editor-type self most of the time. There were a few that seemed superb, and I was tempted to spend all my limited spare time reading and commenting - but again it was a question of making a choice to write and not give into the temptation to find more good stuff to admire and learn from.

All in all, though, a great experience, although I'm torn between doing a new rough novel, working on the first one, or abandoning ship. Good sense says work on the first one. Idealist me says 'let's go play again'. Pessimist me says I don't have time to do either.