Monday, December 04, 2006

On the Flipside

Hello, all! I've missed you so. I don't have much to say right now, but I wanted to congratulate myself for winning National Novel Writing Month for the second year in a row. Also I need to give a shout-out to my writing buddy and fellow two-time winner Dan, as well as my good friends Reski and Jen, both of whom won for the first time this year. My friends are a prolific bunch, aren't we?

As always, of course, my lovely wife Mandy was a pillar of support during the whole month.

It was a different experience this year. In '05 my only goal was the word count. This year, I already knew that I could write 50,000 words in a month because I'd done it before. The challenge then became, can I write 50,000 words and have them be any good? For any of you considering NaNoWriMo, let me just suggest that you avoid this way of thinking at all costs. It does nothing but slow you down. There was about a week and a half in there that was a real slog, hard to get anything moving because I doubted every other word I typed. Even as I was doing it I knew it was counter-intuitive, and completely against everything that NaNoWriMo stands for. I had to constantly remind myself to just get the words out and forget how good they are. Later, after the month is over, if I really like the story that much I can go back and replace the crappy words with better ones. Eventually I managed to push through the rut and crossed the 50,000 word mark with two days to spare. It's a good thing I had that vacation time to use.

In other news, Mandy's birthday is coming up, as is Christmas. I am looking forward to one of these things, although we will get to spend Christmas weekend up in Muskegon, Michigan, which is usually a good time.

Oh, and the Bears clinched their division yesterday, guaranteeing them a playoff berth. Now if only Sexy Rexy can get out of this slump in time, we're gonna RULE.

Bear Down!!!