That's A Big NaNoNoGo
OPEN: JANUS FILE #0211
At the beginning of the month, I mentioned that was going to attempt participating in NaNoWriMo, although I didn't officially register as a participant. That's probably a good thing, because for me, NaNoWriMo turned out to be a NaNoNoGo.
Things started out well, or at least I thought they did. But I stalled out in the middle of Chapter 1, and at the moment, I'm just hoping that I can get that much finished before the end of the month.
I spent a good chunk of October making notes, and doing other stuff to prepare for writing the novel. But when it came to the actual writing, the words just aren't coming.
Now, it doesn't take long for me to write one of these Janus Files entries. Depending on the length, it can take about an hour or so total. (That includes both writing it, and doing a little tweaking here and there to get it where I really want it.) This entry will probably take less, although I didn't bring out the stopwatch, so I can't give a definitive answer. Most of the time, thosugh, these entries pour out of my mind and onto the screen without any difficulty. (When there is the occasional difficulty, that's when the aforementioned tweaking comes in.) I have written reviews and other articles for fanzines, again without any difficulty once I know what I want to write.
But for some reason, this attempt at writing a novel is coming -- when it comes at all -- in fitful spurts. I might have be blazing through with a couple of paragraphs, then suddenly, I come to an abrupt halt. I know what is going to come next; for some reason, though, I just can't get it out.
As I said, I am really hoping that I will be able to get through the end of Chapter 1 by the end of the month. Maybe once I get that chapter finished, the rest will come easier. And I plan to continue writing this novel, just so I can say that I did finish it.
Who knows? Maybe I'll even be finished by the time NaNoWriMo starts in 2008.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0211
At the beginning of the month, I mentioned that was going to attempt participating in NaNoWriMo, although I didn't officially register as a participant. That's probably a good thing, because for me, NaNoWriMo turned out to be a NaNoNoGo.
Things started out well, or at least I thought they did. But I stalled out in the middle of Chapter 1, and at the moment, I'm just hoping that I can get that much finished before the end of the month.
I spent a good chunk of October making notes, and doing other stuff to prepare for writing the novel. But when it came to the actual writing, the words just aren't coming.
Now, it doesn't take long for me to write one of these Janus Files entries. Depending on the length, it can take about an hour or so total. (That includes both writing it, and doing a little tweaking here and there to get it where I really want it.) This entry will probably take less, although I didn't bring out the stopwatch, so I can't give a definitive answer. Most of the time, thosugh, these entries pour out of my mind and onto the screen without any difficulty. (When there is the occasional difficulty, that's when the aforementioned tweaking comes in.) I have written reviews and other articles for fanzines, again without any difficulty once I know what I want to write.
But for some reason, this attempt at writing a novel is coming -- when it comes at all -- in fitful spurts. I might have be blazing through with a couple of paragraphs, then suddenly, I come to an abrupt halt. I know what is going to come next; for some reason, though, I just can't get it out.
As I said, I am really hoping that I will be able to get through the end of Chapter 1 by the end of the month. Maybe once I get that chapter finished, the rest will come easier. And I plan to continue writing this novel, just so I can say that I did finish it.
Who knows? Maybe I'll even be finished by the time NaNoWriMo starts in 2008.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0211