Monday, December 9, 2013

NaNo Wrap Up


 Guess what..I quit on my latest novel. I'm sure you're not surprised by this. To make a quick count, since I started this blog in July I have started and quit about four different novels. If you count just plotting books and not the actual writing, I think it's more like six.
This isn't really a surprise to me. As a stay at home mom wanting to make some money I have had any number of schemes that I've started and never finished.
I was going to be a jewelry maker. Then I worried about my necklaces breaking and children choking on the beads. Of course I had to quit. It would be irresponsible not to.
Then there was the card making business, but man printer ink is expensive. The photography business, I was really never any good. And then, there was the writing business. To be fair I was always writing, but only recently did I commit to really trying to get a book published.
I'm not ready to quit writing entirely, but I do (somehow) keep quitting on my novels.
If you read my last post, or maybe it was the one before, I was SO excited about my new novel. But then I had to take a break and get ready for a Disney vacation for Thanksgiving and by the time I got home I was over the story. All of the sudden, it just didn't seem like it was any good at all (sound familiar?).
So, the lesson from NaNo this time is: word count, nerd count, it's all about writing every day. Keep your head in the story even if you can only write 200 words a day.
But that leaves me with a question.
Will I only get published if I finish an entire story and then another entire story and another? OR will all of this writing and practicing naturally lead to a finished (and published) novel?
Am I just being a quitter by leaving so many books unfinished? Or is it like finding a husband? All those other failed books are just the natural course to finding "the one". The one novel that I was meant to write, and everything before it just wasn't meant to be?
Or is that just quitter talk?
Let me know what you think! 

7 comments:

  1. A writer’s life is all about the struggle and perseverance. Kudos to you for being brave enough to embrace your writer side! Every writer’s process is unique to them so I can only share what I’ve experienced. I too had several unfinished novels in my wake before I finally finished my first novel six years ago (Luminous). The thing that changed for me was that I realized I was playing it ‘safe’, I was trying to write what I thought I ‘should’ be writing instead of what I truly wanted to write and I was putting too much pressure on myself to be perfect. Once I was honest with myself, writing became a rebellion for me. The spark for writing became a bonfire and I was finally able to finish my first novel. I had to learn that writing wasn’t about perfection, it’s about the human condition and how we’re all flawed and we all have incredible stories to tell. So dig deep, find the stories within you that aren’t ‘safe’, that aren’t what’s ‘expected’ and throw your heart and soul into them. You’ll be writing ‘The End’ on a publishable novel in no time at all. You can do it!

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  2. Thanks, I needed that! You are so right! I just need to relax and stop taking it all so seriously. I need to remember that I LIKE to write, and stop feeling like I HAVE to write!
    My sincerest thanks!

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  3. "Or is it like finding a husband?" There's a novel right there or at the least a novella. I agree with Jasmine that one has to write what they want to write and not what they think they should write. Keep at it, the book writing that is not finding a husband, unless of course you can do both at the same time.

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  4. Maybe I should try for that novella. It would feel good to finish something:) ...anything!

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  5. A couple of years ago I had started on writing novels. I had two of them and one author said to me, "Just pick one and finish it no matter what." So I did. And of course I thought it sucked, but I continued to work and work on it and now I have two published books and working on my third. I also have seven children books I have written and published.
    You could also start out doing short stories and entering them in contests. Or just writing short stories and make a book out of them.

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  6. You know, the funny thing is that I finished three novels (all terrible) before I "decided to be a writer" and now I can't finish a single book:(
    You're right. I just have to stick with one..in the new year I guess!
    I do always love hearing the success stories though, it give me hope! Thanks you

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  7. "Thanks you"? Of course I meant thank you. It's not even that late in the day yet, but I'm crazy tired!

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