Update from Face In The Blue: This is the End

It’s late in the day, November 27th, 2010 (Editor’s Note: Apologies for the late posting). My word count sits at 30,000ish, and I’m okay with that. This was my first NaNoWriMo. I had a lot of fun with it, but when it comes right down to it I didn’t make this the priority I said I would at the start of the month.

My work is more important to me than getting to 50,000 words in 30 days. When my job required 10- and 12-hour days, I put in those hours gladly. I got the results I needed, and that means more to me than this particular story.

My personal life is more important to me than this project, and when that demanded my evenings, I never gave a second thought to dedicating my time towards that too.

Finally, my leisure time took priority. That was my great failing on this particular NaNoWriMo: When my work and personal life took its toll on my creativity, I came home and vegitated. I needed to unwind. I didn’t get into the headspace to write, and my faltering attempts on those days of recuperation resulted in 500 or 600 words of gibberish and dreck that I would never dream of sharing with the world.

I’ve had a lot of fun with this exercise. Really, I have. It’s been a long time since I wrote 8,000 words of fiction in a sitting, and that’s a wake up call that I will take with me beyond November, 2010. I have been stagnating for more than a year, focusing on getting my two finished novels published rather than working on my next manuscript.

I know now that my third novel is a worthy effort, and I need to put in a number of 8,000-word days towards that project. I managed 30,000 in a month. Maybe I’ll even break 40,000 between now and December: I do have a lengthy visit to an airport and a flight to look forward to tomorrow. I can’t help but feel I should have put this creative process towards my real project, rather than this will of the wisp plot. I’ll remedy that in the months to come.

I’m making my New Year’s Resolution early: I will finish my third novel –a short, commercially viable effort– by November 30th, 2011. If necessary, I will use NaNoWriMo 2011 to finish the last 50,000 words of that project.

As for my current work, it will become another ongoing project of my blog. I liked the premise. I liked the arc and narrative I had in mind. I will add to it as I will, but I don’t care about it the way I care about other things.

I have enjoyed Leigh’s work, and Liz’s work. I have appreciated Ian’s contributions. I have admired Mike’s tapping out with style. I admit I can’t speak for the rest of the group’s efforts. All I can say is this was my first NaNoWriMo, and it was a good lesson for me. I’ll take that lesson and move forward, but –barring a miracle– I do not expect to hit 50,000 words by midnight of November 30th.

I’m going to Calgary tomorrow for business and pleasure. That’s my priority for the next four days, and I think that’s one too many priorities getting in the way of NaNoWriMo’s arbitrary goal.

This is the End, but I’m not disappointed. I had fun, and I’ll do it again next year with a clearer head on a project I care about.

Cheers!

–Geoff