Losing!
Six months ago, I could be found on this blog crowing about my writing achievements—fair wins, public workshops, prolific bouts of composition. Then I went dark. I disappeared into the taxing worlds of work and home and social obligations. And to be very truthful, my writing practice largely atrophied. Which is why, on October 30th, 2019, I signed into my National Novel Writing Month account, plugged in the details of my latest novel, and pledged to write 50,000 words in the month of November…
…and I’m here today to report that I failed heartily—and am steadfastly proud of this “accomplishment!”
First of all, I cobbled together a total of 12,151 words in 30 days. Most of these are NOT toward my current work-in-progress, but rather comprise the nascent nugget of a volume of personal essays I like to refer to as Stories I Tell to Frighten My Friends. I am thrilled that this project, which I’ve been toying with for over six years, finally has some heft to its name and a spine for its stories.
Second of all, I managed this despite the demands of my day job as a video game producer under deadline. On November 20th, I helped deliver top-notch animations for a proof-of-concept presentation to downstream departments in what turned out to be a slightly bumpy, but by no means turbulent landing.
Third of all, during this period, I also:
Read at the curated Bay Area Generations Literary Salon #75
Re-conceived my “Outlining for Everyone!” talk as the November CWC SF Peninsula Think Tank offering—and basically decided to expand it into an e-book, coming in 2020
Kept well abreast of my homework for Angie Powers’ and Elizabeth Stark’s fabulous Book in a Year program, including formulating a Premise, Logline, Limiting Belief, 7 Step Foundation, and 70 Scene Outline for Incendiary, the manuscript I intend to complete a first draft of by June 2020
Submitted the first half of Dirty to my beta readers and proofreader in preparation for beginning the agent querying process in January 2020
So it’s all good stuff, this failure business, because it forced me to set my priorities and flex my writing muscles in ways I otherwise would have balked at during an exceptionally busy period in my life. I have renewed vigor and strength to re-establish my morning “Butt in Chair” sessions (this entry is itself the byproduct of Day #2). I’m back on my journey, and eager to document it for anyone who’s interested in reading about it. So stay tuned!
