Preparing

I have not done a regular blog post in a couple of months.   I have kept up on the Flash Fiction serial -- can't miss a week of that one! -- but I just couldn't think of anything else to write here.  I got busy, I got ill, I got both busy and ill sometimes ... and I just ran out of energy.  And now....

Now we are only days away from NaNoWriMo!  The picture today is the cover for my main NaNo Novel.  I am not entirely ready.  The outline for the first novel (since I usually do more than one) is not done.  I can see the end, finally, but I have this blank spot between a significant scene and how it all turns out.  I can't even say how much is going to happen between the two spots.  Nor can I say WHAT will happen.

But I have a great set of characters and an excellent plot up to that point.  I know what my people are about to find and once I work out the implications, I will see where it goes.  I might not 'see' that part until I'm actually writing the novel.  Not a problem -- I have an outline to get me that far and I've never had a problem ending a story.
I realize that I have inadvertently borrowed the attitude of one character (a historical person) from one of C. J. Cherryh's stories.  That made me laugh because it seemed so logical.  I think she'll be amused.

It is amazing how many things affect our writing, and we don't always realize it.    Just a little hint of this, a memory of that -- and suddenly there it is in a story.  You might not even realize it.  This one was just obvious when I thought about the character.

So, I have most of one outline ready for NaNo.  I have a second outline all done, but it will be my second book since I already wrote about 2500 words on it.  Once I get at least one complete (50k plus) novel written, then I can go to it if I have time.  I'm not sure that I will.  My goal is only 100k this year.  I might do better, but I am not aiming at the 250k or so that I sometimes do.  100k is a calm NaNo for me.  Since I've been ill, I don't want to push too hard.

But I do want to have fun!  That's part of why I am less concerned with totals this year.  Last year was kind of tricky because I was trying to hit an overall total for all the NaNo's I'd done through the years.  I wanted 3,000,000 words -- and I made it.  This is year 17 for me, and I have always won.  I love the joy of finding all these writers in one place, and a good many of them having fun.  (If you are not having fun, don't do it.  Drop out.  NaNo isn't for everyone, and it will not affect your career as a writer one way or another unless you learn something from it.  NaNo is a good time to experiment, have fun -- and realize that you are not the only writer out there in the world who are dealing with one problem or another.

Have fun, NaNo or not!