Who Is Your Inspiration?

I have been thinking a lot today about this, and I still don't really know what my answer is. Seriously, this is a lot harder to answer than you might think. Because I am not talking about who other people think inspire you, or who you want to inspire you....but WHO inspires you. Who is the one that you think about every day, the one that pushes you to write? This could be someone that knows you, or a complete stranger. But I do feel that every writer who wants to be published has someone that they think about, well, that's my thought on it anyway.

For me, many people tell me to write, but there are not many that actually make me want to write. There are few people that make me not want to give up, who make me believe my writing does not suck. I would say the one that has pushed me the most, the one that has helped me the most, is my husband. He doesn't let me have the easy way out, he tells me how it is. And some days...he gives me the kick in the pants I need.

If you write and you don't have someone that inspires you....maybe this is the time to change that. It sure has helped me, and from the published writers I have heard about it really helped them too.

I STILL Have No Ending

Yup, it's pretty horrible. After Nano I just did not feel like writing. My brain is mush right now. So I spent a couple days sleeping and thinking about what should happen, talking to my husband again who didn't see me all month...and now I find that I am lost, unable to continue. Where to take my story from here? At first the ending was clear in my head, but the more I wrote the more I saw there was so many different paths my characters could take. So now my head hurts. For now I'll try and remain calm and take a couple more days away from my draft, but then, regardless of how I feel, I have to write my ending, even if it sucks.

Anyone else finding that they are so close to the end of their first draft or final draft and are having a hard time pushing themselves forward? Any advice for me? I have never gotten so far in a project before. Usually I drop them within the first thrity pages for something new because I have the habbit of getting bored. But with this novel...that is not the case. I love my characters and my story. I am just stuck and am not sure what needs to be done. Am I overthinking this? Because this is first draft should I just write whatever comes to my head?

Sorry for all the questions, but I really am worried about this. Any advice or comments at all would be appreciated. I just feel like banging my head against the wall.

I really should have outlined this story before writing it. Really.

The End Of Nano

Woot! I did it. I actually did it. I woke up today, banged out over 3k words and won Nano. The feeling is amazing. But now I am slightly terrified. What will next month bring me? What will happen to my novel? I know it needs an insane amount of work, but I love it. I really want to see good things happen to it. This is such a big goal that I reached. The feeling...I cannot describe it at all.

So who else won? Who lost? Will you be participating next year? I most certainly will be. And I can tell you this: next time I will be using an outline.

The Final Stretch

We have neared the end. Does anyone else feel that Nano went by way too fast? With Thanksgiving and everything else I fell beind, I'll admit it. When I realized that if I didn't kick my butt into gear I would lose I freaked out big time. And yes, I even thought of quitting. But I didn't. Instead I wrote more yesterday than I had all week. Over 4k words. I am pretty impressed with myself. Nano has taught me many things but the most important, I think at least, is that I can do this. I can write on a deadline. Some of what comes out may suck, but there have been some real gems as well.

This month has been a great and terrible journey and I am sad to see it so close to ending. Probably because I know what comes after this. After this my Inner Editor will break loose and tell me how stupid my novel is. After this I'll spend months fixing what I think is broken. Has anyone guessed that revision scares the crap out of me? It does. I have written a lot during my short time on this earth, but revision is not something I have ever tried with anything longer than a short story. What if I can't do it?

I have decided to just push ahead, enjoy these last few days of Nano and think about December when it gets here. I still have a whole lot of writing to do.

Which reminds me: anyone feel like their novel isn't anywhere near an ending? Are you worried about being able to contnue writing it in December? My problem was the exact opposite for a while. I wrote too tightly, my scenes were so fast paced that I was afraid I would run out of story. I am interested to hear what people plan to do with their Decembers. Me? I plan to flesh out my plot, my world, my everything quite a bit then go from there.

For those of you still in the game...keep writing! We are almost done!

Nano and the dreaded Week Two

Total Nano Word Count= 16,718
Nano Goal For Day 11= 1700
Words So Far= 0

So, the second week of Nano is here. Actually, it came a bit more quickly than I thought. And there is something I noticed right off the bat. Firstly, it is much harder to get my words that I need and second, I am pretty sure I have found the Week Two blues. Don't get me wrong, I love my novel. I think it's one of the best ideas I have had so far. Problem is I've gotten to the "murky middle", you know, that place a lot of writers like to give up? I've gotten myself in this deep hole and I have no idea how to get out. It's a little scary. However. I had an amazing writing day yesterday that gave me the courage to continue, even through this rough bit. I know that if I can get through this week, I can win this thing. Already I am farther on this project than I am on my other WIP, farther along in this than I have ever been in a project in about ten years.

I think Nano should be my new secret weapon, accept I don't want to use this crazy word count goal once a year, I want to use it for every project. I was afraid that by doing Nano I would wreck my book, but I see that it has helped me so much more than I could ever think possible. The secret to finishing a first draft is simply one thing. You tell yourself you are allowed to write bad stuff and make it shine on the revision. That's it. So many people give up because they want their first draft to be perfect. I am done saying that. Now I will tell myself that I can do this. I can finish this.

To anyone out there reading my blog while also taking part in Nano I have only this to say: Don't let Week Two get you down, don't let it defeat you. Keep going. Keep writing. Because the feeling we will get when we finish will be unlike any other experience.

Well, I'm off to write!

Word Envy

My Total Word Count is: 3,386 after finishing Day Two of Nano. This is good. I am staying on target here. This isn't really my issue. My problem= word envy. Quite simply I let other crazy huge word counts affect my ability to keep writing. When I see someone over 15k on only the second day? I just want to quit. It makes me want to have that word count...and yet there is no way I can get there.

So. I need to change this. I can't worry about who has what word count. I need to focus on meeting my goal every day and so far I have done that. I need to try and be proud of my accomplishments because writing this much is a huge breakthrough for me. I can't get all envious now because that will destroy my want to write.

My new goal is to get my total word count up to 5,000 by noon tomorrow because after that I have a doctors appointment, I need to buy some new clothes and a whole bunch of other stuff that will make it impossible to write. Hopefully I can do that otherwise I will fall behind. Then I would feel really bad.

Sorry this has been nothing but a rant. I really needed to let that out. Hopefully tomorrow I can talk about other things besides just Nano.

NanoWriMo has begun!

Well, I have actually decided to do it. A few days ago I signed up for National Novel Writing Month. I had to come up with a new story idea and everything because the guidelines say that you should not start Nano with a book you've already begun writing. Also, you aren't supposed to write a word until Nov. 1st. So. I put my YA novel to the side and came up with a story for Nano. Today is the first day. You have to write at least 1,667 words a day to meet the end goal of 50,000. And you know what? I did it! I got 1,708 words. It has been so long since I have written nearly anything close to that. It felt good. I really like my story idea too, so that helps.

Tonight I am going to plan some more scenes for tomorrow. I am hoping to add at least 2,000 more words to my current word count. Wish me luck on that.

I have decided to participate in some regional write-ins. A write-in is where fellow Nano'ers get together at a library, coffee shop or another location and write as much as they can for a certain amount of time. I have been told it is a great way to get your word count in for the day. I am pretty excited since I have never done one before. Who am I kidding, I haven't even tried Nano before! I need all the help I can get!

I have decided to post my word count most days here and vent about where I am in the process. If anyone else is doing Nano, I hope it is going well for you!

So far everything has started off quite nicely. I even like most of my words. Which is new for me.