NaNoWriMo Progress Report - Week Two

Didn't I just post about week one?

This last week went by rather quickly, but I can proudly say that as of this posting, I broke through the halfway mark for NaNoWriMo!  That's right (or is that, write?)! I have passed the 25,000 word mark!

The way the first week went, I thought for sure that there would be no catching up.  Thanks to the encouragement of my writing sprint people at Coffee & a Good Book, my pre-reader, and a friend that wants to see me in print, I've made the first major milestone.

So, now what do I want to do?  Double it up!  I actually want to hit 50,000 by the end of week three.  I know, it's not necessary to have the 50,000 until the end of the month, but I figure that if I can do it early, I may have a full length story to tighten and begin editing by the end of the month.  Then, I will have two books to shop around with.

Honestly, I'm anxious to get back to book one and make sure that it is as clean as it could possibly be.  Alas, I have a goal.  I need to focus, get this second book out of my system, and then go back and see what I can do.  Or write another book.  I do have plot bunnies frantically hopping about.

Oh!  I began using Scrivener, and although I thought myself to be more of a lineal writer, I have to admit that being able to return to certain scenes without actually having to search for them, is an awesome feature.  Having everything easily accessible because it is on a "cork board" and ready for viewing, makes things even better.  I haven't even begun to learn all that the program has to offer, so I do look forward to it.

If you're a writer and are writing for NaNoWriMo, Scrivener is offering a free trial and 50% off when you hit the 50,000 word goal in time! It's a great offer.

No matter what your word count, just keep at it!  You can't succeed unless you try.  Nothing ever gets done, without effort.  Even if you only get a few thousand words by the end of the month, it is a start and you can write beyond November!

Good luck to you!  To all of us!

So I Wrote a Novel

Yes, that's right.  I wrote a romance novel.  It's over 90,000 words and it was written within thirty-two days between August and September of this year.  I've edited the poor thing to death and now, it's very nearly ready to be sent out to a publisher, so why haven't I?  Well, two reasons.

One:  I want someone who is very good at red-penning to look over it.  I do have someone in mind, but I obviously need to pay this person for their services.

Two:  Well, this is my real holdup.  I'm too chicken to get it out there.

Oh sure, in the real world, in the every day situations, I'm brave and can get around and do what needs to be done.  When it comes to really putting myself out there and exposing my work to people, I get to the point where I feel like I may vomit all over some poor individual's shoes.

My husband, God bless him, keeps telling me to just bite the bullet and get it out there.  He constantly whispers words of encouragement - Harper Collins and Simon & Schuster - into my ear.  Bless his heart, he just has no idea.  There's query letters and full story synopsis to write.  Then there's the issue of the large publishing houses requesting that a literary agent "sell" your book.  That's all fine and good, but there's still no guarantee with a literary agent.  I know what you're thinking; it all sounds like lame excuses, right?  You are correct, my friend!

There's always the smaller publishing houses that are willing to take on new authors.  There's also the self-publishing route.  So what's stopping me from traveling down those roads?

Remember the chicken?

Disney's Chicken Little

I have to figure out how to rid myself of the fear.  In The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho wrote, “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”   There it is.  It's not really fear of my own failure as a writer - I've written for myself for decades.  It's the fear of failing the reader.

Have you ever read a review before reading a book?  Some readers can be very cruel in their review and it isn't always the good reviews we pay attention to.  It's the people that we fear failing that cause the trepidation.  The truth is, you can't satisfy everyone.  Trying to do so is insane.  You can't make everyone happy.

So what am I going to do now?  Probably sit on it a while longer until I get up enough courage to just get it out there.  Call me "Chicken!"