And so it ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper

[slipjig3]

That squishing sound you hear is me sticking a fork in my NaNoWriMo project. Word count as of right now: 33,755. I may do a little more on it later today, but it's pretty obvious that I won't be making the final goal this year. *sigh* I was well ahead of the game for quite a while, then a day behind, then a day and a half behind, and then I went out of town over Thanksgiving, and that was effectively the end of that.

I'm trying to look at the good of it all. I did manage to cross the 2/3 mark, 115 double-spaced pages, which is almost 3 times better than my to-date best and loads more than I've ever written of anything. The story wouldn't have been done at 50,000 words, anyway. And I'm still psyched about the book in general, still know some of what's going to come, still have some scenes mapped out in my head that just need a road built to their front doors, so to speak. But I have to say that I'm more than a little disappointed and sad about the whole thing. I had the highest of hopes, and every expectation that I'd make it, and now I feel like I've let a bunch of people down, starting with myself.

But as I said, I'm not putting the book away. If I could ask a favor from y'all, if you happen to think of it, ask me how The Noise of Endless Wars is coming along when you talk to me. Keep kicking me in the heinie about this. Do not let me slack off like I did the last time around. I don't want this to end up in the Unfinished Projects graveyard.

*sigh*

Comments

[rubian77.livejournal.com]

Still more than I've written this month!

50,000 words in a month is hard, especially if -- like you -- you have a life.

So how's the novel coming? :)

[sionainn.livejournal.com]

Give yourself a bit more credit here... you have gotten farther along in this project than any other AND you have the story already written inside your head. Now you just have to beat the words into submission and get them on the page.

Don't stop because NaNo is over... write your book!


(So, how's the novel coming? ;-)

[antsswarm.livejournal.com]

What the hell are you talking about?? Buck up, buck-o!

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." -- Douglas Adams


A good book will take a year, or even two, to write. NaNoWriMo is less about doing the complete novel in ONE year, and more about blasting out a proto-novel that (post-November) you finish!

Guess what happened with my novel? I got busy in November and couldn't Nano! Where's my novel? Just waiting. I didn't even TRY for the word count goal, because even that is false!! If your novel was 500 words, but it was exquisitely beautiful, of what relevance would the 50,000 word count target matter? Nothing! Your 500 words might revolutionize the world!

Quality, not quantity, my dude.

Dig in, man. Keep going. You have my backing! Supporting you like an uncomfortable jock strap that can kick your ass - that's me.

...I cannot believe how I just characterized myself.
Oh god.

[antsswarm.livejournal.com]

By the way, the title The Noise Of Endless Wars is a fantastic. It's great.

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

What they said:)

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

I'm working on it! I'm working on it!

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Well, some of the story written, anyway. I've got some scenes that I know are going to happen; I just need to figure out how to get there. (And I'm not willing to jump ahead then backtrack, because that was part of what killed the last prject.) Ah, well, we'll see what happens.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Thank ye!

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

*giggle* Jock strap, she says....

I know I have all the time in the world to finish, but what I lack is all the motivation in the world. The nice thing about NaNo is that it's an externalized motivator, a deadline that I can't just scoot back whenever I'm feeling lazy. Since the end of November passed—heck, since I realized I wasn't going to make it—I've done somewhere between diddly and squat, which breaks my heart.

Then again, you never know....

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's from a Paradise Lost quote that had some sidelong relevance to the story, which I use as an opener:

...The secrets of the hoary
Deep—a dark Illimitable ocean, without bound,
Without dimension; where length, breadth, and height,
And time, and place, are lost; where eldest Night
And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold
Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise
Of endless wars, and by confusion stand.
For Hot, Cold, Moist, and Dry, four champions fierce,
Strive here for mastery...