By 11:59 pm on November 30th, I had reached 46593 words- almost there but not quite. Could I have made it? Of course! I had many lazy days of under one thousand words, the amount that can be written in under half an hour. There was no reason for me not to have been able to make 50k- and early too- except that this particular story is difficult for me. I knew from the first time I started working on it in 2007 that it would be my biggest, most comprehensive work, that I probably wouldn't be able to write it properly for another ten years or so. It would be the most real, the most 'epic'. It takes place in my country and is 'close to home' in other ways, and I currently feel out of touch with my culture and country, and need some time there, some sensory reminders.
I did get something out of NaNo though of course, besides 46.6k more almost-but-not-quite-useless words. I got a clearer idea of where it would go, the kind of stories that would be told within, ideas regarding themes and form. Some real characters emerged. Events clamored for their voices to be heard, as raw as they happened.
Most of all, I learned to leave this particular project alone until I'm really feeling it! Inspiration will hit, I'm sure, but now is not the time to tell that story.
Perhaps it's because I have so many other projects that are making real progress and haven't been given a fair shot yet- I kind of felt that way going into NaNo: I didn't want to start a whole new project because there were several sitting around unfinished; I didn't want to get into the habit of not finishing my books again, hence why I decided to work on one of the older ones.
What this means is I hope to finish and have circulating among publishers/agents a minimum of two of these projects so that I don't feel like I keep starting and stopping before something is done only to move to another project to do the same. I have accepted that Project One (C) is probably a trunk novel, but Project Two (TPA) is almost ready but has been temporarily abandoned. Project Three (PoN) is still in its infancy stage, while Project Four (EoS) is the one I've been talking about all along. Project Five (BC) is being completed slowly but surely since I'm pulling out segments to submit as stand-alone short stories, speaking of which, the one I've submitted so far (CS) has received four rejections total. I am still waiting on three more responses, while currently revising it to be sent out again. I also have another story from that project almost ready (got bad reviews from beta reader regarding the ending), and yet another getting close to being ready. The novel is therefore being improved and revised, taking shape short story by short story.
As for the short story I adapted from the short film I wrote (TR), I will start submitting it soon- to those that accept submissions electronically so I don't waste paper on a story I feel I could still do a little bit more with. I'm still sending it out now because it's just sitting there all 'complete!' But I will probably work it a little bit more, then submit it seriously to better journals/magazines.
All in all, I'm still being somewhat productive and hope to increase my productivity- time is flying.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
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