A Light Through the Darkness

So, yeah, I've been reading some interesting blogs over the last few days - ever since the Salon article dissing NaNoWriMo was brought to my attention (thank you, John Scalzi), and it has made me think.

This is my fifth year attempting NaNo. In 2005, I discovered it (right around the same time I discovered Forward Motion), and made a stab at it. I failed, miserably. In fact, I have yet to win a NaNo, and I think, this year, I've figured out why.

I don't remember whose blog I was reading, so I apologize, but someone recently said (and it may have been on Twitter too, now that I think about it), "If you treat writing as a hobby, it will always be a hobby. If you treat it seriously, as a career, than it will be a career."

For the last five years, I have treated writing as a hobby. I've sold some things, I've finished three books, sold two, but I haven't really treated this as a job. There's always been something else, though - I've been all too willing to toss writing aside to deal with anything else. I've gone months without writing at all, and I can't tell you why. Oh, I could offer the usual: family, illness, job - and they'd all be valid, up to a point. I do have a chronic illness that can knock me on my ass for days at a time, if I don't take care of myself. My parents are getting older, and both have had medical issues in the past year. I have a pretty demanding job in terms of time, and I've gone back to school. And yeah, I have a slight addiction to World of Warcraft. I like to read. I love to sleep. And I like craft work.

All of which are valid excuses - and they are excuses. Like the icon says, "Writers write." I know this, deep inside - I think we all do - but it was really brought home to me by reading Jay Lake's Livejournal this past year. The man has been amazing: dealing with cancer and still writing. And, I don't know, but something clicked, and I said, "This year, I write. As a professional. No excuses."

Today is November 12th, and it is the first day I have not written fiction in 12 days. I started NaNo as a rebel, intent on finishing Last Rites and starting the prework on Sleeping Evil. Since then, I have written 17017 words in 12 days. I haven't written that much in a long time, not straight. And I'm writing, every day. Yes, today my words are a blog post, but I am writing, and they will count.

And that's the beauty of NaNo (see, I really did have a point) - it gives each one of us the means to write, every day. And yes, 50k in one month is pretty insane. But it's not the total that matters. It's the mentality that it instills, at least for me, that writers write. And they write every day.

Since I have started this project, I've had four new characters speak to me. I've written the first draft of a short story. And I have an amazing idea for a novel that I've worked a little bit on, that most likely will be the project after Sleeping Evil, unless The Redemption Machine makes a bid for that slot. But the big thing is that I've written 17017 words in 12 days, and I'm not burnt out yet.

This is what NaNo has done for me. Tomorrow morning, I will be getting up and writing. I'm planning on not only catching up this weekend, but on giving myself a good padding for the week, because I have schoolwork to do too. But my goal for next week is 250 words of fiction, every day.

Because writers write. Especially during NaNo.

I love cons. I love going to them, because the interaction with all the writers, editors, artists and fans that congregate there really gets me fired up and ready to write again. RavenCon was a blast: I met some really fun people (madkestrel for one!), made some great contacts and decided to edit a new anthology for 2010.

I'm not the only one who finds cons stimulate ideas: davidbcoe did a great post on this over at Magical Words, which I highly recommend all writers read. (I recommend the blog in general, actually - it's a great resource.) As for me, I spent two hours in the Richmond Airport working on the plot summary for Velvet Box, which is coming along wonderfully. I should have the summary done by the end of the week, and quite possibly the outline as well, which means I can get cracking on the actual story. I'm still plugging away on Midsummerland as well - this weekend reminded me that no matter what else is happening, writing DOESN'T happen unless you set aside time to do it. I often joke that writing is my second full-time job: I need to start actually treating it like one.

This means I'll be online less - I love chatting with folks, but I need to concentrate on the writing, and that's hard to do in chat. So I won't be on as often - I need to wean myself away.

Onward and upward - I'm at work today but hopeful of VTO so I can sleep some more - cons are fun but EXHAUSTING!