A Light Through the Darkness

So, I have just finished, today, listening to the end of Owner's Share. And yes, I've gushed about Nathan Lowell before, and what a damn good writer he is, and a damn fine podcaster, and now you all know exactly what a fangirl I am. But what I really, really like about Nathan's stories is that he makes me THINK.

Think about why the story works. He takes me into the world and then beyond it, to figure out how it works, and how I can use it to make my own stories better. I joke on Twitter about him being the master, but in a real sense, he is.

He's a consummate storyteller. He takes the most mundane things, like making coffee, and makes them not only fascinating but shows us things about the characters as he takes us through their days. Not only that, but he makes his readers think.

After I finished Owner's Share, I went and read some stuff on the boards. Nathan's readers are as passionate about his work as he is, and the discussions are fascinating. All sorts of things that I didn't pick up on, but make sense, because I wasn't looking at what they were, but we're both right, if that makes sense.

The Share series is a thinking series, on many levels. On the one hand, they're a series of stories about a boy growing into a man. On another hand, they're about life choices and how they continue to affect you long past the original situation. And on yet another hand, they're about how a story takes on a life of its own, and how a world spirals into being.

Nathan is also (although he probably didn't know it until now) teaching a class on how to be a writer. Not just someone who puts out a damn good story, but someone who knows how to act like an author without being an ass. Someone who puts in the work, puts out the effort, and makes it seem so easy, so effortless, even though we know it's not. Someone who reminded me why I write, and why I like to write.

I wish there were more storytellers like Nathan out there. I'm sure there are, and maybe I just haven't stumbled across them yet. But I am so proud to have met him, to be able to look up to him.

So thank you, Nathan. Thank you for writing the Share series. Thank you for inspiring me. And thank you for Ish.

Thank you, Sar.

**

Now that I've gotten that down, so I remember it, I can go onto what I need to do. I need to get my arse back in gear and to do that, I need to-do lists. I do better with to-do lists.

I currently have the following projects to finish:

1. Finishing Last Rites
I'm about 10 chapters from the end of this series. I feel like I've been saying that FOREVER. Time to buckle down and write the ending already.

2. Podcasting Horseman
I need to get this back off the ground. I've let it go, and that's not cool.

3. Write and edit Tales of the Scorned Lady
Especially considering the cast we're assembling. Holy shit, guys, I kid you not, I am having serious squee episodes over this! More on this soon, as soon as the Dark Overlord says I can spill stuff. But let me just tell you - HOLY SHIT!!!

4. Edit and Submit The Advent Story
Yes, Molly and Schrodinger got taken to Writing Group this past month, and I have A Plan. A Good Plan, no less. But one that will not be implemented until item #1 gets taken care of.

5. Edit and publish Spells and Swashbucklers
I need to get these edits up and out the door soon.

6. Finish Life Thief
This story will NOT leave me alone. I want to know what's going on in it! I want to finish it! And I will, readers. I promise you this. I WILL finish it.
I just don't know what I'll do with it afterwards.

***

Damn, this got to be a long post, and I didn't mean it to. Just got carried away. Sorry, folks. Now I'm off to listen to the latest podcast for Horseman, and then write. Lots of writing tonight.

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 have been thinking, lately.

( What do I want out of life? Am I happy? What am I looking for? )

Sorry for the introspection. It hits every once in a while.