If you aren't a sidebar cruising kind of reader, it's possible you missed it entirely... I always blog almost every day... I am just sort of an exhibitionist and it is how I swing... but in October I formally COMMITTED to NaBloWriMo—writing a blog post every day in October... and while I have a bizillion weaknesses, one of my strengths is that I ALWAYS follow through. If I say I will... I will. (it doesn't hold QUITE the same strength if I share with YOU a commitment I make to MYSELF, but when I commit to YOU...) so here we have it.. I will blog every day...
I've discovered though, that COMMITTING to blogging every day is, in some ways, making it harder. I apologize if any of my themes seem strained... I don't think it is the alphabetical thing—I think it is the HAVE TO every day thing... I don't TAKE the option not to.. but it is always there... I think it is messing with my creative flow or something... or maybe it is editing—that is equally likely—editing and creativity are mutually exclusive... But there we have it... I am committed to blogging... and committed to editing... and should possibly be committed.
So I talked earlier about WHAT I'd write. It is fairly (but not completely) decided that this round will by the YA mystery Player Down. This was in the top three among all of you, but was really CHOSEN for being the most complete concept. Everything else has stuff to work out, or higher stakes for not getting it just right.
Today though, my interest is in WHY WriMo.
Did you know that in the last 14 months I finished 6 novels? That sounds just a little insane, doesn't it? Do you want know know how many novels I've CLEANED in that time? I've done the 3rd cleaning of CONFLUENCE... the first cleaning of LEGACY and two cleans of the Garden Cozy. NONE of them is 'Clean enough'. In other words last year was a WRITING year and it really needs to be balanced by an EDITING year.
But I am not willing to give up the WriMo. Why?
I could say the ideas keep coming. (They do.)
I could tell you it is important to appease the muse. (Also true)
I could tell you how I love the group energy (BOY HOWDY!)
But the reality of it is the unavoidability of my FOMS. FOMS, for the uninitiated, is my deep seeded Fear of Missing Something. What if something COOL happened and I wasn't participating? I couldn't handle that at all! I HAVE TO BE THERE!!!
Plus the five novel ideas and the knowledge that I could not possibly wait until six months from now to start one...
So if any of YOU are doing it, please join ME in doing it... (no matter WHAT your motivation)
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/534564