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this NaNo is definitely in its death throes. earlier this morning i considered (considerably) the question that was put to me yesterday as to whether i was just poo-pooing my own efforts and calling the work slop due to lack of perspective. so i pulled up last year's NaNo (which, honest injun, i have not touched since i wrote it), and gave it the ol' read-through to see whether 2005's efforts were as big a waste of effort as i felt they were at the time.

the answer is a resounding yes. last year's book is even worse than i estimated. it's quite possibly the worst thing i have ever written (and i say that with no amount of hyperbole). in fact, if at all possible, it's worse than this year's NaNo by a long shot. i recall now, saying last Christmas that there was only one scene in the whole pile of it worth saving and that's definitely still true. interestingly, that one scene (a flashback) is the basis of this year's NaNo.

what goes around comes around, i suppose.

anyway ~ i think i'll finish running through the prompt cards (still have a pile here), and when they have run out, i'll just stop, regardless of the word count. and if each prompt yields a paragraph and no more, then that's sufficient.

thank you, everyone for being so supportive! i dunna mind quitting NaNo and i'm not discouraged. i just want to make good choices about how i spend my time.

: D

and those of you who haven't seen

gwyn_hwyfar's post today, need to check it out immediately for a severe cute overload.

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Hey, if you've reached a decision that you're happy with, that's what's important. :)

it's all good ~ !

: D

My sister (also a writer, and a thumpin good one at that!) said some clever things about writing. The thing that stands out in my mind is the concept of the "shitty first draft." The idea is that you can't sweat about if it blows or not- you just write it, put words down and let it go. First drafts are SUPPOSED to be shitty. They are, by definition, not perfect. Not right. Not good. And I think that's the whole point of NaNo: to get words on paper and re-write and edit them LATER. This month, you write. Next month, you evaluate whether or not the idea is good enough to bother editing it to make it better.

I love the idea of NaNo, and have been thinking about using it to write my thesis. Notice of course that I have done exactly NADA on this so far. :(

KEEP WRITING!! DO NOT GIVE UP!!!!!!

Just my 2 cents, of course. Do whatever you please.

i'm all for the shitty draft ~ in fact, shitty draft is my middle name (really, check out the phone book!).

it's all good ~ i'll either finish it in november or some other time. we'll see what the next few weeks brings.

: D

(side note: I see you did not EVEN MENTION the first NaNo you did. ahem, sez your cohort)

Okay so NaNo isn't workin' for you. Create your own boo-type plan/shedule dealie maybe could go something like this: Write something. Write something else. Revise first thing and send out for feedback. Revise Second thing and send out for feedback. Recieve feedback on first thing. Think about it. Revise as necessary. Receive second thing back and repeat as for first thing. Then move on to writing third and fourth thing repeating all steps.

Write in chronological order (hahahaha) or other order of your own devising.

Make a chart. Cross things off. Give gold stars. *

Keep going.

:x,

m (who else?)

*You will find all of the above in Mugsy's Rules for Life;Do As I Say, Not As I Do , Vol. XII

P.S. I like what you're doing with your drawing (crosshatching)

that's exactly my problem: i need something with gold stars.

: D

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So ...form a new plan

Re: So ...form a new plan