Yes, but can I do it again?

Last year I hid in my closet for a month, occasional treats and hot coffee nearby, earphones on with my playlist waking up the right emotions, and keyboard offering the rewarding soft tapping noises. Fifty-three thousand words in thirty days.

That was a challenging, rewarding experience.

I learned that I could budget my time (some) and get out a rough draft of a complete novel in a hurry. I counted myself among the thousands of winners. I took a silly picture to show you my happiness. And then I got busy with other parts of life.

I won NaNoWriMo last year.

Yes, but can I do it again?

I'm nervous. I want to write a story next month. I need to write a story. But can I do it?

I can't even write this post. I'm getting distracted by other things and thinking I should spend my time elsewhere.

I know I need to do this. I need to know I can make myself, perhaps let myself, value the act of creating a work of words in a full time schedule, in a new town, new everything environment.

And I need to choose a project. The stories are bouncing around in my head with new fervor. It's an exciting orbit that if I let it will do nothing but continue to circle and I'll never tell another story. I have to pick one, temporarily valuing it more than the others to focus on it and make it right before I can tell the next one. Choosing is hard. I want to see where all of them will go. But I am a linear being, so if it is to happen, it must be one story at a time. Which one will be next month? Which one will I start in six days?

I don't know if this post is coherent or not. This evening I am an excited, jumbled, nervous mess. But I came across this quote on Twitter, and for now I'll leave it at pondering this quote from Maya Angelou:

A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.

Drumroll....

Thirty days into the challenge and two days after officially winning NaNoWriMo...

And with an official NaNoWriMo word count of 53,207...

I HAVE FINISHED MY STORY!!!

Present, Experiences, Directly, Watched, Isn't, True

A thought built one sentence at a time with the goal of around five sentences in a week and the desperate attempt at a sensible overall idea tied together by the end. The post title will be one word from each sentence.

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Characters' pasts shape their present.

Experiences off the page, back in gradeschool, impact their thoughts today.

Though they may not know it directly.

Have you ever watched The Kid?

Isn't it true?

Isn't it true of you, too?

Failure, Story, Choices, Choices, Action

A thought built one sentence at a time with the goal of around five sentences in a week and the desperate attempt at a sensible overall idea tied together by the end.  The post title will be one word from each sentence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Failure to act is a result in itself.

An inactive character wouldn't lead a good story.

Characters must make choices and follow through on decisions.

But if the choices are too easy, even action isn't enough.

Story action in itself is pointless without meaning and motivation.