On day 7 of NaNoWriMo, my motivation and inspiration began to lose steam. My word count was ahead of schedule. My outline was barely touched.
While I had tentatively tossed my hat into this year’s NaNoWriMo ring, there was never any doubt I could finish the race and hit that 50,000 word goal at the end of 30 days. I had no reason to doubt, because I had hit and exceeded the goal every year since 2008. In fact, when the motivation began to wane, I expected it to rear its ugly head based on past experience.
What I did not expect was for the lack of inspiration to continue on for a week.
So now I must ask myself the question: Do I continue to press on?
Pressing on will mean defeating the writer demons of lethargy and indifference when it comes to building a story. Strengthening the muscles of discipline and determination.
The other alternative is to quit. To admit defeat. My entire being cringes at the thought! I written a lot of novels and novellas that exceeded the 50k word mark, so why should I allow myself the luxury of not completing this task?
Writing is hard! That is why only a select few can call themselves writers! Because they face the challenges and press onward. And yet I still want to allow myself the option of passing on victory this year.
Why? Because not all stories should find their way to the finish. There comes a point in time when we need to say “I’m sorry, darling, but you’re going to stay in the ‘Workspace’ folder.” It’s hard, yes, but sometimes it must be done.
With writing this post, I come face-to-face with that possibility for this particular story. Not the entirety of it, but this first portion. Where I previously thought this tale must be told, now I’m not so certain – and I understand why.
Understanding is the best result from anything. It allows growth.
As always, NaNoWriMo reminds me of the challenges to writing as well as the importance with having a daily writing goal. To produce something, anything, moves you forward toward a goal of completing a manuscript. Sometimes, that forward motion is the best remedy for the reason you have never written a book before, or since. I haven’t yet decided if I will continue to the end, but since I have nearly crested the half way point, I find it a sad state of affairs to entertain the idea of quitting.
Perhaps, instead of quitting NaNoWriMo, I need to quit the mundane storyline and throw the characters into some adventure!
I am a writer, and I adore the spinning of the unwritten tale – that lesson waiting to be divulged to others. Each day a new story beckons. One last happy ending. My characters have a life outside of my own, and I always learn from their destiny.
