Sorry my photo of this postcard is off-kilter--so am I. It's early and I'm about to make a big commitment. This picture of a 4,500-year-old marble carving of a harp player sits in front of my keyboard. I found the postcard in a box of pictures I collected from museums and got chills when I discovered I had acquired it. My WIP is a YA fantasy about a girl with unusual harp-playing ability and roots that go back to the dawn of time.
Today I plan a marathon-writing session on the rewrite of that novel. I was inspired by Megan, as she was by the 10K for Writers. I'm not going to start a new work, since after two months of letting it rest I've finally started my rewrite. But I like the kick-in-the-butt of setting a goal, making a personal deadline.
I've never participated in NaNoWriMo, the annual challenge to write 50,000 words in a month. In 2008, there were 119,301 participants. NaNoWriMo's collective word count--1.6 billion words. Just wow. A friend of mine, Gayle Brandeis, wrote a first draft of Self Storage in NaNoWriMo. She was already the winner of Barbara Kingsolver's Bellwether Prize for The Book of Dead Birds. But like many writers, she wanted the power of the deadline. So I know it works.
Since I'm a free operative, what goal to set? In the last few weeks since I started to rewrite I produced about 5,000 words/19 pages. The original novel is about 90,000 words. I'm going to try for another 5,000 words of rewrite today. I have no idea what to expect, but don't we all love a challenge?
8 comments:
Wow, second person I've visited today who's doing this 10K challenge. Have a great time writing!
Go for it, Tricia.
You go! There's nothing like a challenge achieved. I guess I need to do something similar, I've been floundering for a while. Maybe this will inspire me to get moving.
Cheering for you. GO, go, go!
Good luck. I'm sort of coming from the opposite direction, having to take everything slowly to avoid a major derangement. So I'm envious, but in a good way. Have fun!
Happy writing, Tricia. Your WIP sounds very intriguing.
Yay, you!
Thank you all for the cheering and good wishes. It really helped to know you were out there when the going got tough. But I actually made 5,000 words! I can't believe I did it.
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