I have been working on my Nano book. Gearing up. Plotting. Character sketches. You know the drill.


I was trying to get some ideas from the YR crit loop. I’d come up with one idea and threw it out there. Got my feedback. Then in my mind it morphed into something completely different. I threw that info out and the response was … different. I am not sure if they didn’t like the idea or if they were so intent on the first round of suggestions they didn’t want it to swing that far away from the original idea (though there is nothing saying I can’t write BOTH books).

And it’s not that I minded – quite the contrary. I actually love plotting. Love it almost more than writing. You can get an entire story formulated in your mind. Writing the book is a much longer, drawn out process. Plotting – you get instant (depending on how long you take to do it) gratification.

But now I am torn as to which story to work on. I will say though, the nice thing (probably the best thing) about Nano is you just have to write. No time for edits. No time for plot holes. You can come back when the contest is over and fix that. But you HAVE to get your word count in. Nano frees you to just writing. Let the mental juices flow and not worry about the rest.

I will say, last year there were a few days I stressed and probably (Okay I know I did) snapped at the ankle biters. For instance, day one when I sat staring at the computer. But then I got into my rhythm and whamo-bamo – I had a completed novel, won the contest, and could be proud! AND after some work and a little edits, I am actually now shopping it around (YEAH BABY!).

I think I will start the story on Wednesday and just see where it takes me - cannot wait!