My former boss, the dean of our career college, asked me almost daily last November if I was doing it. I couldn't do it then--I was in the middle of finishing up "Needing Her" (now on hiatus and retitled "Needing You".) And then this crazy year rolled around, with a health issue stuck plum in the middle.
Once I returned to writing after my surgery hiatus, I decided to keep plugging away at my New Adult Contemporary featuring fraternal twin girls and their has-been rock star dad. I love, love, love this story. It's an update of a book I wrote when I was like fourteen. (And much more steamy now, lol.)
But, after a while, the book got so serious. And the one twin was seriously a bummer to be around. Although I still want to finish it, I had to take a break from it. And when all this happened, it was late October.
And here I was on Halloween, dressed up in a gossamer sleeved blouse, with a witchy black skirt, missing the imperative witch's hat, when at lunch something just struck me. This character, out of the blue, started talking and it was the first page of a new book. I knew instantly that I wanted to know more about her situation, because even though it wasn't perfect, she had a lot of humor in her voice, and she seemed like a lot of fun--a person you'd want to hang out with.
It's been twelve days of NaNoWriMo (I haven't written the book yet today, so I'm not counting the thirteenth day yet) and I'm up to 22,000 words. And it's such a breath of fresh air!!!
I am DETERMINED to finish this book, or at least reach 50K before the end of the month. I am a big time procrastinator so this much work this fast is amazing for me. I keep second guessing myself, but I'm reminding myself: Don't edit now. Just write, just let it out, get the story down, don't worry if you've said that same word just a few sentences ago--just go!!
Already I've learned some truly valuable gems. One is that maybe the problem with my other book wasn't the angsty character, but the fact that my inner editor wouldn't shut the heck up enough to let the words flow. And secondly, maybe the angsty-ridden Ashleigh could lighten up a little.
If you're doing NaNoWriMo, how is it going? Feel free to leave comments! Or in general, how is your WIPs coming along?
