tadhg.com
tadhg.com
 

NaNoWriMo 2009 Second Check-In

23:46 Sun 15 Nov 2009. Updated: 00:49 16 Nov 2009
[, ]

It’s still not going well.

The problem is quite simple: I’m just not devoting enough time to it. I haven’t had the focus required, so that it’s been far too easy to get distracted by all kinds of other things, either errands and chores or fun things to do or random stuff in the typical internet style.

As is typical with me, now that I’m trying to focus on this project, ideas for other projects come flooding in. For example, I’m intrigued once again by the prospect of running a fantasy roleplaying campaign. (Note that there’s no overlap whatsoever between the ideas for that campaign and the ideas for the novel I’m trying to work on.)

One of the most irritating things about this is that it seems so hard to predict (or create) the determination level I’ll have for projects. I’ve taken on harder projects in the past—I’d say that the editing of my science fiction novel two years ago was harder, and doing an Annotated FBH article every day for thirty-five days involved more writing time, but I was steadier for both of those endeavors than I have been so far for something that’s both easier (I still think it’s easier) and that I think of as more worthwhile (at least in the sense that I think the fantasy novel will turn out better than the science fiction novel).

The difficulty is more in the starting than the doing; that is, once I’m engaged in the writing process, the fantasy novel seems to hum along, so it’s the initial engagement that’s the tough part.

Despite the lack of progress halfway through November, there are at least two good things:

  • I’m still determined to finish it.
  • When I get down to the writing, my writing rate is approximately a thousand words an hour, which is reasonable and gives a realistic prospect of finishing within a decent timeframe.

Leave a Reply