One more day to go...

Just a day to go for NaNoWriMo…

What an exciting place to be! The TATA LitLive Fest is on with dozens of interesting authors, books and programmes. Now that I have decided on my story and worked out a rough outline, shouldn’t all my thoughts be on writing it down? Is this literary fest an opportunity for procrastination?

 

The last 50 or so days I had written every day. I told myself that it is just like brushing my teeth. There are no holidays for that and so it is going to be with writing. The intelligent procrastinator within me argued that brushing doesn’t take more than 10 minutes a day, even if I include gargling and flossing and multiply it by two. So, I told myself it is okay even if I write for just 10 minutes a day but there was one rule – the writing should be on the latest fiction piece I’m working on and I need to write at least 100 words. No blog articles, no journaling, no poetry, no new story, no idea outlines, etc. Only stuff relating to the current piece permitted.

“You have to finish things – that’s what you learn from, you learn by finishing things.” Neil Gaimann.

I am trying to do just that for the last month. Sometimes, I wind up in 10 minutes but sometimes I get into the flow. However, that putting the ‘butt-in-the-chair’ part every day is the hardest of all. It is only now I’m getting used to that! At last, in time for NaNoWriMo! Since I have started this regularly, I have started recognising my usual chores as invented ‘resistance’ (procrastinators). I have grown wary of my headaches, drowsiness, cleaning sprees, cooking sprees, partying mode and lots more. So, I’m wondering and hoping that this yearning to attend the litfest is not another procrastination stunt! What do you think?

NaNoWriMo - Getting Geared

I have decided to take the plunge this year too. It was an absolute fun to do last year. It was a huge challenge too as I was away from home, my usual writing zone, and the kids were running amok enjoying their vacations. Still, I had done it. 50000 words in 30 days. There were days I had done 100 and days when I had gone beyond 7000. There were write-ins in Chennai, workshops in Mumbai and I had met other writers for the first time. I loved every moment of it. Now, I am going to do it again.

The challenges this time are going to be different. School is going to resume by the end of the first week of November. Hopefully, there would be some structure to the day, a routine and a bit of silent peace. However, now I am working. Though it is from the comfort of my home, a solid chunk of 7-8 hours flies away. I love what I'm doing and I've decided never to give it up. Similarly, I've decided to never give up writing too. So, I need to work out a way.

 

NaNoWriMo is doable. It is just 1667 words a day. Most professional writers write more than this every day of their lives. My favourite prolific writer Isaac Asimov works on his books from 7am to 11 pm every day. So squeezing in 2-3 hours shouldn't be difficult. (*crosses fingers hopefully)

 

 



The next biggest challenge this time has been to decide on a story. There are three whirling around my head and they are giving me headaches all day and night. If I work on one, the other haunts me. If I work on that, a scene from the other stamps my brain. I need to focus and zero in on one to have some basic outline in place before November. Any ideas, folks?

Apart from these minor(?) glitches, things are in place and I'm hopeful and excited about November. I will keep you updated about the journey.