Nanowrimo is officially underway.
Last year, my efforts were extremely weak, but this year, I did a little better job with the preparation. I don’t know if this is “cheating” or not, but I’ve put together about seventy pages of notes and character sketches and vignettes that won’t be in the book, but are about the book, if that makes any sense. I doubt any of the backgound material will make it into the story verbatim, but it has given me a much clearer idea of the characters, the setting, and where I intend to go.
It’s not been easy for me to find a space where I can write. My day (and night and morning) job requires a lot of my time and attention, and at home, there have been plenty of distractions between having a girlfriend and losing a girlfriend. What I’ve had to do, and it has been surprisingly productive, is get to my office an hour or so before anyone else. This provides me with a comfortable chair, all the tea I can drink, and almost no interruptions.
What I intend to do is to use this space as a warm up for my nanowrimo work. I’ve found that when I go straight into whatever I’m attempting to write on a given day without a warm up, I end up having to completely rewrite the bulk of it. I’m hoping that this will allow me to get my head into the right space prior to begininng the real work.
So, we’re off. I have characters. I have a time and place. I have an idea of what the story will be about, as well as what it will really be about, if you know what I mean. I’ve given myself a much better opportunity to succeed this time around, which also means I’ve removed some of my excuses.
Wish me luck.