11.15.2010

Halfway

The mark directly between and equidistant from two points on a line.

What you get when you cross the Atlantic with the Titanic.

Where we are in NaNoWriMo.

Current word count: 25,031

I considered making today's post a direct response to Mr. Pond's On Caring Too Deeply, but right now it's getting awfully difficult to stare at a computer screen and type. Besides, his post was very good and I didn't really disagree with it. And it's hard to think of creative new ways to celebrate NaNoWriMo when the program is totally kicking my rear—even if I am staying caught up on word count.

I'm starting to feel as if I care too deeply about finishing without a better reason than "I hate giving up." Last year at this point in the novel, there was action. Captures. Attacks. Fear. Emotional twists. This year, they're cooking. And talking.

I'm even bored.

Perhaps it was a mistake to speed-write a sequel to a novel I've had time to revise. Or perhaps I've just got the halfway blues. In the Halfway video, over at the NaNo site, OLL staffer Lindsey says "If you've been thinking about quitting: Don't do it!"

Dang it, Lindsey, you read my mind.

The will to get through got me something innately revisable last year—something that held enough beauty to be worth salvaging. If I want that again—and I do—it will mean a lot of extra effort. It means I need to not just write, but put some real time into structuring the novel.

I'm the one who signed up for this sport. So be it, then.

3 comments:

  1. I think the Titanic was a little more than halfway when it sank. :)

    Glad to see you haven't thrown in the towel or keyboard. I was going to comment on your previous post but never got to it. But I was going to say that even if much of the stuff you're writing is 'crap,' you can still use it like an auto junkyard. That is, in future you could pull out the bits that are good or pull out ideas from it & incorporate it into something else. Continued good luck!

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  2. Haha, George. I was quoting an old joke (one of those "What do you get when you cross ___ and ___" things), but I'm sure in actual fact, "halfway" is inaccurate. :)

    Thanks for the encouragement! I like the analogy of the auto junkyard. That feels just about right. A lot of useless stuff, but some good parts hidden among the rubble.

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  3. Hey Jenna, real life is keeping me from commenting half as much as I'd like, though I'm reading no less. But my hopefully encouraging thoughts will appear at Paradoxes shortly. Keep it up! :)

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