Good Reasons Not To Write

Or, How Not To Complete NaNoWriMo…

NaNoWriMo happened in November as it does every year, and once again tens of thousands of WriMers wrote millions of words to achieve their individual target of 50,000 words or more. Personally, I failed abysmally and barely got started. That’s ok though, because I found there were other things I wanted to focus on, instead of churning out 50,000 amateurish words without a real goal in mind.

50,000 words is too much to practice writing. Good typing practice tho

I did think a lot about what it is to write, while otherwise occupied, and came up with an interesting analogy. I started to think of creating a novel as much like creating a patchwork quilt. A novel is a collection of moments or sequences, spun together to create a larger piece of work. Some writers create incredibly intricate and detailed work, skillfully making the smaller pieces into a whole with a clever plot or premise. Others can choose to create short exciting pieces which stand alone, or a lengthy focused story that has no plot outside its narrative.

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Riddle Me This

Or, I should really say ‘tell me a Wrime’.

The close of Day 4 of NaNoWriMo, and my word count stands at about 30, but triple it if you count another couple of lines that I have in my head. Unfortunately that is 49,970 words short of the target, and only 0.0045% of the way to Day 4’s pro-rata amount. But I’m not worried! I have never completed a single piece of work in a remotely orderly manner, so why should writing (an art form no less!) be any different. In fact, without a grenade up my behind, I just can’t sit myself down.

On Writing, And Murakami

I read a really interesting interview with Haruki Murakami in last weekend’s edition of The Guardian. A very timely piece, possibly part of a build up to NaNoWriMo next month. I will be taking part and I think more people should have a go!

In the interview with Murakami, he talks about how he sometimes feels like he is living in a parallel world, and in the other world he never became a writer, and kept running a jazz cafe instead. He would have had quite a content life either way, especially as he is so easily pleased by cats (apparently)…

Re-think, Re-brand, Reset

Ok, so a couple of weeks in, a few draft posts that are about 80% complete, and I have had some brainwaves.

It’s worth noting that I went out on friday night, drank a lot more than my RDA (recommended daily allowance) of a large and varied selection of soft drinks and alcohol (sometimes a large and varied selection all in one glass, #hoorayforcocktails!), unfortunately spending a small fortune in the process.

I’m actually completely against binge drinking but still find it hard to say No to a friend’s birthday celebrations, and crucially find it very hard to say No More For Me Thanks when I am in a bar with money or plastic in my wallet! Baah…