Sunday, November 30, 2008

I'm Done!

At 2:06 pm today, Frieda’s Chair came into the world. Sure, she’s ugly—12 fingers, 11 toes, and a really frightening head of hair—but I think we can work with that. I’m seeing faux-hawk, thinking we’ll emphasize rather than understate. But she exists! And I’m in love.

56,356 words ago, she was just a rough idea. I thought I knew what the gestation process would be like but, really, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It’s been a mirror, a joy ride, a terrifying free fall. But she’s alive and kicking and I’m happy as a clam.

The Ten things I learned through NaNoWriMo:
  1. I can’t spell worth shit (still) but luckily MSWord can.
  2. Breathing out (creation) is as important as breathing in (observation)—can’t do one without the other—and the moments of transition from one to the other are terrifying and magical.
  3. Trust your characters to guide the way. Trying to force them to go where I wanted them to go lead to temper tantrums (theirs) and writer’s block (mine).
  4. The world is magical if you take the time to look, full of weird, wonderful synchronicity.
  5. A first draft is not the same as the finished product, but you can’t have the latter unless you’re willing to make room for the former.
  6. It’s much easier to take wild adventures with a little bit of support.
  7. Perfectionism really is the enemy.
  8. Sitting and typing for hours will seriously shorten your psoas.
  9. Letting the story unfold on it’s own consistently creates something better than what I’d originally imagined.
  10. Play really is a path to power. Laughter is healing. Ridiculous goals can inspire. Imperfection is rich.

So I’m officially a 2008 NaNoWriMo Winner and I couldn’t have done it without you. Deep thanks to everyone who emailed, Facebooked, became a “supporter” on the blog, posted comments, asked about my word count, or just sent out the love through the ether. I couldn’t have done it without you! I mean that.

Breathing

I have the closing scene in mind. I know who did it. The characters have learned everything they must know. But I can't feel how to flow from there to the finish.

A little panic, I think, about ending. Sort of like breathing out and then holding your breath: it's that little moment of hesitation before breathing in and knowing that you'll be OK. Weird.

Tomorrow is the last day so I have no choice but to make it happen. It's not going to be pretty.

But isn't that what editing is for?