I know, technically this is day 4. But I didn’t get a chance to write yesterday.
No, scratch that, I didn’t want to write. No, truthfully, I didn’t feel like writing. I started out having a crappy morning even before I left the house. By the time I got to work, my mind was swirling with thoughts on character. I had a basic premise for the story, but then I started wondering: should I make the male character into a stereotypical ex-con? Should I make one of the women an ex-con? What is said to motivate the characters? What do they want? How do they get it?
I was still in a funk and all thoughts of writing evaporated. I knew I should have tried to write something, but I just couldn’t do it. My inner critic had shut me down.
There are two kinds of writers: planners and seaters. Planners think out their stories. They create character histories, they research locations, they outline their entire book. The “seaters” are what we call fly-by-the-seat writers. They just put pen to paper (or keys to keyboard) and write the story. I’m somewhere in between. I start out as a seater, switch into planner mode, then continue writing until I get the story done. Where I stall out is my tendency to self-edit and criticize my work. I try to find just the right word or phrase. If I’m describing an article of clothing, I have to find a picture and figure out the exact way to describe it.
The beauty of NaNoWriMo is that you have to become a complete seater. You have to free yourself and silence your inner critic. You have to just let the words hit the page in any way they wish to come out, without rhyme or reason. Distractions must fade into the background as your sole focus must be on what you are writing.
So I’m a day behind in my word count. I have a lot to make up in just a couple of days. But my inner critic is silent. For now.
Hey, at least you’re, y’know, writing. I’ve done a stellar job of not even starting to write. I think we’re opposites – I need to start as a planner and then, once I have a couple of character ideas and a general trajectory, I let go and see where the wind takes me. The problem is that this year I can’t seem to force myself to sit down and come up with a plan. Once I do that, I should be in decent shape. Well, half decent. Okay, any shape. Any ugly shape.
Anyway. Happy writing, and if you need someone to break your inner critic’s kneecaps, let me know.
Hey Fish Screamer,
I feel like you in many ways. It’s one of the reasons that my WIP is taking so long. I spend too much time planning, when I should be writing. That’s the beauty of NaNoWriMo. It’s just letting the words flow. My advice to you is just to put pen to paper, butt in chair and let go. I know it’s hard, but it can be done. It’s very liberating!
And thanks for the offer. I may need you to break my IC’s kneecaps in a few weeks.
Donna, consider leaving yourself notes in your writing, i.e. [more/better description needed], [check timeline], [fact check this], [is this a contradiction?] etc. You can find your notes easily by searching for a bracket, and it frees you up to keep writing.