Goals and Gains

And so it is done! At 3:57 PM yesterday I typed "The End" and found myself with 50K + 71 words of a complete novel. All the major plots and subplots were sketched out, the main characters were developed, and their relationships to each other were at least outlined if not fleshed out.

There wasn't much fanfare with the finale. I wondered around the house. In the living room I encountered four sleeping cats. Two of them raised their heads when they saw me, the other two just lifted open an eyelid.

"I'm done! I won!" I said and raised my arms in the air touchdown like.

They just settled themselves little more deeply into their respective beds then they all went back to sleep.

During this month friends have occassionally asked, "So, what is it that you get when you win?" To which I had to keep answering, "Nothing." And that is the whole point, as far as I'm concerned. You win no thing in doing something like this. The little certificate above is a file you download. You fill in your own name and then you can do with it what you will. What I "won" was watching myself be consistent and committed to something I had never done before. I developed the stamina and backbone to write something even when the scene I was facing was two characters in chairs facing each other and I had no idea what they were going to say to one another. I kept daily word count goals even when I found it hard to do. I managed to do this in the midst of work, home life, attendance at a conference in Seattle, and Thanksgiving.

And here was the most important thing I did all month long. When I typed "The End" and saw that I had passed the 50K mark, I simply stopped. I had completed what I set out to do.

There is a verse in the Tao Te Ching which reads:

Better stop short than fill to the brim.

Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt.

Amass a store of gold and jade, and no one can protect it.

Claim wealth and titles and disaster will follow.

Retire when the work is done.

This is the way of heaven.

This speaks directly to the cautions of trying to acquire fame and gain for oneself. The Buddha was very clear that seeking recognition and glory is one of the surest ways to find suffering in your life. It leads to jealousy, greed, competition (and therefore setting oneself to be better than another.) I never felt the need to be in competition with anyone else. I had my goal and when it was reached I put down the pen. I can pick it up any time I want to in the future when/if it seems good to begin to edit. In this way I do not feel burnt out, stressed out or anxious. Knowing when to stop is as valuable as knowing when to begin.

For now, what is good to do is come back to my life as it is, catch up on housecleaning, cootch my kitties. I am deeply grateful for this experience and yes, I'll be back next year!

(Lynn's novel, "Touching the Velvet Elvis," was fueled by vast amounts of caffeine in many forms and by the good folk at pandora.com and their awsome online radio station!)

Heading Toward the Finish Line!!

Woo Hoo!! Yes, boys and girls, I'm less than 1200 words to the finish line of this year's novel writing challenge!! I figure that I will cross it with flourish by tonight. I'm having a blast going neck and neck with some of my NaNoWriMo compadres here in town. I'm savouring the moments here at the end as I see it in sight and I'm not really in a hurry to cross. When it's over, it's going to be over. Sophia, Delmer, Helene, Harley and Dane will have come to their combined resolutions and will begin to fade from my consciousness, while the reality of my here and now will take up clarity once again. It's been fun and lots of lessons have come my way during the process. Truly the journey has been far more important than the goal.

Nevertheless, stepping over that finish line is going to be cause for celebration!

...It Continues...

Ten days into NaNoWriMo and I have discovered that there may not be enough coffee in the known Universe to sustain my effort. If I weren't so tired I'd grow the beans myself.

But tired I am. Oh, sure, the normal writing of the 1667 words per day needed to keep on track doesn't take too long. Maybe an hour and some. That's if you have some idea about where you're actually headed with the thing. And if your main character doesn't all of a sudden decide to explore Istanbul and you have to scurry off to Google the place and try to figure out what's there. And if the procrastination demon doesn't drag you all over the internet in a sudden fury of needing to read blogs and myspace and the weather sites and the music sites etc. And, of course, that's if you all of a sudden don't have this incredible passion for housecleaning. Given all those "if"s the 1667 words might actually take you about 12.75 hours to write. Or more.

And, in the end, I'm having a hoot and a howl because it's so much FUN!!

It Begins....During a Dark and Stormy Night...

Midnight was the watching hour for the start of National Novel Writing Month!! 50,000 words in 30 days, kids! 70,000 would-be authors sent fingers flying across the keyboard starting lines as the bells tolled.

This is my first year and I'm already having a blast. This is insane in all ways but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Certainly good for the old discipline muscles.

So, if you'll excuse me, I have these voices in my head....