And, for those of you tracking my whereabouts, I’ll be submitting myself to the National Novel Writing Month madness again this year. No official word yet on what my new novel will be, apart from “pretty bad, but lengthy.” Look for a column about this insanity soon.
Last year’s attempt had mixed results. I did, in fact, manage 50,000 words by the zero hour, but only by committing literary crimes of which I am still ashamed. And then the impetus for completing the novel itself died away after the ridiculous and satirical topic – a bunch of overweight people stuck into a reality show to follow a strict regime while watched by millions – was actually made somewhere, which kind of reduced the satirical part. I got the completion certificate though, which made all the medication and stress-related hiatal hernias worthwhile.
This year I’ll learn from my mistakes, plan my outline better, get my research completed before I begin, and stick to my assigned writing regiment. Also I’m taking the last week of November off.