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"I was working on
the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the
afternoon I put it back again. "
--Oscar
Wilde
I know my last blog post was a little bleak ...okay maybe
more than a little bleak, but what can I say NaNoWriMo is a taxing experience.
Participating is NaNoWriMo was probably one of the best decisions I have made
this year. NaNoWriMo was exhausting, frustrating, taxing, infuriating,
aggravating, maddening, fun, amusing, entertaining, horrifying, and compelling.
NaNoWriMo is a mixed bag of emotions . Every time, I sat down at my computer to
write I never knew what emotions my novel would bring out in me. Sometimes I
would write for hours on end not really paying attention to what I was really
writing, but I just needed to get everything down. Those were my best writing days, because I
would read over what I read afterwards, and I couldn't believe what I had
written. I remember reading back a conversation I had written between my two
main characters (Chloe and Ethan), and actually falling out of my chair because
I was laughing so hard.
I had a lot of good writing days, but I also had a lot of
bad. There were days especially towards the end where I couldn't even muster
the will to write. The plot got sloppy;
the characters got boring, and my novel just completely fell to apart ,and I
couldn't figure out how to fix it. It was frustrating and I was ready to
quit. I remember calling my friend Luke
the night I wrote my last blog post. I had just posted it to BlogSpot, and I was in hysterics and crying because I
couldn't figure out how to fix my novel . I think I pretty much convinced him I
am completely nuts, but when I finally stopped talking Luke calmed me down, and
gave me some basic advice. He pretty much told me I needed to walk away and
forget about it for a few days. Luke's a freelance journalist . He writes about
the economy and war and even spent 2 years in Africa, and a year in Iraq
writing about war, and the impact it has had on the people there. He is an amazing writer, and he knows what he
is talking about so I decided to just follow his advice. I just walked away and forgot all about Chloe
and Ethan for two whole days. It was the best advice I've ever taken.
When I sat down to write again my frustration was gone, and I was able
to fix my novel and turn it into something I could be proud of.
NaNoWriMo wasn't easy and I never expected it to be. It was
the hardest thing I have ever written and I did it in a month. I seems strange
to think that I wrote a novel in only a month, because it seems like it took so
much longer than that. I am happy I decided to participate this year because I
have learned so much about not only myself but about how I write, and what does
and does not work. NaNoWriMo is a
learning experience and an invaluable experience at that.
I would like to thank
everyone for putting up with me for the past month. This experience hasn't been
easy and I'm glad that you trudged through the process with me. I'm sure my
twitter updates were less than inspiring the past few weeks.
--Bridget
Pictures:
Here is a picture of me on the only day I really spent outside playing with the dog in November.
Favorite song at the Moment: Is a tie between "I belong to you"-Muse and "Down for the Count"-Bowling for Soup. I know it is totally random, but I can't stop hitting the repeat button.
Book that I am reading at the moment: I'm between three at the moment. " My sunshine" by: Catherine Anderson, " Harry, A History" by: Melissa Anelli, and "13 Little Blue Envelopes" by: Maureen Johnson.
