At the end of the first week of NaNo, I’ve written 16,000 words or an average of 2000 words a day, split halfway between Becoming Kringle and Whose Hearts are Mountains. I’ll be honest — writing lately has been challenging, with a lot of self-doubt after working with one of the publishing editors I tried. This week has been vindicating.
(A hint from case management class to editors of various types: You have to talk about the strengths as well as the failures of a client’s work, not for flattery or reassurance, but to remind the client that the manuscript is worth the work being put into it.)
I’ve finished Whose Hearts are Mountains — by “finished”, I mean “written a very rough draft that has plot holes you could probably drive a truck through, and desperately needs an edit or two.” I remember when I arrogantly thought my drafts weren’t rough and so I sent them out. Writing has been a humbling exercise.
From here on out, all of my words are going to Becoming Kringle. I think this will be more of a challenge, in fact a huge challenge, because I have the barest of outlines to go by. On the other hand, with yesterday’s snow, it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.
Words Like Me 