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October 31, 2006
Ready, Set, Write!
Tomorrow is the big day: the first day of National Novel Writing Month, or as it's more fondly known, NaNoWriMo. To the outside world, I may appear calm as a cucumber, but inside I'm jelly.
I honestly have no idea what I'm going to write! The thought has left me with a dry mouth and thoughts of begging off completely (I have had a busy fall, I'm going to be gone a lot in November, I need to winterize the garden; the list of valid excuses is quite long). But the thought of publicly having to admit I blew it is much too painful; besides, I can already taste that delicious latte Stephanie Bodeen is going to have to buy me.
So I'm putting on my game face. And stealing some concepts from my yoga teacher, including:
Breathing. Deeply. Often. That should help keep me calm and get that essential oxygen to my feeble brain.
Finding a focal point. It's much easier to do poses, especially those requiring balance, if you find a stable point to focus your gaze on. My new focal point? My iBook G4's screen.
Different bodies, different poses. As our teacher reminds us each class, human bodies are unique. Poses will also be unique. I am going to work to do what this writer can do and not worry (too much) about what other writers are doing.
It's called yoga practice, not yoga perfect. 50,000 words in a month means there will be a lot of words (sentences, paragraphs, pages) that will be far from perfect. This exercise is not about perfection; it's about getting a draft completed.
So, here I sit, getting in touch with my inner writer, ready to breathe and ready to rumble.
Just in case these higher principles don't work, I've got a 2 pound box of Godiva chocolates sitting here on my desk. One per 1600 words.
Namaeste.
Posted by kirby at October 31, 2006 02:42 PM
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Comments
Good luck with the writing! I think that a 2 pound box of Godiva chocolates could go a long way for consolation if you have trouble thinking of what to write....
Posted by: Jen Robinson at October 31, 2006 09:22 PM
Congratulations on your latest release, Kirby. I always enjoy hearing from you. And what a delight to see your blog!
Good luck on the novel.
Posted by: Lené Gary at November 2, 2006 08:41 PM