This will be the fourth year that I have competed (well, maybe competed isn't quite the right word for it, it is more of an endurance race where EVERYBODY that crosses the finish line gets a prize) in NaNo, and for the first time since 2007, I am actually looking forward to November 1st. In 2007, I was trying to finish up the first draft of my "prequel" of sorts to Valqis, which you are now reading excerpts of as I work on the rewrite of it in Valqis: Reborn. Problem was, when I was finished with the full first draft, there were so many plot holes in it, you could drive a whole fleet of Sherman tanks thru it without touching any piece of plot, but I digress. Then jump ahead to 2009, after taking a year off to rewrite (which never happened) I came in to NaNo 2009 thinking about starting book two of the Valqis saga, only to find out that my protagonist was not realistic.
So, I put Valqis aside to take on a story that had been running around in my head for almost ten years, but I had never really taken the time to sit and hash out. The result: Randolph Prescott and the Case of the Disappearing Conventiongoers [title still in working stages].
Fast forward to New Year's Day, and the birth of Syckosis, the second Randolph Prescott novel, which is still being written and is about 1/4 of the way complete. With Syckosis came a reinvigorated spirit of writing, which became all the more evident when I hit my first roadblock in the novel, and I put this novel aside, and actually restarted Valqis: Reborn while I tried to figure a way out of the predicament that I had gotten Randolph into [and thanks to Nancy Griffin for her advise, he is now out of that issue and into another one]. Valqis: Reborn is moving slowly, with my trying to rework the plot so as to close the plot holes and make the story flow better.
I have been writing in some form or fashion since I was about ten years old, and I can first remember the day that Valqis was "born". I had just come home from Liberty University as a rising junior, having struggled the previous semester to make it thru my classes with passing grades. But as I lay down to go to sleep after a long day working cashier at McDonald's, I had a vision of a grown man on a horse riding up to a gate and demanding to be let in. That vision grew over the next year into Valqis: the Search, the third book in the Valqis saga (hey, I never claimed to think straight), which is still awaiting a rewrite as well.
Before I delve into what I have planned for NaNo, maybe it would be better if I were to explain what NaNo is. NaNoWriMo, or the National Novel Writing Month, is where a writer determines to write a novel of at least 50000 words in just 30 days, and it runs from November 1 to November 30. Why take on such a monumental task? you ask. Well, for anyone that is a writer or wants to be one, you invariably have to write your thoughts down. The 30 days means that you have to write an average of 1667 words a day to complete the 50k by the deadline. In years past, I have struggled to stay up on my word count and have had to use Black Friday as my big catch-up day twice, once writing more than 10000 words in a day to bring me back in line with what I needed for the contest.
This year, however, I am planning on being different. I do not plan on getting behind. Since I have been writing daily (even if it is as little as 50 words a day), I do not plan on getting behind at all, and if it does happen, I will catch up on the weekends. My vision for this NaNoWrimo: Operation Blackheart: A Randolph Prescott Adventure. The premise: "What would you do if you knew someone was going to assassinate the newly-elected President? Would you stand by and watch, or would you get involved to stop it?"
My goal for this year is 60000 words, as well as working on my other two novels. Am I asking for problems due to lack of sleep? Maybe. But it will be fun to try, and that is why God made caffeine and energy drinks.
Has this inspired you to want to write, or to see if you can put 50000 words on a page in a month? Then click on the title of this post and it will take you to the NaNoWriMo website, where you can sign up and begin your quest for greatness!
I welcome your feedback on this or any of my other blogs. Please use the comments button below or shoot me an e-mail at childofking88@aol.com.
Until we meet again, remember, two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights make a left.
