While chatting to a friend and fellow aspiring novelist, she obviously asked me how the writing is going. I answered “I’m theoretically working on it.” It was a vague and slightly lazy answer in which I admit a certain level of procrastination and also acceptance that for me, writing is 80% thinking about it and 20% putting words onto the page.
So, I wrote a novel in November, taking part in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge. And now what? Well, I’m editing and writing more. The basic plot line is about a lady who aspired to the life you’re ‘supposed’ to have – career, marriage, 2.5 kids, but it didn’t turn out that way. She is now struggling to redefine herself and her life. With some time off, she plans a holiday but is side tracked by some graffiti. She sets out to find whoever is writing”Lager” and “Pie” all over London, but ends up rediscovering herself. It has become a bit of a monster with the addition of new (yet to be written) story lines. One will be about another lady, who appears to have it all, but is so bored with her life she wishes a terrorist attack would happen just to spice things up and one will be about a fictional (to me and to the story) graffiti artist.
It’s not perfect yet, but here’s a sneak preview.
3 days early, 27 days of writing, a very sore hand (just one for some reason), over 50,000 words and my first NaNoWriMo is done. I’m a winner, for the first time since I was 4 and beat 3 boys to win a tricycle in K-mart. This was my one and only athletic achievement, which, like Nano, proves with enough motivation (a tricycle or a word count) you can achieve more than you think.
After years of threatening, half-baked ideas and wishful thinking, I’ve finally done it. No, not lose my marbles, the plot (not yet) or go loopy (although I might in about 30 days). I’ve signed up for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)!
I usually read a lot because of my commute. I’d rather have my nose shoved in a book, or my Kindle than try not to make eye contact with my fellow commuters. (I am sure they’re nice people, but I have a tendency to stare when I’m tired!) And, while it only takes me about 50 minutes to get to work (that’s average by London standards), it feels like it goes faster if I read. This month, I downloaded a blog reading app – so I’ve not read as many books per se, but I’ve read a lot in general.
Teacup and Mouse 