Writers Write...Right?

 

I haven't written for another day (except in my blog). It's like my life suddenly picked up again. My entire life was this book for a long time, and nothing interfered. Now, suddenly, a life is knocking on my door and intruding in my writing time. Stupid life.

But, seriously, I haven't written anything in my book for two days. Mostly because I haven't had time, but also because I'm procrastinating...again. It's hard work, the words aren't flowing the way they used to, and the internet is a powerful distraction.

However, I really don't want to end up like this:

So, writers write, right? Why am I not writing? I know I'm a writer, the last ten years have told me that, but what about right now? Don't I want to get this work finished? Well, yes, but I'm not sure where to go next in what I've written, even with the stupid outline. What should Yelina say or do to prove she's an evil stepmother (which she really isn't, but she seems like one at first)? I don't want to be too cliche. Although, to be honest, my style in writing is to start with the cliche, make it look cliche, then twist it around to almost the exact opposite of cliche. So, should I go with my instincts and start with the cliche, where I have her yelling and giving my character really evil, plotting looks in the beginning? And then twist it all around later when Yelina turns out to be the only person who tries to save the main character, as the not-so-evil stepmother (that was my original intention)? But if I start with the cliche, won't people stop reading?

Should I care if people stop reading?

Being a writer, I'm supposed to write for me first, and readers second. That's because there is absolutely no way to please everybody in the world, as we all have different tastes, but I can certainly please me and my tastes. But it's so hard to do in practice, sometimes. How do you shut off the back of your mind, where it describes how badly this is going to flop, no one will want to publish it, and people are going to hate you? Especially when you're a natural born people-pleaser like me. 

Why can't I take the attitude so many others have? That it doesn't matter what they think, I'm going to do what I love and they can go be unhappy somewhere else.

Despite all, I think I'll go with my planned plot and make Yelina look truly evil at first, then twist her character a full 180 degrees after the extreme circumstances hit. Does that sound good, or does it seem stupid to you? Would YOU read past the cliche and find out what happens next?

I can and will write this book. The question is WHEN. So, I have decided to set a goal time for finishing the first draft. The first goal time is going to be extreme, to try to push me to do it soon and not put it off til the last minute. Then, I'm going to have a second and third goal time that the first draft of the first book HAS to be done by, no exception.

First Goal: End of July 2011 (Possible, but difficult)

Second Goal: September 15, 2011

Third And Final Goal: December 31, 2011

I really want to be done by the end of this month. To make that, I have to write no less than 2,667 words a day, every day, this month (assuming this is a typical 80,000 word novel). To do that, I will probably have to turn off the internet at 6:00PM, at least, every day and have my book open to write in for the time period after that.

I guess I'm going to attempt my own version of NaNoWriMo. For those of you not in the know (which is no shame, because I never knew of it before last year), that stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it is held every year from November 1st to November 30th. Check it out here. It is completely free and my computer plus Google says it is also virus-free.

Well, I hope you guys are rooting for me! Let's see if we can't cut through the procrastination and worry and get this writing show on the road!

Goal: 3,000 words a day for the next 30 days

Goal: Complete novel by end of July 2011

Goal: Shut down Internet every day at 6PM, and DON'T reopen it

Thanks for reading! I really appreciate all of you taking the time to read my blog! Here's hoping I can meet my goals!