Ending NaNoWriMo Early...

I did try to reach 50,000 words, but I have a problem. I'm far too concise. When I write things I go for fewer words the first time through. It's during later edits that I add enough that it makes sense to other people. Writing a story that will be about 50,000 words on the final draft wasn't a good idea in that context...

The good news is I do have a finished first draft. It just isn't enough to 'win' NaNoWriMo and editing would take too long with the time left. I'll have to think up a plot for a 200,000 word epic next year. That way I'll hit the word count with plot to spare.

The forums for NaNoWriMo were interesting in their own way. It surprised me that the young adult forum had more adult topics than you could wave a stick at. The forums for the adult genres were nothing in comparison.

I did find interesting links through the discussions. I appreciated the humour of the Evil Editor blog. One day in the distant future, when I sit down to write a query letter, I'll think of that blog. Then I'll slap myself if I even think of writing "My writing style is a mixture of J.K. Rowling and C.S. Lewis" or "I have no previous publications, but I'm good at cooking and looking after cockroaches". It does make you wonder how many talented writers are shooting themselves in the foot with poorly worded query letters.

Based on Miss Snark's posts, I know not to include cookies in my submission... though I can't see the harm in spreading the cockroaches around. They're cute and friendly creatures. You can't blame them for enjoying cookies. I enjoy cookies too, especially white chocolate ones.

It's onwards to writing other things, including some stuff I should have finished for my website months ago.

NaNoWriMo 2007

This year I'm taking part in NaNoWriMo, the project where people try to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. Since I left school I've written so few short stories I could still count them on my fingers. Writing a novel is a bit insane taking that into account.

It's actually not going badly, once I realised that it didn't matter how bad it was. With editing it might be quite good. I've set it in Africa. Why have horses in your novel when you can have zebra?

It was thinking about publishing that really puts the local job market in perspective. I have more chance of getting a novel published than I do getting a regular job. This area has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. This basically means that every job gets hundreds of applicants, most of which have more experience than a recent graduate. The other side is that unskilled jobs don't want someone with degrees, as they assume you'll get a better job quickly.

Other off-the-wall job ideas include hiking around the country with my pet snail (then living off the television appearances) or applying for a reality show. Neither of those need experience or qualifications. The benefits people can't say I'm not exploring all possible job ideas in my job seeking...

But first things first. I have another 40,000 odd words to write by the end of November.