I had a personality enlightenment the other day—I was told that I have a tendency to begin things, but have a challenge completing them. NO-o-o-o…ya think?

My folder full of pencil sketches can attest to this. Also the ink drawings waiting for watercolor. And the papers and canvases covered with paint, awaiting completion. There’s actually an incomplete painting on my wall. (Though that doesn’t really count, because I like the way it looks. And I did finally draw features into the Prince’s face.)

And stories—I have notebooks and documents filled with words upon words upon…you get the idea. Lots of beginnings…bunches of middles with no beginnings. Very few endings.

I have always been like this. I attributed it to my creative nature; I loved the thrill of a new idea, like a new world to discover. New characters to get to know, new challenges to tackle. But as time went on, I began to feel an inner weariness with all this unfinished work hanging in the background. I started to wonder—am I weak when it comes to commitments? Am I leaving a trail of beginnings and middles because I can’t say yes to an ending? That worried me.

Then came this personality review. And light bulbs went on all over the place. I wasn’t discouraged to hear that “finishing” things is hard for me—the news was liberating. What this told me is that I’m not afraid to commit; I just get bored, restless. I need to move on.

Knowledge is power. When you put a name on your enemy, it’s easier to conquer it. One thing I do have is a strong will—so I can will myself to complete things. It’s a challenge. When something is important to me, I do finish it. I can commit.

I just happen to like shiny things, is all.

Oooh…shiny

So here I am, with a novel in the final stages of development. I was terrified—terrified—that I wouldn’t be able to go the distance and bring it to completion. I felt jinxed. But then this glimpse into my inner self came along, and I realized with joy that I can do it! I can conquer my weaknesses! So I tackled the book with renewed focus.

Until, um, yesterday.

It’s not like I didn’t know November was National Novel Writing Month and National Blog Posting Month. I did. I just determinedly turned my eyes away from them, so I could devote all my attention to my novel.

But then came the alien invasion.

I got swept up in the Halloween enactment of War of the Worlds 2 on Twitter. (More on that in a future post.) It fired my imagination to the point that, instead of going to bed at 2am, I stayed up for another three hours writing a brand new story, following my alter-ego’s experiences during the aftermath of the invasion. By the time I got past 1400 words, stopping only from exhaustion, I realized I had a book on my hands.

Specifically, I was now participating in NaNoWriMo.

I made the goal of writing 50 thousand words of fiction when I joined in the Southern Cross Novel Challenge in June, so I wasn’t flying blind into this. I knew what it would take. But I figured, I try to write 2000 words a day as a rule. Working on another side story—a shiny, new story—keeps my mind fresh and only helps the novel I’m finishing. What if I didn’t join NaNo, but wound up writing the 50 anyway?

Arrrg.

Resistance is futile.

Seeing as how I launched this blog on Halloween night, also, it was a quick step to take on NaBloPoMo, too. That one will keep me accountable to my blogs (plural) so that they don’t lie stagnant while I focus on other things. But I draw the line at NaPodPoMo!! (And that’s just because I don’t have podcasting tools yet.)

So, I will go into November finalizing and publishing The Rosewood House; posting a blog every day here, or at mousewords.net, or at KritiqueKritics.com. And I will create my novel-length post-invasion story, Aftermath. I will finish what is mine to finish, and I’ll make my love of new things work to my advantage.

And so I begin.

 

 

3 Responses to “Nablopomonawrimo”

  1. 12:37 am, 2 November, 2008 р.
    CJ (RhythmHippy) says:

    dang, girl, sounds a lot like me! oooohh shiny new things… 8 D

  2. 12:40 am, 2 November, 2008 р.
    mousewords says:

    Lol :-D

  3. 12:16 pm, 2 November, 2008 р.
    Vicki says:

    Funny. I have the opposite personality “defect”. :-) I have a terrible time Starting things! I can’t, I can’t, I just can’t think of what to say… and then. I do. And I write it. And I’m done. And then, oh no, a blank slate, a blank page, an empty idea. Until the next one.

    I guess we balance each other out.

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