I got off to a rocky start with NaNo yesterday. I had a major brain freeze. You, know, the kind that blocks any iota of creativity concerning your WIP.  Frankly, it scared me and that huge mountain of self doubt about my ability to write a novel came crashing down on me.  I couldn’t even come up with any ideas to blog about, and that began the process of eroding more of my self confidence.  Can you tell I was heading downhill toward that canyon of despair with no brakes?

Fortunately, I’ve been struggling with writing a novel for a very long time. I say “fortunately” because I recognized this path and I know what to do.  I gave myself a basic pep talk, starting with reiterating the exact nature of my goal with NaNoWriMo.  My goal for November is simply to write every single day in order to develop and reinforce the habit of daily writing.  That’s it. No great American novel. No stress about counting words or pages.  Just relax and write every day. If my NaNoWriMo participation results in a rough draft, that’s a plus.

Keeping my goal small and manageable is what I need to do to succeed today. So no more kicking myself around. I met my stated goal yesterday, and I have met it today. The other thing that helped me get over my slump today was this article on writer’s block by author Holly Lisle.

With only three days remaining before the start of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), it’s time to make a game plan. There’s an old saying that “if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.”  So even for NaNoWriMo - which has few rules and even less structure - I need to come up with a personal plan to for both my writing project and my life in November.

For life, it’s a no-brainer. I just need have plenty of TV dinners, peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwishes, and dog food on hand.  Sweats and tee-shirts are my garb of choice for the month (ah..the joys of retirement dressing!).  I’ve deliberately kept my calendar free of outside-the-house appointments for November so I can focus on writing. On Tuesday night I’ll record a fresh message on my answering machine.  I’ll probably also go “no mail” on my email groups.  For sharing the moments of accomplishment and despair, I may keep Trillian online so I can check in with a few friends who are also doing NaNoWriMo. 

As to writing my novel during NaNoWriMo, my plan is very simple and direct. I’m going to use a synopsis as a guide to write scenes for one novel.  I figure that writing between six-and-a-half to seven pages a day will result in the 50,000 word minimum for NaNo. My friend, author Dorice Nelson,  aiming for 10 pages a day on her novel.  If I get stuck along the line, I’ll just switch to another WIP.  Surely after 30 consecutive days of writing, I will have produced something cohesive on at least one of my WIPs. Then I will begin the revising and editing process so I can start submitting my novel to publishers in early 2007.  That’s the current plan. 

Here are the working titles and loglines from my WIPs.  I haven’t decided which one to work on yet in NaNoWriMo.  Heck, I might do some writing on each one.

The Blue Line Murders
Logline: When murder and politics collide, reporter Rory Callette fights to save her town and the man she loves.

Murder in Bloom
Logline:  When her ex-boyfriend is found pushing up pansies in her garden, nursery owner Rosie Hart must find the killer before he plants her under the tulips.

Ghost Town
Logline: Schoolteacher Kathryn Laine finds danger and love when in an Arizona ghost town.

Mills Crossing
Logline: A saga of one man’s search for truth and justice in an arena of ambition, greed and murder.

What do you think? Which one should I tackle for NaNoWriMo?

Another evening well spent in a writers’ chat. Every Friday night a bunch of us get together and talk about various aspects of publishing and promotion. Tonight we discussed ways to get ready for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), which starts on November 1. These chats are open to all writers, so feel free to drop in at 7 pm eastern time next Friday night.  You’ll find the chat room here.

It’s appropriate that my first entry is about commitment. I’ve been hesitant to jump into blogging because I didn’t want to start something and not keep it up. Everything I’ve read about blogging indicates that consistency is equal to content in importance. Which means that if I don’t intent to blog regularly there’s no benefit to it. So why have I decided to start blogging today?

First, because I need to write something on a daily basis and nothing else I’ve tried has given me the consistency I feel is necessary if I’m serious about writing.  I’ve had a million excuses. Hopefully, a public commitment like this will be the impetus I need.

Second, because I keep nagging a friend of mine about the marketing merits of blogging. My published friend (bless her!) is following my suggestion and blogging away while writing a new novel. So you can understand why I might be feeling a bit hypocritical for not walking what I talk.

Third, I want to display this  on my site,

and the only way I can do that is to participate in NaNoWriMo

 Hey, whatever it takes to get me writing on a regular basis, right?