The book writing thing

So... it would seem as much as I blah blah blah to any of my friends who listen to me without rolling their eyes, some have seemed to miss the point of the naked man with the pen in the side bar over there to the right of the blog stuff.

There is this movement... National Novel Writers Month. Write a novel in the month of November, or at least get it started, with the goal or writing 50,000 words by the end of November. That's the hard and fast deadline.

My friend Skupper pointed the site out to me, after listening to me go on and on about "the book," "the murder," "the series."

So... what the hell! I started writing on the old twenty pound laptop and am not sure I will make the 50K by Nov 30, but I am up to over 12K this evening. 12534 if we want accuracy! And I am having a lot of fun creating these characters and finally giving them some life.

On the other hand,this writing by the word has affected my day job. Word count is everything this month. Dickens lives! I am sending my offspring emails, and the blah blah is everywhere. Instead of my usual not-so-concise way, I've been adding words just to pad the damn messages.

Dearest darling offspring, how are you this lovely, gorgeous, sunny day in the city? As you may recall, we have to get you to the dentist for the checkup on your teeth. It's that time of year again. I will pick you up in my not so clean, but pretty red car, at exactly ten thirty o'clock. ...

you know what I am saying? Instead of the usual...

hey kid... don't forget dentist today. I'll get you at school 10:30 love,
yr mom!

I've been trying to write a strategic plan and a policy document - I keep invoking word count as I create thinking "how long is this?" And I remember.... oh yeah,.. it's not a novel. The deadline is the end of the week, and I am dealing with executives who don't have time to read anything more than a page long... double spaced in 14 pt font! The contrast is too much!

It's what my dear friend the published author of four well received murder mysteries calls the SFD- shitty first draft. And yeah... it's pretty bad... if I do say so myself. The editing process is gonna be a killer. And then... actually GIVING it to someone else to read?! I shake my head... not sure when I'll be ready for that step. I think I'd rather have another root canal. And if you read regularly, you know how I feel about THAT!

Killing people off in Fantasyland is great therapy. Figuring out HOW - not so great. It has to seem plausible, and yet... I don't want readers (if I ever have any) to guess the method. I have to befriend some cops... nothing like a good cop with lots of stories who is willing to share. At this stage, I'm not interested in men cops, women cops as friends who want to talk, are probably the better bet.

In the meantime, it would seem - and I am sorry for the men out there whom I do love and who are still my dear friends, but.... I seem to want to kill all the men in my stories, even the outlines for the other four books in the planned series... it's all about lying, no good, childish, self-centred, petulant, insensitive, jackass men! This isn't multiple choice either... It seems to be an all or nothing kind of thing here. Perhaps I DO need to talk to the counsellor about this?

Let me get this worked out of my system, and perhaps my ennuie will be done. Perhaps I will move on... maybe this seems to be cheaper than therapy - even with the health plan- and a whole lot more creative than snipping off the heads in the photos before they go into the scrapbooks.

And perhaps a little money in it too. Just what the world needs, another mystery writer with dreams of celebrity C list stardom running through her head! Watch for it, I am gonna be outta control!