We've all either participated in (or at the very least heard of) NaNoWriMo. Last year was my first go at it and all I felt when it was over was, "I don't want this to be over!" Though I'd added 64,000 words to my manuscript, I still wasn't anywhere near finished.

After thinking about it, I really began to feel like a month just wasn't enough to really pull it off. Not for me, and probably not for most of us. It felt more like a three month project:

Month 1: Planning, Outlining, Researching, Synopsizing, etc.
Month 2: Fast and Furious Writing from the Heart.
Month 3: Somewhat Slower but No Less Furious Rewriting with the Head.

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I believe it's official. We can call off the dogs now. The shoes have been found. That means I can start this thousand-mile journey (again).

While I haven't begun near as many books as I have diets, the books (er, I should clarify, novels) that I have started have been just about as successful as the diets. In fact, they follow a remarkably similar pattern:

• I get the idea to do something (what, I don't know---just "something")
• I do something for a while
• I see good results
• I meet a box of donuts

It's hard to believe that a box of donuts can kill a good story, but it's true. Donuts are evil.

And, just like the start of a diet, the start of a novel is a rosy prospect: so full of promise, opportunity, and thoughts of, "This one will be different, I tell ya!"

Except this one really does feel different.

I hope I can tell you about it soon. (Unfortunately I'm still in that paranoid, don't-talk-about-it stage.)

School starts again soon. Yes, whether you're ready to face it or not: summer is just about over. That means three things: 1) morning traffic is about to get worse; 2) Christmas decorations will start appearing in stores; and 3) NaNoWriMo is just around the corner.

For the uninitiated, NaNoWriMo is short for Naughty Nobles Wrinkling Mozzarella. (Wait. Wait. No it doesn't. I got it wrong again. Last year I was under the impression it stood for Naturally Nomadic Writhing Monsters. Let's try this again.)

For the uninitiated, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. It's where you write a novel of at least 50,000 words, start to finish, during the thirty days of November. While thousands upon thousands of people enter, and a surprisingly large percentage of them win, it's generally understood amongst the NaNo population that (at best) you wind up with nothing more than a first draft.

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I didn't realize how long it's been since I gave a book update. That was early January, just after I hit a wall near the end of the first draft. Shortly after that, I abandoned that draft. It was not only good, it was good enough (which is a code word we writers use for "total crap"). As I mentioned then (and I'll really try not to rehash this point too much) the story was just plain boring. It contained more plod than plot and had an ending so infinitesimally pointless that I decided I needed a reboot.

And so there I was: back on the synopsis. I needed to tear it apart, figure out what was wrong, and put it all back together properly. This was a very painful and drawn out exercise---but very necessary. Writing with your heart (first draft) is easy. Writing with your head (second draft) is hard. This is what really separates the writers from the tire kickers.

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I'm still surprised I made it as far as I did last year on the first draft of the manuscript. Back when I made my 2009 New Year Resolutions, I promised myself I'd finish the first draft by year's end. And, back in January 2009, I actually thought that might happen. After all, I was already in my second month of writing and had a vast, expanse of time ahead of me. Twelve whole months! What couldn't be done in twelve whole months?

Little did I know I'd be starting over during the year and wouldn't begin writing again until August 1. Finishing a first draft by year's end seemed mathematically impossible. NaNoWriMo helped me make up some serious time. By the end of the writing year (December 21) the draft hit 122,475 words. (I know that word counts can be a bit difficult to grasp: click here for a few reference points).

I didn't begin writing again until January 5, when I added a whopping 159 words. The next day I did barely better, adding only 310 words. In short, things were getting pathetic: a far cry from NaNoWriMo days where my daily average was over 2,200 words. (And my most productive day was 7,453 words. Ahhhh, those were the days.)

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Although I've posted bits and pieces of information about the latest book, and even uploaded the opening paragraph to tease you for your reading enjoyment, I haven't really said much about the book itself. Unfortunately, that's not about to change today. The good news is, though, I thought I'd at least tell you why.

Have you ever gone to a job interview but didn't tell anyone about it? Or maybe started a diet and not said anything to anybody? Or perhaps even started writing a book and never told anyone what it was about? Why do people do this? I have one answer for it. In a word: embarrassment. If you announce something and it doesn't turn out the way you promised/expected/hoped then you kinda feel stupid. Therefore, at certain times in your life, you really want to make sure something is fer real before divulging too much information about it.

I've had one or two people in person ask me, "What's it about?" In response, I hem and haw a bit and usually just say, "Well, it keeps changing." Then I mumble a few odd and vague words, sounding like a sit-com character caught in lie while trying to cover up for his roommate who's dating two girls at the same time. (How was that for a hideous simile?)

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Here are a couple unbelievable facts. In fact, they're so unbelievable, you might not even believe them. First up: it's December. Yes, it really, really is December. Second, and somewhat related, NaNoWriMo is officially behind us.

A week ago I called myself a winner, but strictly speaking, this isn't true. Why? Well, I'm glad you asked. The idea behind NaNoWriMo is to start (and finish!) a minimum 50,000 word novel in a single month. I disqualified myself from the very beginning since I started on November 2nd with 30,450 words already under my belt.

It had taken me three months to write thirty thousand words. (Or sixteen years, depending on when you start counting.) So the thought of actually writing fifty thousand in a single thirty-day period was beyond my comprehension. So I had two goals: 1) a very lofty goal of adding 50k words to the existing manuscript; or 2) add 20k words to bring the grand total to 50k.

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Check this out:

In case you don't know what that is, that's my NaNoWriMo graph. The goal was to write at least 50,000 words in thirty days and I somehow managed to do it with a week to spare. And that included a four day trip out of town and a full day today laying some wood laminate flooring. Oh yeah, and never mind the day job.

So because of all that, I'm seriously tired right now and heading to bed. I'll fill you in on all the details first Tuesday in December, as promised.

Oh, and if you're wondering, no, I'm not done. Not even close. But more on that later.

Time for a quiz, kids! Complete the following sentence: "NaNoWriMo is . . ."

a) 1667 words a day?
b) voluntary torture?
c) giving yourself permission to write complete trash?
d) all of the above?

If you selected "d" then you're absolutely correct. The full definition of NaNoWriMo can be found in this image from a recent Austin lock-in.

I realize I haven't given you all very much personal progress on the nano front, but I think today's efforts are worthy of an off-day post. (Deb, consider today Thunday.)

So what was so special about today's progress? I'm glad you asked! There are several things:

1. My manuscript's word count today ended up at exactly 65,536 words. For you non-nerds out there, this is exactly 2¹⁶. Cool, huh? (For those of you keeping score at home, my official nano word count is actually 35,086 words. This is because I cheated and began the month with a 30,450 word manuscript. Shhh. Don't tell anyone.)
2. The total word count just now surpassed the word count of my last book by 102 words. So it's official. My novel will be a lot longer than the diet book.
3. It finally dawned on me that if you actually work on something, you can make progress on it. Imagine that.

Hey, and if you're all lucky, I may just tell you what it's about at some point. (And if I'm lucky, you'll actually care.)

As everyone knows, there are two kinds of people in the world: those that divide the world into two kinds of people and those that don't. I used to place myself in the former category, but now I find myself in the uncomfortable position of having to alter long-held beliefs. There are actually three kinds of people in the world: those who've never heard of NaNoWriMo, those who have heard of it and have actually entered, and those who've heard of it and say they're going to enter year after year after year, yet haven't ever done it because they've constantly been busy at work or busy with other writing projects or busy working on his stupid blog.

Disclaimer: technically, that's not three kinds of people. That's two kinds of people where one of the two kinds was further subdivided into two kinds of people. I need to ponder this some more.

For the uninitiated, NaNoWriMo is short for "Naturally Nomadic Writhing Monsters" . . . Wait a minute. That doesn't sound right. Hang on.

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