I finally finished Chapter 2.  Which is funny, because I only decided what I’d been writing was not all one big long Chapter 1 today as well.

I have to mention once more Doyce’s post on procrastination and “gazebos” — not just because Neil Gaiman actually gave a Twitter link shout-out to it, but because it’s an excellently insightful post as toall the things we do that are not-writing when we really know we should be writing instead.

Which brings up (as mentioned in said post) this fun analysis of procrastination, which is not a matter of bad time management but more a matter of bad impulse management, of doing things that we like to do right now rather than putting them off to later and getting the things that need to/should be done now first.  There is almost certainly a picture of me in the dictionary right next to the word.  Good reading (and rereading).

Doyce also mentioned this article by Chuck Wendig about why story excerpts in mid-first-draft are a bad idea. I think there’s some value to that, especially for a pro writer and lengthy (chapter-length!) excerpts.  And that’s related to the reason I’m not writing “in public” the way I’ve done in past years.  That said, I’ll be continuing to include the little few-paragraph excerpts of the day’s product in my posts, just because I love you all that much (and because it’s more incentive to write).

I got a sickly yellow pip yesterday in the NaNoWriMo calendar widget, rather than a nice friendly green pip.  It made me sad. I’m trying to write 2,000 words a day, just because it’s easier to keep track of than multiples of 1,667 words.  I am still well above my schedule point, and, in fact, went beyond 8,000 — but apparently I did less than 1,667 in doing so, thus condemning me to a yellow pip. Lesson learned, and I’m back in the green today.

Back to gazebos, I’ve been doing a few.  I had this site already set up (in fact, set it up and got it all freshened pre-NaNoWriMo), but I’ve obviously spent some valuable writing time writing these posts instead.  Part of me says, “Hey, I got my word target.” Part of me says, “Well, yeah, duh, but you could have written 3,000 worrds instead of 2,000.” Part  of me says, “Screw the Doing Write post, let’s play on Twitter some more.”

I am a man of many parts. But clearly writing is not all I’m doing, nor is it what I want to be doing all the time.

One of the things that NaNoWriMo does so well is simulate, though, the urgency of writing.  Of the sundry advice bits I’ve seen on the writing biz, once concept stands out: Thou Must Write.  Waiting until you are in the mood, or have finished Twitterbating (thanks, Doyce), or have your lucky hat on, or are being blessed by the Muse with an inspiration … means it won’t happen.

NaNoWriMo lays the pressure on artificially: 50,000 words in 30 days! You’re falling behind! You must write! Wriiiiite!  But, really, I realize that if I’m going to be a serious writer (or golfer, or wood carver, or whatever), then that’s what I have to do — treat it, as a minimum, the same as an 8-to-5 job.

The real trick with NaNoWriMo, is what I do after the 50K words, or the 30 days, whichever comes first.  Without that lash, do I actually keep writing?

The answer, thus far, is a resounding, if disappointing, no.

Which makes me think that I need to come up with an external stimulus/goal for when the month runs out.  A writing group, whatever.

(Direct analogy: karate. I do karate because I sign up for a karate class. When not able to do the class, I end up not doing any practice.  When I get out of the good habit, I slide too easily into the bad habit. When the social expectation and objective goal is not there, I simply find reasons not to do it.  Indeed, even with the class, I suspect without Katherine doing karate as well, I’d find reasons to skip classes more frequently.)

And, with that, your excerpt for the day:

“I got no truck with Commie agents who’re working for the Reds. I’m just telling you, Chrys isn’t one of ‘em.”

“I suppose you talk politics all the time, then,” Phillips said in a mocking tone.

“Actually, no.” I lowered my voice and leaned forward conspiratorially. “But I think she’s hoping Truman runs so she can vote for him again. Me, I kinda favor Kefauver. Though maybe Ike’ll run as a Democrat …”

One of the fun (if maddening) aspects of this story — set in April 1951 — is learning more about the period.  I know who eventually competed for President in the 1952 elections (Eisenhower v. Stevenson), but really had no idea of who had been their primary competitors — or that Truman could have run for a third term (he was exempt from the post-FDR Constitutional Amendment on presidential term limits) but didn’t because of popularity pressures, or that Ike was courted by both parties (Truman offered to run as his VP if MacArthur ran for the GOP), or that going into the conventions Robert A. Taft and Estes Kefauver were the front-runners to be on the respective tickets …

NaNoWriMo — Narcissistic and Educational!