This is where a lot of bloggers apologize for having been gone for so long from their boards. I’m not going to do that as I’m reasonably assured no one has been pinning away due to a lack of my oh, so witty repartee!
     “When is André going to post more of those deep insights that make my day? I wonder what his latest frustration is–he always makes my life seem a bit better when he posts about the things that bother him…I don’t feel so alone.”
     I mean, honestly, at this stage in my writing adventure, my blog is little more than a message-in-a-bottle meant to help me feel (as illusionary as that might be) that I’m part of a larger community of unpublished writers rather than due to any delusions concerning an eager audience. Somehow, the act of posting, trusting to the Fates and tossing it out into the cyberspace sea, is a comforting one. The illusion is enough and at this stage, I ask no more of it.
     NaNoWriMo 1
     Due to the madness that is part and parcel of a high school English teacher’s typical Friday, as well as the fact that I have no inspiring story calling out to me, I did not make my word count goal for the day. I’m not too surprised, nor am I unduly worried. Today is a Saturday. My wife is at work and I and the dogs have nearly all morning to write. Still, write what? is the question.
     As November approached, I reflected on what I’d done in the past. I had successfully completed four WriMos, two of which were NaNoWriMos. I had proven several times over then that I could both reach 50k and sustain a story idea that could use at least that many words. What had yet to be accomplished was a fully finished first draft, something I could proceed to revise and refine. Thus, I decided this year’s NaNoWriMo strategy needed to be a bit different. I would not start a new manuscript and write another 50k that would in all likelihood end up simply being another unfinished story. What I needed to do was rebel and make this NaNoWriMo experience a bit more utilitarian.
     I decided I had several options.
     A.) I could write 60 30-word Holly Lyle “Sentences”. Though it would most definitely not result in 50k, it could subject my right-brain muse to just the right exercise to identify a story idea about which I was passionate.
     B.) I could review my unfinished manuscripts and write up 30 in depth character profiles, each about 1,500+ words long. This was a win-win idea considering that if I did, I would easily have 50k, but also, knowing my twisted mind as I do, it most likely would lead to jump-starting an old story or conjuring up a new one long before the 30th profile was reached.
     C.) I could do 50k of world-building. Presently I have multiple on-going projects. I could easily crank out the required wordage and end up with something concrete for both my gaming and writing worlds.
     I ultimately decided on a fourth option: D.) I will take the Brandon Sanderson option with an eye toward finishing the draft and continue an existing manuscript for another 50k. Maybe not as glamorous or NaNoWriMo-script-conservative as a new story line, but preferable to an additional orphan “under-the-bed.”
     Tomorrow then, should see me beginning the 04:00-cycle and working on The Kraters of Ivory and Jet II.