Pep talk from NaNoWriMo.. Week 2 The wall! *updated*

15,208 Word Count to this date and hour in time.

I only got to work on my novel (that sounds so cool huh) for about an hour yesterday morning before church.  Josh had to work at 7 a.m. so I took him and yes it was nice to be able to see the sun raise for once.  But the whole night before I was up and down.  I am telling you this book is all I can think about lol and my husband is sick of it (cuz he is a fool and don't understand) and I had to sneek on the computer to get some of it out.

I must add that church was just awesome.  John, one of my best friend's husband, was preaching for the first time since the leardership blessed and ordained him.  He did really well and I had to hold a tear or two back because the message touched and spoke to me deeply.  I would go into full details about it and post scriptures but I am wanting to get back to writting, this is just an update post.  The jist of it was.. if you trust God is in control does it show with how you react to the situations you find yourself in.  To be content and not be offended.   It was just really really good and timely I must say.  I wish Josh would of heard it.  He has house buying on the brain again... one of the ppl he works with alot and is becoming kinda chummy with has a house he rents out open and talked to him about the option to buy.  So last night Josh had us all go look at it.  I made it clear I was just looking out of obligation lol.  It is a nice little house, about the same as the one we have just set up differntly.  HUGE BACK FENCED IN YARD!  That I do love, visions of a hamock and one of those large trapalines for the kids dance threw my head.  Draw back.. It is in Casyville IL.. An hour drive from where we live now.. Any one have a clue about EAst St Louis knows thats where all the clubs are.  Also I don't want to move right now, I am CONTENT with where I am at and where the kids are in school.  I don't think we are ready to buy a house credit wise and otherwise.. But Josh longs to and I understand that, we are just not in a place where we can get one I would really want.  I teased him that if we was think of going to IL we might as well up root and go to KY where Lori lives lol.  She has been trying to woe me down there and told me about a place her husband's friends have they are looking to lease out with option to buy.  *sigh*  I don't think we will take that house from Josh's friend but the issue is not going away.  What ever happens I will be content, as long as I know it is a decsion done with prayer, God is in Control.

I have like three chapters plotted out in my head, if I could just get to them, there is a build up that has to happen first. I don't think I will be hitting the wall of week 2 as described in the pep talk e-mail from Chris but I don't want to be too cocky either.  So before church I was writting (and feeling mighty guilty about the content but she has to fall big time I think) how Hannah was shot gunning a joint with the hansome stranger Phil.. who is turning out to be a Rock Star on a bit of a break but Hannah as sheltered as she is doesn't know who he is, and he is fine with that.  I would post the last chapter I wrote but it is pretty explicit about smoking weed and I am sure that would be a TOS violations some where or another lmbo.

I will leave you with the last pharagrah with a disclaimer for the kid-os out there.. it may sound romantic but there is nothing good about drugs and to stay away from them and also the pep talk e-mail Chris from NaNoWriMo sends out.

Hannah was wide eyed innocent looking as Phil was explaining to her how to shot gun.  She gulped as he took a hit and motioned for her to come closer.  She scooted over and was right next to him as he leaned down to her, putting his free hand on the small of her back and pulling her even closer.  Hannah licked her pink lips instinctively and kept her eyes focused on his as he came so close to her they could kiss.   Then he slowly exhaled into her mouth, coming short of touching his lips to hers.  Hannah almost didn’t inhale, she wanted to just forget it and go into a full out kiss but she sucked in the second hand smoke Phil was blowing.  The smoke was an insult to her lungs but she fought the wave in her gut to exhale and held it deep in, to the point where her lips made a pucker.  When Phil was done emitting the smoke into Hannah’s mouth he drew back and was charmed by her expression.  She held in the smoke for a full 20 count and then blew it all back out as hard as she could.  The gray fog of smoke surrounded Phil and he had to blink not to get watery eyes.  Before it could all dissipate he pulled Hannah closer and brought his lips fully to hers and gave her a long sweet kiss.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

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Hannah’s head was swirling, partly due to lack of oxygen but also because she was finally kissing Phil. He started to pull away from the kiss but she put her hands to his cheeks and drew him in for another long one, this time letting him slip his tongue slightly in her mouth.

 

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Dear Writer,

Here we are. Week Two.

If there were a zodiac sign for each cycle of the noveling escapade, Week One would undoubtedly be a magnificent galleon at full sail. Week Three would be a road-tested marathon runner, smiling as she catches her second wind. And Week Four would be a lone figure silhouetted against the setting sun, arms raised in triumph. 

Unfortunately, Week Two would be represented by a pack of rabid weasels hurling themselves from the treetops onto a group of screaming campers below. 

This, I think, is why they don't make zodiac signs for NaNoWriMo.

And this is also why we need to have a few words about the week to come.

Because Week Two is when you'll likely begin having some second thoughts about your participation in NaNoWriMo. It's the point when the effects of sleep-deprivation, mind-wearying creative output, and a shortage of leisure time will combine to create the infamous Week Two Wall.

You'll know you've hit the Wall when you start thinking that thewhole endeavor is futile. When you start worrying that you don't have the time or imagination to pull it off, and you come to see your story as an unmitigated disaster that should be put out of its misery before the thing gets old enough to remember where you live. 

Happily, a small percent of participants will never feel the demoralizing thud of the Week Two Wall. These are the disciplined folks who exceeded their daily word counts throughout Week One, and who will coast through the tough period ahead on a cushion of surplus prose.

Those of us who've skipped a few days here and there, though, have our work cut out for us. Because Week Two is when that dreaded, celebrated thing called 'plot' appears, adding yet another flaming machete to the daunting juggling act we began last week. 

It's a demanding moment for a writer. We made huge creative strides in Week One, creating and introducing our cast, and getting them comfortably situated in their homes, workplaces, and zombie-filled swamps. But just when we're ready for a well-deserved nap, we have to drag ourselves back to the keyboard and struggle to come up with something for these people to *do* over the next hundred and fifty pages.

These are the kinds of difficult decisions that novelists writing without a deadline can successfully avoid making for months, if not years. Happily for those around us, we're compressing months and months of guilty procrastination and agonized decision-making into one soul-crunching week.  

Ah. Week Two. Where the key to survival comes down to one simple mandate: Whatever you do, don't stop writing.

Because there is no way over or around the Wall of Week Two. The only way to get to the sweet sunset and triumphant arm-raising that happens as a matter of course over on the other side of the barrier is to run directly at the thing. And smash straight through it.   

Which is why it is so essential this week that we dig deep into our reserves of tenacity and overpriced Swiss chocolates. Let's double-brew our coffee, triple-pace our writing, and stay glued to the computer long after our beleaguered brains cry out for mercy.

And plot! This is the week we allow plot to happen in our books by proactively tackling the tough decisions all novelists have to face. Let's set exciting crises in motion, and willfully place our protagonists in harm's way. Let's allow our characters to embarrass themselves, and let them make the kinds of dangerous miscalculations that form the heart of any juicy narrative.

More than anything else, though, let's celebrate the pain and suffering of this week. Because, seven days from now, we'll have traded the menacing weasels of Week Two for the revitalizing second-winds of Week Three. The writing will be much easier, the hours more humane, and those glorious creatures called naps will have returned in delicate flocks across the land. 

At that point, we'll actually *miss* those adrenaline-filled moments of Week Two, when failure seemed all but inevitable, and the desire to quit lurked behind every demoralized word-count.  

Hard to believe, but true. So let's start pounding it out. Daily. Copiously. Imperfectly. Knowing all words are good words, and everything -- no matter how flawed it seems at the time - can be redeemed in the rewrite.

See you on the other side of the wall!

Chris
NaNoWriMo