I miss NaNoWriMo. I miss the tingling of excitement and the wild rush of words on a page. I miss the pep talks, the forums and my fellow MLs. I miss knowing 200,000 folks around the world are writing with me.
More importantly, however, I miss sitting with writer-friend and supporting them.
I still see these people, every day. But we're not all writing together. We're not laughing at our typos, mocking our characters or retelling our latest bright idea.
Writing is lonely. I forget that in November.
These last three days were a sudden, harsh reminder, but they good for me. I need to be able to write consistently year-round.
So February? Stop trying to discourage me. I will get to the end of this first draft, whether you like it or not!
You're right, writing is lonely. But in this day and time we have internet, which makes things infinitely less lonely. But the internet can't replace real living people. I understand. November is always fun, but now it's February.
ReplyDeleteJust remember, there's still a bunch of us out there writing with you. Like me, planning my book, fixing to jump back on the writing wagon. We're all still writing together, just minus the ridiculous deadline ;D
I like the community of writers that I hang out with on a regular basis, but as someone who would rather chat and have a good time, the loneliness is necessary for me to get something done.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the alone time, sometimes. It lets me think without distraction. And I get a lot done when I can sit and pound out a few pages.
But I totally understand where you're coming from :D It can get depressing when you need support and realize that there's no one to talk to at that moment.
Thanks, guys. The funny thing is, the moment I posted this, three writer friends poked me to go somewhere and write together.
ReplyDeleteApparently, I wasn't the only one with the blues. :)
I think writing is a lonely hobby, and a lonelier job. "A writer and nothing else: a man alone in a room with the English language, trying to get human feelings right."
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a discouragement, like a horrible reason to write, and well, it kind of is. If you need those kinds of reasons to write, though, you're not a writer.
~
I entered NaNo last year, but it was right in the middle of my final exams, so I missed it.
ReplyDeleteI am trying to get my beast of an epic finished so that I can NaNo with the sequel.
We'll see.
Good luck with February.
:-)
Oh gosh it is lonely. I tried to start a writing group here in my home town and it was a disaster. I kept with it for a year though but it was never very supportive or great. Most of the writers were still at the stage that they only thought they wanted to be writers. That I was working on a second draft and had done lots of research on the business meant they had very little to share with me. I've not been successful finding other groups.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could transport my online writing friends together in one place sometimes though. That would be awesome.
Sommer: I'm lucky enough that my RL writer friends are my age, and at about my level. On the other hand, Quebec's publishing industry has a rather different dynamism, so that's one topic I can't discuss much. Some days I think we'd get a kick out of a chatroom.
ReplyDeleteMisha: Good luck with the epic! And boy, don't I know how exams during NaNo feel! I always have mind in the second week.
cosmam: Don't worry, you know I have plenty of motivations to write. ;)