Monday, November 9, 2009
NaNo No Mo
That was supposed to be all slang-like for "no more." I think I spelled it wrong. Oh well; I never claimed to be "down with it."
Some of you may have noticed the disappearance of my NaNo sidebar thingamajig. Yes, this means what you think it means: I have stopped doing NaNo.
Now listen! *ducks* Stop throwing red pens at me! I have a good reason!
I've been sucked back into the world of Stream Pirate. All your support during ISPAW helped with that, as did a few minor (*coughcoughNOTreallyminorcoughcough*) revelations. Thus I set aside my beloved Max (don't worry, dear Maxie; you will get your day) to partake instead of NaNoRevisMo.
And let me tell you, I am an editing FIEND. This is not a good thing.
See, when I edit, I get it into my head that I have to do it all NOW. Or ASAP. Thus I spend day after day hunched over my laptop until midnight at which point I sit up, stretch, and realize I haven't eaten since breakfast (my next book idea: The Editing Diet: How to Trim the Pounds While Trimming the Words). This is not healthy, for the obvious reasons. But it is also not healthy because NO ONE CAN EDIT A BOOK IN ONE SITTING.
(I capitalized that for my benefit.)
I guess I should specify: No one can edit a book WELL in one sitting. Whatever little voice in my head that thinks otherwise is wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. And this is why, in timeline form:
10AM: This is GREAT! Wow, these changes are working so well. Everything's clicking! Like one of those 500 piece puzzles!
12PM: Gosh, it's already been two hours? I swear it should still be 10:30AM!
2:30PM: This is going so well. But -- I can't feel my legs.
4:00PM: I only looked away from my laptop for a second, but WOW. I don't remember outside being so bright.
5:00PM: What's that buzzing sound? Uhoh. Arm's asleep now.
6:30PM: But if I don't edit this to fit with that, I'll lose the mojo! One more paragraph!
8:00PM: Eyes. Burning. Can't. Stop. One more! One more page, I swear I'll stop after that!
10:00PM: Words. Floating. Why does my body hurt? OW! The moon is so BRIGHT! Make it stop, make it stop!
12:00AM: ...
(The "..." represents an inability to form coherent sentences. Because after 12+ hours of editing, all words, no matter how BRILLIANT, lose their meaning. You start saying things like "The puppy's bed is the room living in!" and you just CANNOT figure out why that sentence doesn't sound right. It's infuriating.)
So, take it from me. Edit in moderation.
If now excuse you'll me, I have to bed go.
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14 comments:
I wish I could edit in larger chunks but I need to pace myself. Plus bribery helps. I promise myself if I edit for one hour, I can write for two. Or more realistically, read blogs for three hours.
NOOOOOOO! WriMo overboard!!!!!!
Lol :)
Good luck with the revisions! Maxie is so nice! I hope you get back to him soon enough-- I want to find out more about his awesome world!
(And, of course, his hotness)
Yay! Nanorevismo is where all the cool kids are! We have cookies!
Hee. Yes, cookies should help with your dangerously low blood sugar due to not standing up for 24 hours in a row...
I'm in NaNo Avoid-O mode right now. Feeling guilty. Waiting on some re-writes from my agent (which sound so much more fun than what I've been trying).
Small bites, sweetie. Small bites. Though I have so been there. It's hard to stop when you feel like you're on a roll.
That's ok! Editing's important too!
I take it though you probably won't be at any of the local write-ins then? Or am I wrong in that assumption?
BTW I just nominated you for a Kreative Blog award. It's not anything much, but if anything it may help get you more traffic to your blog :) I have it posted. You just have to link to seven others and let them know. :)
Good luck with revisions! If Maxence really loves you, he will wait.
Do I need to e-mail you every couple of hours to remind you to step away from the computer?
Jade -- My form of bribery is more along the lines of "If I eat lunch, I can edit for a few more hours." Sad, really.
Kat -- He really is quite understanding. Any other character would've thrown a hissy fit. He was quite content to sit aside for Lu and Yazoo to take center stage. Sigh, Max...
Frankie -- I heard rumors of cookies, but I didn't dare hope...
CKHB -- Very true. Though I tend to go for Mint Truffle Hershey Kisses. Mmmmm
Caroline -- NaNoAvoidMo is where I was every other NaNo year. I was really proud of myself for actually DOING NaNo this year; then, lo and behold, I failed. Sad.
Natalie -- But, but- I like taking BIG bites! And if I don't take big bites, I'll lose the story mojo, and everything will fall to pieces and DISSOLVE INTO A THOUSAND MINUSCULE BITES THAT I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO EAT. *breathe* Okay, maybe small bites wouldn't be such a bad idea...
Dara -- Can't wait to NaNo it up tonight! Wheeeee! And thanks for the blog award :)
Mariah -- You should email me every few hours to remind me to EAT. I swear, I really could live off of one meal a day, Hershey kisses, and hours and hours of editing.
You know, you're not the first person I've seen who's giving up on NaNo.
I'd say, giving it up for editing is placing much more misery on yourself. (like my great attitude? ;)
Good luck, fellow editlander. :)
Aw you'd told me you'd moved onto editing but I didn't think you were going to go all over board editing. Sara I think its time for an intervention,we as your friends think its time you put the laptop down and stepped away from the outline. Trust us Sara its because we care. :)
Welcome to NaNoReVisMo! You are an editing machine!!!
Renee -- I love the term editlander! I may put that on a shirt...
Hayley -- I'll never give up! You can't make me! :P Okay, well, if you take my laptop, maybe you can...
Anissa -- Thanks! Right now I feel a little like a run down machine...
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