I'm at Lia's...and why I'm saying no to NaNo

First off, please stop by my interview on Thursday at Lia's blog!

Secondly, I'm bowing out of NaNo. In retrospect, writing a 20K novella in the 2 weeks before NaNo didn't exactly get me off to a good start, but I needed to get that draft, the followup to Full Disclosure, finished. It still needs revisions, and I have many, many projects in various stages of completion. With the release of my first book this month, and all the various promotion-related things that come with that, adding NaNo into the mix was just too much. I have a day job that gets a lot busier this time of year, along with a job freelance editing, and well, something had to give. And my sanity was not an option.

The good news? The 16K I have of my NaNo Blaze, Heat Lightning, is pretty solid, I think. The story's off to a very good start and I'm going to keep going with it at the reasonable pace of 1K a day, 7 days a week. That will keep the writing muscles oiled without adding yet another stressor to my life. And seriously, life's just too short. Writing, even though it's become a business for me, too, is a stress reliever. But if I'm fighting with myself and feeling pressured and guilty to get words on a page without the promise of a check when I'm finished, I need to re-evaluate. And I have.

I think NaNo's a great thing for a lot of writers, but really, quality ALWAYS trumps quantity. Sure, sometimes you find hidden gems you never realized were there when you're writing furiously. You also write a fair share of clunker pages, because you've got one eye on the clock. I believe firmly in setting goals and following deadlines. I need them. But I think it's important to focus on the end result and how much work you want to put into it once all is said and done. I'm very happy what I've written so far is in solid shape (and one of my CPs has verified this, so I'm not totally nuts) which means this month's writing was far from a waste. 

Now to keep going.

Will I do NaNo next year? Not sure, but I'm leaning toward no. But never say never!

Good luck to everyone still doing NaNo! There's a lot of month left! 

Me, I'll keep plodding along with my daily 1K. ;)

 

My first ever review!

Before I got published, I vowed I wouldn't spread my reviews all over the net like attractively festooned spam. Now that I am published, I am holding to that vow - but I figure the first of anything is special and therefore exempt to any and all rules. :)

A huge thank you to Roberta at You Gotta Read Reviews. She made my night and possibly my week with her fabulous review, especially the "You Gotta Read" designation and her comment that Full Disclosure contains some of the steamiest sex scenes she's ever read. (Yes, I'm blushing...but in a good way.)

If you'd like to read the whole review, it's here.

Now I have a fully polished requested full to get out the door...and then there's NaNo! Send wine if you don't hear from me in a month or so. ;)