Sunday, December 5, 2010

TGID

Thank God It's December.

And so begins what has, as long as NaNo has existed, the so-called 'editing month'. Where in you spend the better part of 30 days wondering what the hell it is you wrote and how it could be so very bad. And you try to make it better.

In all honesty, this year is actually much less stressful than last year. Last year I wrote 53,000 words in 20 days and still had another 15,000 to write in December to actually finish the story. This year, I finished on 51,000 words in 30 days and not a word more am I going to write! I was more proud of the fact that I'd budgeting the right number of words, in the right sections, in the correct number of chapters than I was at hitting the 50k mark. I will celebrate by getting a free printed copy of my book.

Which means, editing. One day I will come across the paperback in a dusty corner of my bookshelf that had been covered with shinny new books by actually authors, and I will open the cover and start to read. And if I find one stupid spelling mistake, I'll probably throw the whole thing out in annoyance. Which means, editing month. I also have two other people's stories to read as well and it's already December 5th! It will be Christmas before I know it!

There is the small matter of that painting sitting downstairs collecting dust on an empty canvas. A fact that annoys me every time I go downstairs to wrap a present. It is both condeming and inspiring. And must be done by the 25th!