writing my second novel

I feel like it’s been a long time since I’ve written but when I looked back at my entries this month, I haven’t written any less than I normally do.  I guess I just haven’t felt as involved this month.  I have a good reason for that.  I’ve been really busy.  I participated in National Novel Writing Month again this year.  I did it back in 2010 and skipped 2011.  I almost didn’t do it again this year because I have too many other book projects I should focus on but then I did it anyway and actually started on the 2nd.

The reason I participated in 2011, and one of the basic ideas behind National Novel Writing Month, is because I wanted to write a book.  I had been working on my memoir for years and not making much progress and so having guidelines really helped me discipline myself.  I had a goal and I managed to not only meet it but surpass it.  It was a great feeling and once I knew I could actually write a book, I was satisfied.  I think that’s why I didn’t do it the next year.

But this year, I decided to do it again.  I wanted to see if the first book was just a fluke because I actually had no trouble writing it.  Every day I sat down, the words flowed and it was a good feeling to know there was a story inside me.  The other fun part was I had the flimsiest idea and yet I let the story tell itself and nothing ever felt forced or rushed.  It was almost as if I was another reader because I had no idea of the twists and turns the story would take and so I was just as thrilled and surprised as I wrote it as I hoped the reader would be while reading it.  It just fell into place.  I wanted to see if I could recapture that with this book.

In some ways, I did.  The idea for my first novel was a very basic idea I’d been thinking about for maybe a year or two.  I’d hoped to write a short story based on the idea but I never went as far as to develop it.  With this book, however, I had a good idea of how I wanted the story to go.  I’ve had this second novel’s concept in my head ever since 7th grade and so I’ve had many years to mull it over and expand the story.  It’s a dumb story but yet it’s one I’ve kept going back to and thinking about and I felt I needed to write it down, if for no other reason than to get it out of my head.  Despite the weak concept, I at least had something to write about and because neither the story nor NaNoWriMo are too serious, I thought they’d fit together.

The cool/weird/disheartening thing is the story isn’t finished.  The story in this book is finished but the story itself will continue.  I don’t know if I should wait until next November to write the next part or get started sooner.  Well, I actually need to finish my memoir first and after that, then I can decide which project to tackle next.

It’s been a long month and I’m glad I did it but I’m also glad it’s over.

Sorry I’ve been a poopy noter but I’ll catch up soon!  I’m free!  I’m free!