Hi friends!
Last year, I participated in National Novel Writing Month for the first time to pen the subscriber voted “Life for Rent”, the story of chief scientist Camille who is beginning to unravel with the pace of her work. I started off with basic character profiles, setting, and a thesis1. Next was the outline to keep myself on track. Each day came the challenge of putting something down. It didn’t matter what it was. I had to spill my guts on a page at all costs.
Those who’ve participated might know that cruise control where you’re barreling down at a smooth 80 miles per hour and nothing can stop you. It’s late at night and the roads are clear. There are miles to go but you don’t quite feel them. The words were like that at first, flowing through my fingers like air. At a certain point, the fatigue set in and I faltered.
It’s nice when the getting is good. Writing can be a high as we all know and the low hum of that engine is all you need. But these long hauls separate the casual motorist from the trucker. I was of course, an around town babe who did not have what it took. Halfway through the month I started to taper off where I could only cough up a few hundred words per day but mostly less.
You didn’t want to see me by the end. It was fairly pathetic to say the least, but goddammit, I put down 29,030 words. It was the longest piece I’d ever written. I’m a persistent novice2, so I knew that even if this ended up a trunk novel dug up by my children as I’m settling into my grave, it would be something special. There would be more words to pen, just not that month.
I wanted to look at the manuscript for the first time with all of you, so here it is. Subtitles are included.
My first video! 🎉
After getting over my spiraling perfectionism, I actually enjoyed this recording with some very helpful new tools3. My iPhone picked up the audio nicely so I didn’t have to record that separately, but iMovie doesn’t have automatic subtitles. I mean… bare minimum. Do better, Apple.
Hope you were able to get some insight on my loosely bound process and try your hand at a novel one day. While this text is unfinished, my first attempt at a novel is. My draft folder is full but I might pick up with this story again in November, not to finish it, but push myself further. I’ll see you at the writing desk.
Will you write your novel this year?
What’s next?
September Siesta
Hypnotic (The Listening Room presentation in October)
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I go into some other details on process in this newsletter.
“The Persistence of the Novice Writer”, 2021
This essay is central idea behind my Substack. Why the hell haven’t I posted it here?? 🙃
That is a fantastic opening line. My process includes getting dialogue down without tags, “stage direction,” and setting. Then I go back and fill it in. I allow the seed of the conversation to grow, filling in details on a second or third pass similar to the blossoming of the plant and blooming of the flowers. You should be very proud of your work!