Another November has come to a close. The National Novel Writing Month has finished for another year. Thirty days where every free second is filled with writing, composing, and creating. A month of reviewing outlines, defining characters, setting scenes, and creating just the right mood. Mornings shift into afternoons, which then change into evenings and nights without notice. Nights pass without sleep as ideas form and are molded and shaped before being put into place. The deadline passing by means the steady writing can be put on hold, but the process is far from finished. With the arrival of December 1st, a brief breath can be taken before the hard work truly begins.
The small number of days and large number of words in the challenge force an author to write at a pace that doesn't allow more than basic editing on the fly. Many critical questions must be left for later consideration. Does this scene work? Should the affections between these characters be more overt or subdued? Would it be more effective if the readers loved this person more before I kill them off? What words or phrases can I use to increase the emotional impact of this passage? All of these factors can take weeks or months of reading, tweaking, and rereading to get a novel to come out just right.
The holiday season is a great time to get out and remind myself what the outside world looks like. It will be relaxing to participate in activities that don't require too much mental strain. I can gaze at lights and admire decorations while refilling my creative juices. It will certainly ease my exhausted mind to sing along with joyous songs heard so many times the lyrics are practically ingrained in my DNA. Now, where did I leave that remote control?
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