In the zone and a blogiversary

Last year, in the middle of NaNoWriMo, I thought, “Hey, I’ll make a blog. That’s a good idea. I’ll write about NaNoWriMo, about writing, maybe a bit about reading, and if I begin submitting stories to various places, I can write about that too. ” Today, on the peculiar date 11.11.11, that is exactly one year ago.

I’m doing my third NaNoWriMo this month. And so far I’m pleased with how it’s going. Wordcount-wise, I expect to reach 25K tonight. But more importantly to me, I am on a creative high. At this point, I am not writing to hit or surpass the 50K. I am writing because I can’t wait to see what happens next.
I’m writing in a way that I haven’t for years and it feels good. Really good. I’ve been sticking very much to one point of view (or narrator) for each long story for a while, I haven’t written anything science fiction/postapocalyptic/otherworldly, and I haven’t been as unplanned as I am now, either. I don’t expect to produce the One First Draft to Rule Them All here, but that’s fine with me. I’m having a great time.
Part of it I owe to my little band of protagonists. Remember how I was going to import two guys from earlier stories? I did that. And they have chemistry. They have two other people with them on the journey, and this concerned me a bit at first because I wasn’t certain that I would be able to really get into these other two. It turned out not to be a problem after all. In fact, they have become an essential part of the whole thing, and I absolutely adore having them and their points of view around.

I haven’t been very regular in my blogging, but I am more or less doing what I set out to do. I find that I enjoy blogging and am thrilled and excited to hear from people who visit my little space. – And I have gotten to know a lot of interesting blogs and had the opportunity to talk to a number of really nice and talented people over the last year!

If you’re doing NaNoWriMo, I hope you’re doing well! And regardless of whether or not you are; thank you for visiting my blog and reading this! I would offer you bisquits and tea, but unfortunately it will have to be of the imaginary kind.