Saturday, November 26, 2011

Can We Do This? Yes, We Can!

Scene from The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982)
Pardon my extremely cheesy title (stolen from that incurable optimist, Bob the Builder himself).

I beg all of your pardon, but I'm afraid my blog posts will mainly revolve around NaNoWriMo until November is over.  I hesitated to write this one, fearing that you were bored with the topic already, but it simply had to be written, "and when genius calls, I must answer."  (Paraphrase of Jo March.)

I read Rachel's post about writing those scenes that intimidate and strike fear into one's heart, and it inspired me.  Yes, there are those scenes (and entire chapters...).  But they need to be written, because, hello, we only have until Wednesday.  NaNoWriMo ends November 30th, and I MUST REACH 50,000 WORDS.

So, courage! Just write.  Write the hard stuff, write the difficult parts, write whatever comes flowing into your little head.  (Yes, that head I see there on your shoulders.)  Write something to make yourself laugh, and if you're brave enough, write something to jerk some tears.  Reread what you've written (procrastination does wonders for one's sanity) and be proud of what you've accomplished.  Brainstorm a little.  Ask your creative sisters for suggestions.  Put in something zany, just for kicks.  Write a chapter consisting of nothing but dialogue--or stick in a random poem, composed by a child (I did).  Count down the hours until 12:00 PM on November 30th, and then incorporate that number into your plot if you really want to take a dare.

Whatever you write, just do it.  Sink me, the end is in sight.

Now if you'll excuse me, 1800 words await before I go to bed tonight...

5 comments:

Melody said...

GO MISS DASHWOOD!!!!

Your post title reminded me of Bob the Builder...(a kid's show, in case you don't know what I'm talking about, that my nephew watches). "Can we fix it? Yes we can!" Which, in that show, actually got on my nerves...

Okay that was beside the point. You can do it! Just pretend your somebody else, some famous prolific writer...go dress up or something to boost your confidence. ;-)

Anonymous said...

I think I can. I. THINK. I. CAN. ithinkican. Maybe. *falls asleep on the keyboard* You can do it! Go Rodney! And Elizabeth yeah her too. I guess, but Rodney is the important one.
love Anne and Victoria and Faith and Walter and Polly.

Miss Dashwood said...

Melody,
Thank you. :)
Haha, yes, I do indeed know about B the annoying B--see the beginning of the post, where I cite him as a primary source. :P You have a nephew?? Jealousy! None of my sisters have any kids--and won't for a good ten years at least.
Maybe I should go find myself a pair of Atticus Finch glasses. They look very writerly, don't you think?

Anne-girl,
Er, I mean Anne and Victoria and Walter and Faith and Polly. Thank you. You keep going, too!
Also, don't fall asleep on the keyboard, or you may break it and Mom will not love you for that.

Alexandra said...

Go, go, go!!!

Yeah, I fell waaaaaaaaay short of my NaNo goal. Buuuuut I wrote almost 25,000 words this month. Which is awesome. It didn't help that this was a very busy month for my co-writer and I. :-) What is it about November... :-P

I'd love to hear more about the novel after you're finished!!!

Miss Dashwood said...

Alexandra,
Ooh, do please post something from your novel on your blog! I'd love to read some of it (or all of it, if you have the inclination...)
Why must they pick November? Why not, say, October or March? Nice, quiet months with no holidays...