Excitement courses through my veins and I have this sharpness and clarity. I think a little quicker, see a little clearer, and move a little faster. My energy is increased and I marvel at my speed and accuracy; my discipline and focus, as I extend my days and check off goals and to-dos, as if they were items on a grocery list. My productivity for everything has never been so high. My happiness equates to only that of first falling in love.
This is the high of creative magic. This was what I experienced all last week.
Ten days into National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the creative magic has, most unfortunately, worn off. I spent a day and a half fighting to get it back, racking my brain for solutions to the problems in my story structure. Desperation to feel that magic once more was my primary motivator.
But now, after the worst of the withdrawal, I am motivated once again by my goal. I heard that most people quit in the second week, which means my scenario and frustrations are not unique. That is both comforting and sad. The first week is all excitement, but then we soon realize this undertaking is really fucking hard. It’s not so different than New Years resolutions. For that first week everyone is pumped.
“This is it! This is my year! I’m going to meet my goals! I’m taking back my life!”
After a week, most people have already resigned to the fact that no, this isn’t going to be their year. This is precisely why we often end up living the same year over and over and calling it a life.
I refuse to be someone who gives up after a week. Giving up on this goal hasn’t even occurred to me, because not being a writer has never occurred to me.
I am so grateful I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo. It’s the perfect time to take on drafting a novel because there is so much amazing energy globally around writing, and so many resources available. I have learned more in the past ten days about story structure than I have in the past five years. That is because I’m learning by doing.
Although incredibly frustrating and demotivating, I am happy to know NOW where my problems are so I can address them and rework them, instead of after years of planning and thinking about something, only to realize ten days in that it doesn’t work.
If you have an idea you want to write, something you want to build, or something you want to paint, my advice to you is: START NOW.
You can read all you want about building, writing and painting or anything else, but until you start putting brush to canvas, or pen to page, you’re not making any progress. And I assure you, no matter how much you read, you’ll soon realize that you have no idea what you’re doing, just like I realized with my novel. I say that with laughter, but it isn’t a joke.
I’m going to keep working toward my goal of 50,000 words. Hopefully the creative magic finds me again. I have already learned that it’s not about the words. In striving for those words, you are forced to plot, develop your characters, do research AND write. The words are the fruits of having been forced to figure shit out. So if I keep striving for 50,000 words, I know I’ll need to figure out my story structure. I’m many steps closer to that thanks to getting derailed and refusing to quit. I will figure out how to get things back on track.
I want to have a novel. Therefore, I’ll need to write one. Now is just as good as a time as any to make that happen.
What do you want that you’ve never had? Maybe it’s time to do something you’ve never done before, like get started.
No better advice that to buckle down and get started–now! Boy do I agree with that, Jessica. And yes, I want to write a full-length novel as well. Hmm…maybe I'll get off the internet and get started. Thanks for the pep-talk.
No time like the present, Victoria!