Sunday 10 December 2006

Abject apologies

You can throw rocks; I deserve it.

...I have not died or fallen ill. I decided at the very last minute after much dithering to participate in National Novel Writing Month this year. I had been plugging away at sort of pretending to write a novel for quite some time, without making any significant progress. I mean, who has time for writing when you're doing two blogs, reading many others and spending too much time online?

Seeing as I have never been good at juggling obsessions, I plunged into one and abandoned the other. My mother told me I should put up a post to tell people what was up (always listen to your mother) and she was right, but I didn't do it. I was afraid, I guess, that I would get pulled away from the writing... If you throw rocks, I will fully understand.

I'm still contemplating what role this blog is going to play in the future. I do believe I'll start posting again, but probably not as frequently, and I won't have as much time to devote to reading the many excellent ones on my list (see sidebar if you're interested). I have decided that I am going to finish that novel, come hell or high water, and then do all the necessary rewrites and then even try to sell the darn thing.

All in all, NaNoWriMo was a positive experience for me. I needed a kick in the butt and I got it. And now that I've said publicly to so many people that I'm going to finish this novel and try to sell it, I can't back down any more.

So I do apologize for not letting you know what was up. No really good excuse for that.

9 comments:

reader_iam said...

Walrus! You're back! How great to see you pop up in the feed! I had actually gotten concerned, and was considering e-mailing ... but figured you were busy on something worthy.

Which you were!

Best of wishes for your finishing the novel. Put your time where your heart's desire is! When you have time to post, we'll treasure 'em as we get them.

Warm regards,

RIA

reader_iam said...

Cal's new daughter is due to be born at any time ... haven't heard from him this weekend, as has not the blog, so who knows if it's the pause before the storm or if the storm is pending, or ...

We'll know soon.

Very exciting, all this creation going on.

reader_iam said...

And reassuring, even comforting, in this world of ours, as it is.

Anonymous said...

I'm not going to throw rocks or anything, but I was starting to get a little worried. I might have e-mailed to make sure you were still ok, except that I had seen you post a couple of comments on other blogs, and I've had a couple of moderately severe family crises of late.

Glad everything is ok, and good luck with the novel.

I'll look forward to more blogging from you as you get time.

PatHMV said...

Well, I did e-mail, so I already knew that you were ok and busy ensconced with your writing.

Can't wait until your book is finished, and we can plug it (with a link to Amazon) over at Stubborn Facts! (see how I worked in a plug for our blog in there? smooth, huh? lol)

Seriously, I've missed your posts, and hope you find some time to give us the benefit of your thoughts now and again. Remember what the Greeks taught us, balance in all things.

Janet said...

Reader, I will probably spend less time on "newsy" type things and do more reflective stuff. (If I say it often enough, I might end up believing it...) News eats my life faster than anything else. There's an unending supply of the darn stuff, often fascinating and far too often depressing.

I can hardly wait to hear about Cal's daughter.

Isadora, I hope those crises resolve themselves reasonably well. I've had my fair share of those and some of them do work out in the end.

Pat, plug away all you like. Balance is something I'm notoriously bad at, but I will make a valiant attempt. Pre-Christmas is, of course, a rotten time to attempt it.

SippicanCottage said...

What's the novel writing thingie?

I am intrigued by your newsletter and wish to subscribe...

Janet said...

Hm. Novel-writing thingy... If you're referring to NaNoWriMo, every November tens of thousands of crazy people attempt to write an entire 50,000 word novel during the month of November. Not many succeed and those who do have rarely written anything worth reading. But it's a lot of fun and can be a great kick in the butt for those of us who diddle around.

As far as my own is concerned, I don't discuss specifics too much. Maybe after the second draft, when I will probably start looking for people to point out everything I've done wrong. Until then, I have no intention of inflicting it on anybody.

SippicanCottage said...

50,000 words? For me, that's just one run-on sentence with punctuation sprinklings from the Comma Faerie With The Delirium Tremens.

It was a dark and stormy night...

 

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