ManicDDaily

Eyes still a little sore, but back on the computer (also on the elephant)

Back to typing my Nanowrimo novel on the computer rather than only writing in a notebook.  This is a tremendous relief.

A kind of obstacle had formed in my brain–that I could not go back to writing the novel on the computer until I had typed up the forty or fifty pages I had scribbled in my notebook.  But this morning, I finally got myself back to writing on the computer again, simply picking up from my handwritten portion.

Don’t get me wrong.  I very much like notebooks.  Ink has a unique flow.

Ink has a unique flow.

But typing up a very scribbled draft that you don’t have time to edit is pretty stomach-churning.  (Maybe “sickening” is a better word–”churn” has drama; robotic typing is dull dull dull.)

The problem is that an exercise like National Novel Writing Month requires stamina.  This stamina rarely comes simply from discipline.  (Otherwise, you’d probably be the kind of person who puts all their focus on their day job.)

At least a part of the stamina is maintained by faith–faith in one’s self, but, more importantly, faith that the activity is somehow fun.

The invention, the engagement, usually qualifies.  Typing words you have already written, in contrast, is like watching a video of yourself at a party at which you were more than a teeny bit over-exuberant.  (Or worse, completely spiritless.)    Either way, it’s way better the first time around.