writing my second novel

I participated in National Novel Writing Month again this year.  I did it back in 2010 and skipped 2011.  I almost didn't do it again this year because I have too many other book projects I should focus on but then I did it anyway and actually started on the 2nd.

The reason I participated in 2011, and one of the basic ideas behind National Novel Writing Month, is because I wanted to write a book.  I had been working on my memoir for years and not making much progress and so having guidelines really helped me discipline myself.  I had a goal and I managed to not only meet it but surpass it.  It was a great feeling and once I knew I could actually write a book, I was satisfied.  I think that's why I didn't do it the next year.

But this year, I decided to do it again.  In one way, I wanted to see if the first book was just a fluke because I actually had no trouble writing it.  Every day I sat down, the words flowed and it was a good feeling to know there was a story inside me.  The other fun part was I had the flimsiest idea and yet I let the story tell itself and nothing ever felt forced or rushed.  It just fell into place.  I wanted to see if I could recapture that.

In some ways, I did.  The idea for my first novel was a very basic idea that I had been floating around for maybe a year or two.  My idea was that I would maybe write a short story based on the idea but I never went as far as to develop it into something.  With this book, however, I had a good idea of how I wanted the story to go.  I've had this concept in my head ever since 7th grade and so I've had many years to mull it over in my mind and kind of expand the story.  It's a dumb story but yet it's one I've kept going back to and thinking about and so in a way, I feel I need to write it down and tell the story.  Because of that, I thought it would be a good idea to use for National Novel Writing Month because neither the story or NaNoWriMo are too serious so they fit together.

The cool/weird/disheartening thing is the story isn't finished.  The story in this book is finished but the story itself will continue.  I don't know if I should wait until next November to write the next part or get started sooner.  Well, I actually need to finish my memoir first and after that, then I can decide which project to tackle next.

It's been a long month and I'm glad I did it but I'm also glad it's over.