Here We Go Again...

Just when I thought that I was out they pull me back in. - Michael Corleone

Last night, as I was driving home from work, my mind wandered to the subject of National Novel Writing Month, and I pondered whether I should put myself through the insane torture of trying to write 50,000 words in 30 days again. For those of you keeping score at home, I've participated for the last three years and have gone down in flames every single time. The first year I was dealing with some messy personal issues that found their way into the story. Yeah, writing about your character losing her mind while you're doing the same? Not a healthy idea. The second year, I was attempting to move across town, and packing kind of got in the way of things. I blame last year's failure on being preoccupied by physical therapy and being out of my mind on Percocet.

(Speaking of Percocet, MyoMom broke her finger and her foot, and is currently at the doctor's getting the fractures set. She tripped and fell. Yeah, natural grace runs in the family. Get well soon, Mom. And enjoy the painkillers while they last!)

By the time I'd pulled into the garage, I'd pretty much decided against writing this year. What little creativity I had to begin with has dried up lately, and the idea of setting myself up for a fourth year of failure seemed a little masochistic. Sitting on the couch watching Desperate Housewives seemed like a much more appealing option than staring at my computer screen trying to think of something interesting for my characters to do. Yes, sitting this year out would be for the best. Besides, if I didn't mention it, no one would even remember it. Right?

Wrong.

I received an email from my Municipal Liason this morning, inviting me to the Meet and Greet on Saturday. Mmmm, fish and chips. Mmm, Bass Ale. The Meet and Greet last year was an absolute blast. I met some nice folks, a few of which have returned this year. And then I started thinking about the overcaffeinated Write-Ins, and the giggles I got from the "I Hate Myself and I Want to Die" threads on the forums, and...

Yeah, I'm back. Hello, NaNoWriMo. Let the insanity begin.

I'm making some rules this year, though:

1. No pressure. If I finish, I finish. If I stall out at 10,000 words, that's OK too. Seeing as how I have no plot ideas, no characters, nothing nothing NOTHING at the moment and the madness starts in less than a week, I'm a little freaked out. Oh well. We'll see how it goes.

2. No overzealous editing. My main downfall over the last three years has been my focusing on trying to write something good. I tend to forget that the idea of NaNoWriMo is to write crap, not the great American novel. And while I like what I've written over the last few years, my nitpicking has caused me to get stuck. (Case in point: Alison and Devin are still stuck in Fermata, Nebraska. They've been stuck there for two years.) Editing is what one does December - October, not at 3 a.m. on November 15th.

3. No clever symbolic gestures or stylistic touches. How much time did I waste on the first year switching back and forth between fonts to represent my character's state of consciousness? How much time looking up the names of the bones of the hand so my character could recite them like a mantra during her breakdown? How much time to set up the Scrabble game where every single word tied in with the plotline and the characters' predicament? How much time fast forwarding through The Blair Witch Project so I could transcribe thirty seconds of dialogue that related to my narrator's thoughts? How much time looking for the perfect lyrics, the perfect songs that expressed my characters' feelings in the karaoke scene? Again, while I like how these elements play into what I've written, I spent entirely too much time looking at maps of Nebraska trying to figure out exactly what expressway my characters were on when they got lost.

Hopefully setting these ground rules will help me reach the elusive 50K mark. Not that I'm holding my breath or anything... but I'm stocking up on the coffee and red wine just in case.

Five and a half days... anyone got any plot ideas?