Day 10: The loneliness of the long-distance writer

So – two days back at work and the writing still seems to be going well. Actually, I’m surprising myself; I seem to be able to knock out 2,000 words a day pretty much without breaking a sweat, while also editing another book for a client. I’m already up to 18K words, aiming for 25K by the end of Friday (officially two days early to be reaching the half way point).*

Of course, I’m convinced it’s all utter shite – poorly written, loosely plotted, cardboard characters and with more inconsistencies than you could shake a stick at.** However, it’s there, registering in the word-counter, and at this point that’s all that matters. As a wise (or possibly foolhardy) person once said, December is for editing.

One minor irritation, however, is that MrH and all three of the Hawthorn saplings have fallen by the wayside in our joint adventure. The Boy was the first to fall; he made a cracking start, but then lost his mojo when he realised that he didn’t know how his story ended. I tried to point out that that didn’t matter, but he wouldn’t be re-motivated and has now officially Given Up.

The girls lasted a bit longer – to be fair, I think they’re technically still in the game, but neither of them has written a word to my knowledge since the weekend, and they both seem very relaxed about this so I suspect they won’t last much longer before admitting the inevitable.

MrH is the most disappointing, though. He was enthusiastic to the point of obsession right up to the point where he had to actually sit down and write something – his planning and research were meticulous, and he worked up a really good idea for a children’s book. (So good I almost pinched it. Wish I had now.)

At this critical point, however, his natural apathy kicked in. He dragged out 1500 words over a hugely painful two days, and then threw up his hands in disgust and gave the whole thing up as a bad job. Which is annoying, since he was the one who persuaded me to do it in the first place.

However, he is doing a great job as a cheerleader. I think he thinks I’m writing the next Harry Potter/Wheel of Time/whatever other fantasy franchise you care to name, so he’s obviously desperate for me to finish and find a publishing deal so he can retire and live off my enormous earnings. I fear he may have a long wait.

* Eyes right to find whizzy NaNo wordcount widget. May be slightly broken at time of writing, but it was there earlier, I promise you.

** What does that even mean? Who ever shook a stick at anything? Why would you?

~ by Hawthorn on November 10, 2009.