Oh, NaNo....

Wow. NaNo WriMo really kicked my butt this year and I did fail to reach my 50k mark. Bummer. On the bright side though, I added 21k to my WIP and finally figured out a major plot concern for my female lead. Success! It was much more satisfying to figure that out (and the course of the rest of her thread in the series) than to write 50k of stuff I was going to have to sort through later. I hope all of you who participated in NaNo, in some form or fashion, were successful in your own ways as well.

Now, let me take a moment to explain what my concept of "writing dirty" is all about. I know some of you might be thinking that it speaks to the sexiness of whatever WIP I'm working on, and in some small way, you'd be right. But largely when the idea for this blog hit me, writing "dirty" was more about getting yours hands dirty, in the sense that you really get into and do the work for the story you're trying to tell. A lot of very successful authors make writing seem easy. Their stories flow, the character seem like real people you could meet down the street (or in some Paranormal cases, beings you'd encounter in a dark alley at night), and the churn their books out like clock work. Ask them if it's easy. I bet that 98% of them say that writing is Work. Hard work, work that interrupts their quiet moments, that attacks them while they're driving or trying to sleep. It's work that they dedicate themselves to and their characters and stories are a product of that work, that dedication. In fact, one paranormal author whose series I'm obsessed with (not to name names hahaha) once wrote that she writes 7-8 hours a day, every day of the week, holidays included and has been doing that same routine for years. Yes, years. That is dedication. That is, in essence, writing dirty.

I know that all of us do not have that kind of luxury. We have kids, school, day jobs and families that demand our attention and we write when we can. The point of bringing that author up is not to say "wow, I'm a slacker" but more to show that writing real Work when we have the time is key to becoming successful. So yes, I didn't make the 50k NaNo word mark, but I gained 21k of real Work that counts toward my WIP and strengthens the series as a whole. That is my success and I will take a moment to be proud of myself for it, as we all should do with our work after accomplishing something we feel to be great. We must be our biggest cheerleader, because if we don't believe in what we write, how will we ever convince anyone else to believe in it?

So take a moment and give yourself a hug. Then, plug in the coffee maker and get back to it, if you've got a free second.

Remember, whenever possible, write dirty,

K.C.