A Trick to Fool My Inner Editor

I'm prepping for NaNoWriMo and came across a great little idea to stifle my inner editor. See this blog to get the complete picture, but the premise is this: When I'm writing a first draft and that little inner editor pops up to say, "Hey, that sounds really stupid and I know that's not what you meant. Why don't you go back over that sentence, or maybe those last two or three, heck the whole paragraph! And the one before it! Just give them another look and polish them up a bit before you move on," whenever that happens, instead of actually following Ms Inner Editor's instructions, I'll just acknowledge her with a # mark and then go on.

Just a little, "Yeah, ok Ms IE, you're right, that needs work" # nod and then keep writing. Because the important thing of NaNoWriMo is to keep writing. Keep writing. Plenty of time to edit later. For those 30 days hath November, the writing is the thing.

Then, when the work is finished and I can go back through it to make it shine, a simple Find Word function will bring up all those # marks that show the spots I recognized as needing improvement. Of course, the whole document will need a good editing, not just those specific spots, but knowing, while I'm in the midst of the writing madness, that I'll be able to find those exact locations again will ease Ms IE and allow me to progress.

Many thanks to blogger Andy Shackcloth for that brilliant bit of trickery. I think it will really do the trick for me.

Choosing a Project

I always have a dozen or more ideas floating around in my mind, fighting for space, enticing me with their possibilities. This one, no, that one, no, maybe that one is what I should work on.

So I've been choosing one and starting it, then abandoning it in favor of another. For NaNoWriMo 2010 I'm committed to finishing a novel. It's just over 2 weeks away, and my writing time will be limited during the month due to other commitments (such as the dreaded job), so I'm trying to get my ducks in a row somewhat before the party starts.

I have a basic idea, but am torn between writing it as a YA or Adult novel. Same basic characters, with a few changes, same basic premise, with a few changes. I can see it going either way. I've never written YA and maybe now is not the time to start. If I truly want to finish this project, I need to be more sure of what I'm doing.

And the other ideas floating around will have to wait until December. Then the fighting for mind space can continue.