L’esprit d’escalier

Oh, sweet zombie baby Jesus, what have I done?

Martin: I’m going to try and do nano this year.
me:Ooooh.
Martin: if I can work it, I’ll do blog posts so i can kill two nanos with one setting
me: All right. If you’re doing it, I’ll participate for moral support, if you want.
Martin: YEAH!

I’ve mused a bit about Nano before.  I skipped it altogether last year, and the three projects I mentioned way back in 2007 still remain largely untouched.  I’m going to come up against business travel, as I have every November for the last seven years, and unless Hill and I finish our YA book in the next week and a half (which is actually possible, come to think of it), Nin’s going to take priority over Nano when I have it in my inbox.

However.

It gets me writing.  One thing I’ve learned in the last year of working on Nin with Hill is that I’m more productive when I’m writing with someone.  I’ve noticed it, too, with the WoW writings — if someone’s waiting on me to respond, I’m far better about putting nose to grindstone and getting it done.  Self-imposed deadlines are easy to break, and the only person I’m letting down in that case is myself.

While the Nano forums help participants find “writing buddies” — people in your genre, people in your local area, people with similar interests — I’ve never really made any connections through there.  It’s great to be part of the community, absolutely, but it’s so much more effective when the person cheering you on is someone you know, someone whose feedback and opinions you value, and someone who’s making the same effort.

So, all right.  Nano it is.

Now I just need to go back to square one and choose a project, so I know what kind of world/character building I have to revisit.