Turning off your infernal...er...internal editor

It's that time of the year again--leaves are falling, the days are short, and NaNoWriMo is in full swing. Ah, yes, that month of total insanity when writers set impossible goals and drink gallons of coffee in a vain effort to meet them.

Well, I've given in to the insanity, once again. Well, why not? The first book I wrote during a NaNo challenge is due for publication next month. How hard can it be to do it again?

Apparently the two years between NaNo challenges have lulled me into a false sense of hope. As a writer, I like to think I keep learning with every manuscript I finish. My critique group is more than willing to help with my education, too. Through the process, I've developed an internal editor--that voice that is constantly correcting me--line by line, word by word. I've dubbed her my 'infernal editor'.

So, you can imagine the conflict of trying to write 50,000 words in one month while a little voice in your head constantly says, "No, no, no. You absolutely cannot change point of view here."

I had a little talk with my infernal editor when I decided--at eleven p.m. on October 31--to accept the NaNo challenge this year. I told her she'd won a contest and would be taking a little trip to the Caribbean. Oh, she was so excited--and so gullible.

Well, she's gone now. I'm free of her constant nagging. I can write anything I want, any way I want, and she'll never know.

I'm 17,000 words in, as of this writing, and I have the rest of the weekend before me. My laptop may explode. The moment I feel like giving up, I look at the cover for Finding Hope--my last NaNo manuscript that comes out on December 1 with Wings ePress. That gets my creative juices flowing again!

Oh, if you see my infernal editor and she asks about me, tell her I'm learning to belly dance.

For those of you who are also burning up the keyboard this month, good luck.

Now, back to work.

Linda