I just spent pretty much all night on the NaNoWriMo forums (completely ignoring homework, of course!), and I feel like there are a number of things that I've said over and over again, because these things help prove almost every point when it comes to my writing style.

First, I'm a serious writer. I'm not the kind of writer who would ever randomly have ninjas attacking her main character on the street. When I'm stuck for a plot, I sit back and think about it; I don't go off on random tangents. ONE TIME during NaNoWriMo last year I took Susabelle's suggestion and gave my character a random, mysterious illness, but let's face it. The story would never have made it past 15,000 words if I hadn't, and most of my stories include random and mysterious illnesses anyway, so it wasn't that far of a jump. And I did it in a very serious way.

Second, yes, I edit while I write, and I do read over the draft. Reading over the draft while I'm writing it just helps me get into the mood for the story, plus there are just some scenes I write that are incredibly too awesome to not be read at any given opportunity. And yes, I do edit. No formal double-spacing-red-pen editing, but if I don't, I end up with sentences that I remember made so much sense when I wrote them, but a few months later when I go back, I don't have a clue where they came from. I remember quite clearly at a write-in for NaNo last year, my mind was focused on eating while writing a descriptive scene, and actually mentioned that my character's fingers tasted good. Imagine going back and reading that six months later.

Third, I have multiple WIP at a time. I usually keep up a steady stream of 15-20 stories that I'm actively working on, and that doesn't include the multiple books in the Promise series, the Black Diamond series, the Clandephyte series, and a couple more. And I never have any of the slightest bit of trouble keeping their plots straight or anything like that. These characters and these stories all feel so real to me, that I don't even feel like I'm making them up. I just feel like I'm telling somebody's story. I really feel that my body was built to be a writer, and part of that is the ability to keep multiple plots and characters straight (all in my head) with all the effort it takes to roll over in bed on Monday morning. In a way, though, my having multiple WIP sort of reminds me of a person I know who (by the way, makes a lot of money) was in debt, and when this person got married, their new spouse paid off all the debt as a wedding present. And after that (I'm not sure exactly how long. Weeks? Months?) the person just slid right back into debt. My mom calls it just being comfortable owing people money. I think I'm just comfortable having multiple novels that I feel a pressing need to finish, sometimes to the point that I don't know where to start and end up writing nothing. It works for me, though.

So basically, after talking about these things all night on the NaNo boards, I've come to a conclusion that kind of stopped me in my tracks, even though I've known it all along. Here it is:

I take writing way too seriously, considering that I don't get paid for it.


Is that going to stop me? No. Never in a million years. Writing is me. Is is a linking verb, meaning a state of being. I am writing. It's who I am, how I define myself. When people ask me about myself, the first thing I tell them is that I'm a writer. So, yeah, maybe I do take it too seriously, but I also have a LOT of fun doing it, and that's what's really important to me. Plus it's good practice for when I am getting paid for it and am a New York Times Bestselling author. But for now, I'm going to keep letting writing fill up the entire essence of my being. (Wow. If that's not New Agey, I don't know what is!)

Thanks for stopping by!