Degrees of failure

It has been nearly two weeks since my last blog post, a fact that does not sit well with me.  I enjoy posting and have plenty of ideas for things to write about, I just need to sit myself down at the computer and do it.  After all, it doesn’t really take that long to string the words together.  So in my mind this is something of a failure on my part to keep up with my blogging.

I have also fallen behind with my CampNaNoWriMo attempt.  My word count is just over 10000 at the moment, but still way short of the 50000 word target that is supposed to be reached by the end of the month.  As the end of the month is only nine days away now the chances of me finishing the challenge successfully is really quite small. 

Initially I was beginning to think of this shortfall as another massive failure, and I wish I’d never taken on the challenge in the first place.  After I’d thought about it awhile though, it’s not been a complete failure.  I have made some progress with my novel, however small it may seem to me at the moment, so that is definitely a positive. 

I’m still in the very early stages of novel writing and so still trying to find my feet with regards to my own methods of doing it.  I’ve read a lot of author interviews and it’s quite clear that there are as many methods for writing as there are authors.  Now and again I’ll come across a way that I think may suit me and I’ll give it a go.  More often than not though it’s either completely wrong for me or I adapt it to something else to suit myself.  With this CampNaNoWriMo challenge I’ve worked out that I cannot just sit at the computer and have the story flow out of me.  Although I have the characters in my head and the settings, rough plot and ending in there I think I need to get it out first before I can properly form how the novel is actually going to work.

So, although I’ve failed to meet the challenge (or will fail) I’ve succeeded in eliminating a method of working that is totally unsuitable to me.  This is what I’m going to take away from this challenge and I can now make some positive steps forward in getting my novel moving.

Has anyone else a particular way of working that they find suits them best?