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Don’t we know it

Every now and then–WAY too infrequently, if you ask me–J.K. Rowling posts an item in her on-line diary. Check out this one from October 31:

“I’ve just had a great writing week. There are few feelings more joyous than reading back over the week’s work and thinking, ‘that’s not bad at all,’ as opposed to the all-too-frequent, ‘it’s rubbish, I’ve wasted a week and I’ll have to rewrite the lot.’ And if you think that’s an exaggeration or false modesty, you are very, very wrong. It’s perfectly possible to put in eight hour days and have nothing to show for them but a single idea that, if reworked completely, might be passable.”

I find that so comforting. Especially since on Saturday I wrote 6,500 words of my novel (which, if you don’t know, is a really good output for one day), and yesterday I wrote 130. Part of the reason was that yesterday I realized I needed a new opening chapter, and that meant I had to rework the tenses of the rest of the chapters so far, and that takes time. Part of the reason was also that I followed Pam Houston’s suggestion and got a massage yesterday, and somehow that took all the fight out of me. Memo to self: save massages for the late afternoon.

But today is a fresh day, with the potential for another 6,500 words if I feel moved, fewer if I don’t. That’s just how it is–you work with what your brain gives you for the day.

And let’s give a special shout-out to all the writers out there who are nearly half-way through their time for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Keep going, guys. Huff your way up the hill, and then enjoy the scenery on your way down. It takes a lot to write an entire novel in thirty days (especially if you actually take some time off for children, spouses, dogs, bubble baths, grocery shopping, whatever). We’re rooting for you. Go, go, go!!

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Posted on Tuesday, November 14th, 2006 at 7:13 am under Writing . Subscribe to responses: RSS 2.0 Comment Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “Don’t we know it”

  1. Heather Harper Says:
    November 14th, 2006 at 10:59 am

    I’m especially partial to the last paragraph. :)

  2. Heather Harper Says:
    November 14th, 2006 at 11:01 am

    And lol on the effects of a relaxing massage…