A Daunting Task

For far too long I have been putting off finishing any of my novels.  I think the main fear here is:  What if I write it and fail?  And also, what if I write it and succeed so much so that I have to become reclusive and run away to the woods and never come out because I'll have tiny, impish fans running after me?

But that's not what happens with writers, is it?  I mean, when we become famous, I feel it's a more quiet kind of fame.  When was the last time you saw Stephen King or J.K.Rowling in the tabloids?  Yeah, that's what I thought.  But still, I have fears, most of them completely impractical but they are still there.

So I have decided to force myself into another daunting task - this time something that I can't get out of, mostly because I already signed up.  It's the National Novel Writing Month contest.  Though, it's not really a contest that you win and get published, mind you, but it's a contest where you push yourself all throughout November to start and finish your novel.  You are your only enemy in this seeming insurmountable task.  But when I make promises to myself, I keep them.  I usually say, "I'll try to..." not "I must, I will, I promise myself..."  But this time - I must and I will.

So here it is.  My profile/will-be entry into the November month of novel writing.  Granted I have another month to go to really sign up and etc. but I really am excited about this.  I'm going to take my Soul Therapy book and delete the 600 some-odd words I have now, and re-write it from the start.  I have an outline (because film scripts really are kind of like outlines) and it's still unfinished - the script that is.  I got up to 90 pages (most scripts are about 110-120) and I stopped writing.  Why?  I realized it was a crappy script and would make a much better novel.  So alas, here is my chance to finish it, outline in front of me and a race against the clock.  And gosh darn you clock, I'm going to win.