25 Insights and NaNoWriMo

Boy howdy, is this blog ever dusty! When was the last time I wrote something here ... July?

Well in my defense, I've been blogging my ass off at Mad Theatrics.  For all the good that does me.  No, seriously, it does me good.  It's been very therapeutic to take "The Things We Think and Do Not Say" and say them, in public.  What had been the fodder for personal arguments between friends (and occasionally "frenemies" -- but hey, "with friends like these," right? >:-) has become blogging material.  And I think I may have finally said all I need to say on the subject of producing equity waiver theatre in Los Angeles.  (Only took a year to get all that out of my system.)

It's November and that means it's time for NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month!  I have no time for this, which is why I decided to do it.  My novel is an idea that I've been picking away at since around 1998.  I've never really committed anything to paper regarding this particular idea, instead letting it percolate.  After sitting on it for thirteen years, it feels good to finally air it out.  And the writing is going remarkably easy so far.

A friend on Facebook, Giles Timms (who's incredible animated short Manifestations was part of the "Something Awesome Animated Film Festival" that Phillip Kelly and I produced at the old theatre company) may not be participating in NaNoWriMo, but a link he posted this morning has fortuitous timing.  25 Insights on Becoming a Better Writer is the name of the article, and it's jam-packed with awesome insights, such as:

2. Steven Pressfield: On starting before you're ready…[The] Resistance knows that the longer we noodle around "getting ready," the more time and opportunity we'll have to sabotage ourselves. Resistance loves it when we hesitate, when we over-prepare. The answer: plunge in.

16. Neil Gaiman: On feedback...When people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.

24. Joyce Carol Oates: On persevering...I have forced myself to begin writing when I've been utterly exhausted, when I've felt my soul as thin as a playing card, when nothing has seemed worth enduring for another five minutes... and somehow the activity of writing changes everything. Or appears to do so.

Fantastic stuff!