NaNoWriMo: The First Pancake

I didn't really do so hot with the November challenge last year. First off, I cheated by working on an existing project, and even then, only got 43k in. Still, for turtle-paced little me, it was a big deal. If it wasn't for the Thanksgiving holiday, I'm sure I would have hit 50k in my own cheaterly way.

All summer, I've been waist-deep in revisions. I've thrown in a new scene here and there, but I haven't tackled a new project or worked linearly on any fiction since May. I know, bad, bad writer. Should have been writing five hundred words a day, just to keep fresh. But I haven't, so now I'm feeling very rusty.

I can't get the plot I've been mixing in my head to congeal. I can't even pin down the protagonists dominant personality traits or skeletal structure. And, sadly, I think it will continue to evade me until a deadline looms. Thank you, NaNoWriMo for providing a looming deadline just when I need one most.

It's going to be a big month of trial and error, emphasis on the error. It's like those first few pancakes when you haven't found the perfect griddle temperature. My griddle will probably take weeks to adjust, so I'll be wasting a LOT of pancake batter.

Hopefully, I'll win Right Brain back after five months of neglect. Left Brain has had its day with all that exclusive revising, and that day has to come to an end if I'm ever going to write something new.

Here's to the first pancakes of November: I will churn you out, a whole month's worth. Fifty thousand silver dollar attempts, flipped repeatedly and smothered in maple syrup. Please turn from black or pasty white to that beautiful golden brown. Even one beautiful pancake would make the whole month worthwhile.