Final Thoughts on This Year's Moto-Novel.

I know that you've all been dying to read more about that frickin' novel I wrote instead of posting beer reviews, moto musings and perhaps even pizza reviews. So, in a convenient list format, here's what I took away from this year's National Novel Writing Month.

• Writing a novel, in particular a funny novel, that is good enough that I'm not afraid to post it on my blog for others to read is really hard.
• Especially when the novel's plot isn't driven by the main character's location on a map. Which, incidentally, is a great way to write a novel fast. "Where are they going today?" will net you a solid 1,000 words even if you don't describe anything along the way.
• I really need to describe things more. What did my characters taste like? Who knows?! I didn't tell anyone. Description is great for word count.
• "Showing" instead of "Telling" is great if you know what the hell the characters are going to do next. If not, telling works just fine, thanks.
• It sucks when your novel ends 2000 words shy of your goal. What do you add? I had insufficient time to go back through the novel looking for places to explain exactly what the chicken thought about everything and how it smelled while it was thinking.
• Getting 4000 words behind on one's word count is a great way to ensure a bad mood.
• Sometimes, going for a long ride will help you sort out what you want to write. Other times, it just eats up time that should have been spent writing about the chicken's favored hair style.
• Some people think coffee and chocolate are essential writing tools. These people are wrong. Great writers for centuries have been relying on beer and cigarettes to get them through. Which is worse, a beer and one cigarette a night, or an entire bag of Dove chocolate and a pot of coffee?
• Writers, in case you didn't know, are weird. I'm living proof.
• Even famous, gifted and wildly-popular writers think their own novels suck, so therefore, my novel is probably pretty good. I'm looking forward to reading it (after a month away from it).