First, I’d like to apologize for my lack of updates.  Two weeks ago I took a fall, that I’m blaming on my lack of coordination, and injured my right wrist and fore arm along with my left leg.  There were roots involved and some mild swearing that I kept to myself because my six year old was with me.  Needless to say, I wasn’t really up to writing anything that wasn’t mandatory.

That said, one week ago (over Labor Day Weekend 2009), I participated in the 3-Day Novel Contest.  I believe that even had I not been injured and taking several hundred milligrams of ibuprofen for pain, this contest would have been a major challenge.  As it was, I’m just thankful I finished the novel I planned to write and was able to do at least some editing before the deadline Sunday night.

I started the contest at 12:04 am on Saturday, September 5th.  When I sat at my computer in the dead of the night, I felt awake and charged with the desire to write.  Not having felt that desire in awhile, it was a relief.  If nothing else, I’d at least get something down for this novel by the end of the weekend.

Between napping, short breaks for working out stiff muscles and grabbing more food or drinks, I managed to write, all told, 26,000 words in 72 hours.  The final page count was about 101 pages.  That I was amazed I’d done it was an understatement.  I was practically glowing on Tuesday when I was back at work.  Monday was spent regretting I’d done it because I was in so much pain.  I slept most of that day.  And when I wasn’t sleeping,  I was medicated and icing down my injuries.

The contest rules state that you can write an outline before you begin the contest.  I made sure I did because I feared that if I didn’t have a general direction for my novel, I’d never get anywhere with it.  I deviated from the outline in a few places and added a new character when I started the second chapter, but beyond that, I actually used the entire outline.  I do believe that outline, combined with my determination to finish despite my injuries, is what got me to the end.

Though during the entire process I felt the pressure of time, I also realized that 72 hours can also feel like the shortest and longest amount of time all in one.  As the deadline loomed I worried I wouldn’t get to the end in time.  Once I did get to the end, it felt like the hours dragged as I waited for the time to finally expire.  Talk about a surreal 72 hours.

Now, two weeks after I mailed my manuscript, I’m having a hard time believing I actually did it.  Though 26,000 words is technically only a novella, it was still a great deal of work.  The contest gave me a brief glimpse of what it’s like to be an actual writer.  I’ve written thousands and thousands of words  in my life, but never that much for one story or subject.   It was an eye opener.  One I’m thankful for.

I’m proud of the story that I wrote.  Whether it will actually be a blip on the judges raidar, who knows.  I’m certainly hopeful.  I’m also realistic and just a little bit pessimistic.  And if I don’t win, I can always go back, edit and try entering it somewhere else or perhaps even make it a full length novel then find an agent for it.

The one thing, as far as the judging goes, that I’m curious about is the editing of the novels.  Seventy-two hours is a short period of time to write a novel.  If editing is lacking because of this time constraint, is that an automatic disqualification?  I admit to not being as up to snuff on all grammar and punctuation rules.  I tend to just write then hit spell check and let it pick out the things it thinks I’ve done wrong.  Obviously that’s not a very good practice if I want to be a professional author, but for this contest is it more or less important?  I don’t really see anything on the site that tells how the novels are judged.  I suppose I’ll find out once they announce the winners in January.

All in all, I  glad I did this contest.  This contest was an opportunity to get something written and to prove that I could do it in a small amount of time.  If I can write that much in 72 hours, how much can I write, using only an hour a day, in a month? Two months?  Perhaps I should find out.

I won’t commit to anything for next year, but I can see myself doing this again in the future.  Hopefully the next time I decide to enter this contest, I’ll do it and remain healthy at least until after the contest is over.

Punk Art Catalogue front cover: Miller, Ringma & Hoppe, "Smashed Mona," 1978

In a side note, the next post should be about the other “punk” genres and I’ll try to get it posted before next week.  And I hope to begin a weekly schedule of a post each Monday, though I can’t guarantee a specific time.