The story that I wrote is about a teenage girl, Washue, who has such a love of life that she can make an adventure out of anything. Going to the market is an adventure for her.  Walking in her back yard and finding a new animal friend is like discovering a nest of Dodo eggs.  This young woman is modeled after my daughter, who squeals with delight when she sees a bird land three feet away. Of course that squeal then scares the bird away, but while it is there, she is ecstatic.

Washue, and by virtue of being modeled after her, my daughter as well, have taught me many things over these past seven years.  The most important being that a good writer is only as good as the stories they tell and the characters they bring to life.

A few things that I’ve learned from writing Washue for this contest, are:

#1 – Never again will I attempt to write when in pain and on painkillers.  That was a big mistake.  But, despite that, I’m glad that I wrote those words that weekend.  It was something I’d never done before and I’m glad I did it.  I will very likely do it again this year, if I can.  Hopefully without the pain and agony.

#2 – The joy of writing what I love outweighs the heartbreak that I feel when someone doesn’t love what I’ve written.

#3 – I will not give up just because I failed.  I may not write for this contest again, though I truly believe I will, but that doesn’t mean I’ll give up writing all together.

#4 – There is always a bright side to everything. And now that the contest is over, the rights to my novel are back in my hands and I can do with it what I wish.  And I believe I wish to edit, revise and share this story with my friends.

Writing Washue is a great deal of fun. She allows me to keep my daughter close, even when she is far away from me.  And she makes me smile and laugh like none other.  The most amazing thing about her, however, is that I’ve yet to meet a person who doesn’t like her.  Obviously that won’t last, but the fact that she has the ability to charm even the most grumpy of people is a pretty amazing feat in and of itself.  Perhaps I should be writing more of her if that is the case.  We shall see.

Regardless of what I do with Washue, I’m rather amazed by how much this experience has helped me grow as a writer.  I truly do believe that your own characters can help you grow, if only  you’re willing to listen.

Finally, I would like to thank all of you who gave me encouragement and good luck wishes.  You will never know how much that means to me.  You humble me with your faith and warmth.

And now, as my character would say, “Let’s go find an adventure.”

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.

I’ve found in the past that I do oddly well when I’m under pressure.  It forces me to focus I suppose.  I can’t think of much more pressure than being charged with writing a 100 page novel in the span of 3 days.

That’s right ladies and gents, I am biting the bullet and entering the 3-Day Novel Contest.  And the story I’ll be writing is Little Washue’s adventure.  I’ll have to choose a new beginning because I can’t use something already started.  Luckily I can always use that opening for her next adventure.

So what should Washue’s adventure be?  I’m taking suggestions until the last day in August, so feel free to toss out as many as you like.  If I use yours I’ll be sure to make a note of it somewhere.  And, if by sheer, dumb luck, my story wins; I’ll see about putting your name on the dedications page.

For those of you who don’t know Washue as well as others might, see prior entries I have in regards to Washue and her faithful wolf, Squirrel.  Basically she’s a happy-go-lucky young girl who is a genius at taming animals and making mechanical creations.  Though the animals and machines occasionally explode for unknown reasons.

Wish me luck.

Oh, and if I don’t win, I’ll still repolish the novella and see about getting it published anyway.  Or maybe I’ll self-publish.  Who knows?

I submitted a story that I’d originally written for a very good friend of mine in WoW whose character, a orc warrior, has been like a big brother to my tauren hunter.  He expressed concerns about my character changing because she was suddenly interested in a boy.  I wrote the story to assure him that even when she’s old and gray with many children and grand children that she’ll still be the same person.

Obviously I can’t submit a story with World of Warcraft elements and claim it as my own so I edited it to remove any reference to WoW proprietary story elements.  What surprised me by doing such is that it reads a bit like a steampunk story.  Perhaps I can write Washue stories after all and simply create a steampunk world for her to live and thrive in.  The idea appeals to me a great deal and I just may continue in that vein of thought as I move forward with developing my writing.