During Week One, everything in your novel seemed perfect, almost idyllic. Your novel, and to a broader degree the act of novelling, became your “true love.” Perhaps a part of you wondered, as Buttercup does, if this fragile new relationship can withstand what life throws at it. The only answer you received was, “This is true love—do you think this happens every day?”
But one morning this week, you will wake up and find that your perfect novelling world is gone, your excitement killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts of Week Two. Your main character hates you… your plot is non-existent… that sub-plot you thought would wrap up everything neatly in chapter six creates more problems than it solves… and so on and so forth.
You’re also starting to realize the time commitment it takes to write a novel. There are stacks of dirty dishes in your kitchen and piles of laundry in your room. Your family has forgotten what you look like when your eyes aren’t glued to the monitor.
At this point, it would be tempting to echo Buttercup and say, “I will never write again.” Just as she wanted to close herself off from feeling this kind of pain ever again, you would like to avoid this deep feeling that you have let yourself down or lost one of your lifelong dreams. Here’s this week’s secret: Every single Wrimo I know has felt this way. It is normal and natural. The only question is what you will do with this feeling.
Because she vowed to never love again, Buttercup allowed herself to be betrothed to the Prince, betraying her true love. The first question Westley asked Buttercup when he revealed himself to her was, “Why didn’t you wait for me?”
“Well… I thought you were dead.”
His answer was simple: “Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while.”
You and your novel have true love. Will you give that up, simply because your enthusiasm has been murdered by pirates?
Next week: The Cliffs of Insanity and The Fire Swamp
