My internal editor had blonde hair and blue eyes–looking suspiciously like me in stick figure form (I’m a writer. I don’t do graphic art–that’s my mother’s department). Once we had finished with our masterpieces, we were given an envelope to seal in our internal editor. The envelope was handed to the Municipal Liaison not to be returned until the end of the month when we had finished our novel. The rule for the month of November was no internal editing.

What’s internal editing? Well, if you have an internal editor then you tell yourself things like this when you sit down to write:

• That’s a stupid idea.
• That plot’s been done.
• No one will want to read that so don’t bother.
• Who do you think you are?
• You suck.
• You’re not smart enough.
• You’re not creative enough.
• You don’t really think you can do this, do you?

Who can write with all that noise? The envelope ritual is a way of telling yourself that this month you will not listen to the internal editor. No matter how stupid, how silly, how boring you think what you are writing is, write it anyway. Nothing is perfect on the first try, that’s what second drafts are for. And third drafts, and fourth drafts …

I haven’t gone to the community event again, but I like the idea of locking up the internal editor. Personally, I visualize a plexiglass cell. Then I drag the internal editor over to it (usually kicking and screaming–sometimes handcuffed and gagged if I’m feeling mean), stuff the little guy in there and close the box. I can see him but I can’t hear him–no matter how loud he screams or how much of a fit he throws. And then I sit down and write–it’s crap, it’s ridiculous, there are plot holes the size of galaxies, but it’s words on paper and once they are there I have something to build on. Sometimes I write outlandish things just to make the little guy’s head explode (he’s in a box so there’s no messy clean up).

Sooner or later I have to let the little guy out of his box (I forgot air holes, for one), usually on the second or third draft when he’s not so negative and actually has something useful to contribute. The internal editor is useful, you see, but not early in the process. Early in the process, he’s just that whiny guy in a meeting shooting down everyone else’s ideas until all the ideas are discounted and you’re left with nothing to work with.

Do you have an internal editor? Or are you one of those lucky people with an internal cheerleader?

This will be my fifth year doing NaNoWriMo. My attempt last year was pathetic–lack of planning which led to lack of motivation–but I’ve managed to write 50 000 words in 30 days the other years so I know it can be done. I really need to redevelop good writing habits (a good writing habit being to actually write on a regular basis) and this always seems to get me going if I’ve been slacking off.

I don’t follow the rules for NaNoWriMo exactly, which is to start and complete a novel in November. This year I have several projects that I want to get ahead on so I’ll be writing on whichever one I can. Some have been started already, some are still in the note-taking phase, and some will not stretch to 50 000 words by themselves (though they may surprise me). As long as I get to the end of the month with a good chunk of writing done and momentum on a couple projects, I’ll consider November a success.

I can always use some motivation through competition, so if you’re doing NaNo you’re welcome to add me as a Writing Buddy. I go by Anysia on the NaNoWriMo site.

I’ll probably stick a word count widget in my sidebar for anyone interested in my progress. Blog posts will be sparse (unless I’m procrastinating).

If I don’t find a business name soon, I may just have to start using duct tape to end these conversations (sorry, dear). *sigh* Any suggestions? (not you, dear). My name is memorable but hard to spell (thanks, mom & dad) or I’d just use that.

#1: Currently there is a lot of discussion about Amazon’s move to become a publisher by picking up self-published books sold on Amazon that it thinks it could sell more of by issuing hard cover editions and doing marketing.

#2: A Russian book reviewer was sued over their review by a writer: Neither one is happy with the outcome.

#3: Not publishing specific, but related to story telling and pop culture: An analysis of the new Star Trek movie with a perspective you’ll read nowhere else (hilarious I thought, but then I’m a little twisted I’ve been told ).

That’s all for this week’s links.

If you’re a book blogger, you know how we get the books. If you’re a reader, it might not be as clear. So here is where the books come from that I review at Booklorn.com:

• Libraries
• Publishers
• Publicists
• Authors
• Gifts/Giveaways
• My personal book stash

No matter how I get a book, the review is the same. It’s my honest opinion. If I love it, I say so and tell you why. If I hate it, I say so and tell you why. If it’s “meh,” I say so and tell you why (starting to see a pattern?). I don’t care how the book came into my hands, and that’s a risk that publishers have always had to take.

Not caring about how a book comes into my hands is far different from not caring which book comes into my hands. I never review a book that I would not lay down my hard-earned cash for (which is why I don’t review self-published books, the quality is simply too unpredictable). No matter how I get a book, I still have to invest the same time into reading the book and that’s a chunk of my life that I can never get back and isn’t free.

So why am I going on about this now? Well, I’ve been meaning to do a post on this for a while. It may or may not surprise you to know that authors do read book blogs (like the rest of us, they can’t help Googling themselves and it is in fact an occupational hazard for authors). A few have commented on my reviews, and they’ve generally been a pleasant, intelligent, and respectful bunch even when I haven’t been 100% positive in my reviews.

There has been a conversation the last few days among book bloggers and some authors about negative reviews and the expectations surrounding book blogs. If you want to see what’s being said, you can check out this post and this post that will lead you to the rest of the conversation.

The other topic that has been coming up lately is the ‘ol independent booksellers versus evil amazon. I’ll post on that in the next few weeks too.

If you’ve ever read a book and thought “Pffft, I could do that” you should check out National Novel Writing Month (which is actually National Novel Draft Writing Month unless you’re particularly delusional). I used to watch TV and think “Pffft, I could do that.” Then I got stuck in a drama class in eighth grade and found out it’s not that easy. It looks easy because the actors are good at what they do, but that’s not the same as it being easy. I’ve never managed to be any good at drama (in fact I was terrified each and every class), but I’m glad that I went through it because every time I watch a movie or TV show I now appreciate that it is a skill and a talent.

If you only ever do NaNoWriMo once, you will at least come away with an appreciation of how hard it is to even write the first draft of a novel (and, arguably, 50 000 words –the goal of NaNoWriMo– is really a novella). Having done NaNoWriMo for several years (I find it enjoyable and it gives me a scaffold to build on in January), I appreciate books and their authors more. I appreciate the amount of revision it takes to get the sentences just right. I appreciate the challenge of creating a plot that doesn’t have holes you can drive a Mac truck through. I appreciate the butt-in-chair, write-even-when-you-don’t-want-to discipline that it takes to get from beginning to end and not drown in the interminable middle. And I appreciate that it takes months, even years, of painstaking work to get to something that even remotely approaches publishable.

If you’re interested in playing along, look me up. I could use the company and encouragement.

Scroll to the bottom of Lynn’s post and you’ll find a list of other writing workshops being held by other blogging writers.