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Thursday, November 3, 2011

Time to lock up Boris

Thinking about Thursday

It's NaNoWriMo Time!

That means its time to lock up Boris. My ugly troll-like internal editor. He likes to shake his head at me and say things like, "They are all just talking heads! Make them do something!" or "Really? That was the best you could do?"  He resembles Thimbletack from the Spiderwick Chronicles.
He starts off looking like this:
Good Boris

Then he gets angry and frustrated with my progress. He starts to howl and wail. Then he turns to this.
Bad Boris

He prefers honey, but I supplement with extra sticky peanut butter, especially during NaNo.

Sorry, Boris, time to get in your cage. It's only 30 days. I am sure you understand. See you December 1st! 

So, do you have a Boris? If you are NaNo-ing or if you are just writing, how's it going? Need some extra sticky peanut butter?  I buy in bulk. I'll be happy to share. 

6 comments:

Unknown said...

By Boris is huge and overpowering and positively refuses to shut up. Not only that, but my Boris as an evil grammar fairy sitting on his shoulder who is constantly nagging be to add a comma, lose that adverb, or re-work that run-on sentence.

Jessica R. Patch said...

I'm not a big editor the first go round. I always read what I wrote the day before to help me get settled in my characters' heads and I may fix some grammar if I find it or a big mistake for example in one paragraph she orders a cosmo and in the next she's drinking an apple martini. Maybe I was just thirsty, I don't know. But big plot edits? Nah, I wait until the first draft is pounded out.

Hope you have lots of carrots and water nearby! ;) Cheering you on, girl!

Dawn Alexander said...

oh, no, Trisha. They must be brothers! Send him over, there's room in my Boris' cage for two!

Jessica~ I try to do the same thing. My biggest issue is when he starts bemoaning how one-dimensional my characters are.

Thanks for the support!

Teri Anne Stanley said...

I don't have a Boris, I have a whole committee. The chairperson is my evil twin, Phyllis. Unfortunately, listening to music while I write doesn't cover up their voices, it makes them start singing along and changing the words until I'm totally off track.
I'm thinking maybe chewing gum really loudly might help this month.

Keli Gwyn said...

I wish you well as you write your way through NaNoWriMo, Dawn. I hope you can keep Boris at bay.

Catherine Gayle said...

I allow my internal editor free rein. I'm one of those writers that does a very heavy outline/plotting session before I write the first line. And then I write a total of 1.1 drafts before it goes to the editor, usually. Because of that, I tend to tweak and fix things as I go. I find it easier to do things that way than to do 3, 4, 5, or more rewrites of the same stuff. So even though I NaNo, I let my internal editor loose. Her name is Caffeine. LOL.