my unmentionable dream

One Thing by Colin Wright (Trust 30 Prompt 4)

Do your work, and I shall know you. Do your work, and you shall reinforce yourself. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

• Take a moment, step back from your concerns, and focus on one thing: You have one life to achieve everything you’ve ever wanted. Sounds simple, but when you really focus on it, let it seep into your consciousness, you realize you only have about 100 years to get every single thing you’ve ever wanted to do. No second chances. This is your only shot. Suddenly, this means you should have started yesterday. No more waiting for permission or resources to start. Today is the day you make the rest of your life happen. Write down one thing you’ve always wanted to do and how you will achieve that goal. Don’t be afraid to be very specific in how you’ll achieve it: once you start achieving, your goals will get bigger and your capability to meet them will grow.

I almost hate to say it. In fact, I'd promised myself a while ago that I wasn't going to say it again until I actually started taking action on it. But they are still there - in my dreams, and in my dreaming wakefulness. In my absent-minded stares out the window. In the quiet moments. Sometimes as I'm drifting off to sleep, so that I have to get up, turn on the light, and get them down on paper. 

They still expect me to tell their story as, apparently, only I can. In a short story series, or a novel. They don't care - they just want out into the world - Holly especially. She's always been waiting for me to tell you about growing up with her odd family. And her adventures ... she really wants you to know about her adventures: 

... She had noticed Alessandra’s dress first, the blue satin shimmering in the strobe. At first glance Holly suspected that someone that tall and over-the-top gorgeous was actually a transvestite, but brushing against her breast as they crossed paths on the dance floor, Holly laughed out loud at her own silly assumptions. Her laughter stopped Alessandra in her tracks and from there the most amazing evening Holly could remember unfolded ... 

So if there is one dream still gleaming in the heap of dreams I've cast aside like like toys on Boxing Day, that idea would be this story. 

But how does one go about taking 4 familial character sketches, a basic plot idea, 10000 current words (that's 1/4 to 1/10 of a novel, depending on how many of the words are keepable), and two year's inertia and turning it into a cohesive novel? Seems like if I knew that, I'd already be doing it. It's only July, so NaNoWriMo is too far away (and I think you're supposed to be starting from scratch for that). I follow a lot of writerly types on Twitter - so there's no shortage of support.

But apparently, according to 'experts' I also need time and routine and focus. It's harder for me to see how to accomplish those things ... I manage to write 500-1000 words on my blog in 30-60 minutes ... but we all know that 50,000 cohesive words is not 10 times that effort .... 

Okay. Here's what I'm going to say ... by the end of 2011 I will have written 60,000 words on this story, which would be at least enough for a first draft, if the story is told in that length. That's 50,000 words more in 5 months, 10,000 a month, 3,000 a week or about 1,000 words a day. Then I'll edit in January, flesh it out, and start submissions. I'll write 2 evenings a week. And sometimes on Sundays. And I'll just keep getting it done. I'm most excited about the momentum shift - that'll be exciting. :) 

That seems pretty doable for a dream I've refused to talk about for 6 months.