On Failure and Getting Back Up Again.

        So, I failed.

I’m not talking about Nanowrimo. Well, not exclusively. At this point we are about five days away from the ending, and I’m only about 4000 words in. Unfortunately, I failed in another, much more spectacular way. And I’m not going to lie, friends, it really took the wind out of my sails. I never really understood that metaphor until this week, when I did, in fact, stopped moving forward. In a bad way.

I was low, and it affected just about every part of my life. I couldn’t work out, I couldn’t write, I couldn’t do the things that I really enjoyed. I found myself falling into old habits that involved me clinging to my time away from what was really bothering me, staying up later than I should and sleeping longer than recommended because that meant I wouldn’t have to deal with my failure. My spectacular failure.

The thing about failure is that you can’t really let it get you down. You’re going to get knocked down. The important thing, the great philosophers in the band “Chumbawumbah” have told us is that we have to get up again. Ain’t never going to keep me down. Of course, they’re talking about drinking and later the song was adapted to refer to soccer hooliganism (who are notoriously difficult to keep down, and have a great outlook on life.) so maybe that’s not the best place to get advice.

The thing is, despite all the kittens hanging on branches with cute sayings, it’s really difficult to get back up again once you’ve gotten the wind taken away from your sails. Everyone tries to help - and trust me I’ve really appreciated all of the help I’ve gotten - but sometimes all the sayings in the world can’t really help. Particularly the fashion in which my wind was stolen from me.

But after some time, I finally have... well, me back. I’m getting back up on that horse and putting the wind back in my own sails. I don’t mean to be as cryptic as I’m coming across, but I’m still not fully ready to put out exactly what happened in blog form, but I will when I can write about it in a way that’s not overly needy or depressing. You come here to laugh.

However, as announced on my Facebook page, I WILL be restarting my own personal Nanowrimo. Not through the official scary counter, but I will be restarting in a new fun way, and it’s going to be for Christmas. It’s not going to be a Christmas story, but it’s Bad Shakespeare’s Christmas Present to everyone. A Very Bad Shakespeare Christmas Novel Writing Event! I plan on following the same guidelines, by December 25th, I will have written a 50,000 word novel with plans to edit it and self publish it by the new year. I will post some parts on Bad Shakespeare, and I will let you all into the process, starting this week as I resume my blogging duties.

Let’s get back up on that metaphor together, people. Let’s hear some cheering, and let’s not little things knock us down so badly that we never get up from it again. Failure will always happen. It’s time to kick failure in the teeth.

The Further Adventures of Novel: The Novel

        At this point in the Nanowrimo fun (funness?) I’m about 4,000 words in. According to the official Nanowrimo counter, I should finish sometime after the Mayans have said that the world itself is supposed to collapse in on itself. Man, do I hate the official Nanowrimo counter.

I also hate that I still like typing “Nanowrimo” as opposed to “National Novel Writing Month.” Because it’s long. And I’m lazy.

Your good buddy Bad Shakespeare really hasn’t been around much lately, and he hasn’t bee updating his word count that much, and you’ll also notice that he hasn’t been posting much. You see it’s a long story. One filled with excitement and wonder, that would in fact make a great Nanowrimo story, if not for the fact that I was living it, and couldn’t be sure that the ending would happen in time.

No. I was actually going through some personal stuff. It really hasn’t been fun or exciting, but it illustrates one of the constant frustrations with writing. For you see, Right now I am writing a comedy novel. It’s actually pretty planned out and coming along great in my head. I’ve mentioned what it’s about, but the cast has continued to grow almost unwieldy, but is still funny. Funny enough anyway, and I constantly laugh to myself regarding one scene in which a double secret agent meets up with his handler in an English McDonald’s, and she’s clearly out of place nibbling on a cheeseburger.

The real problem with this is that when tragedy, or in this case, severe depression hits... it’s really difficult to write a comedy. It’s difficult to get those words out, it’s difficult to get that feeling out. And Bad Shakespeare has been in a bad place the past couple of weeks. With the help of good... dareisay GREAT friends, I’ve managed to come out of it, and I’m back on track. I plan on still doing my best to power through and finish this epic novel of comedy. 

It has been said that dying is easy, comedy is hard. I believe it. For the longest time, I can get by on just what I think is funny. The problem is translating that to a version that everyone loves. And that can be difficult when you have stuff getting you down. Yes, you have to power through it, but sometimes, you can’t power through it on your own. And I’m blessed and lucky to have friends to help me. That being said, it’s still difficult to be funny when you’re curled up on the couch, not really caring about what is going to happen next because you’re afraid for the next minute. Fortunately, I’m past that.

And of course one that moment passes you have to ask yourself, “when is it ok to be funny again?” And I see no reason to start now. But I do feel powerful enough and funny enough to restart my Nanowrimo shenanigans. I may be behind, the odds against me, but I’ve never let that stop me before. I promised you all a novel, you’re all getting a novel.

Thanks for following along, everyone. Get ready for some more comedy, coming right at you!

Making It So...

                Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you… NaNoWriMo!

                For those of you who don’t know, November is National Novel Writing Month. I refuse to refer to it as NaNoWriMo. It sounds like a bad Star Trek character. Anyway, Bad Shakespeare has officially signed up, which means over the next 30 days I will be writing over 50,000 words, and I plan on sharing this journey with you, the loyal readers of Bad Shakespeare. Which means I have to do roughly... well, if I could do math I wouldn’t be doing National Novel Writing Month.

                What am I writing about? That’s simple, it’s a simple tale of boy needs an internship so he gets one working for a possibly evil organization and may be asked to be the inside man for FBI, a super-secret spy group, a superhero, a nosy DJ, all while trying to impress his boss and get that college credit. Also, there’s a cat who the head of human resources. I’d like to say, “don’t worry it will probably all make sense at the end” but right now I can’t promise anything. All I have is that pretty loose outline and the super-secret spy group literally just popped into my head.

                So, why am I posting this now, almost five whole days when I should have at least… someone do the math for me… that many words written? Because last week you were treated to the Bad Shakespeare Election Guide. And I write things in advance, and post them. I’ve been working on this novel DURING the BSEG. And what does this mean for you, the regular Bad Shakespeare reader? Simple: rather than my usual posting of three days a week, I’ll be posting only once a week, probably on Friday as I update you on where we’re at in the story, how many words I’ve done, and what you can expect. I may hit you with more, shorter blog posts, but they will revolve around this undertaking.

                I’m also aware that this isn’t original. Plenty of people blog their National Novel Writing Month Experiences. But ask yourself: will there’s be as entertaining? Probably not.  Also, as I post things I will be taking feedback, and I may be asking you to help guide the story. Particularly towards the middle, when I’ll probably be a little stuck. Also, I'm going to want your encouragement. I could really use it, as with anything that involves a finish line. This will take up a big part of my life... I will need your help in reaching that goal.

                Here we go, loyal Bad Shakespearists. In the words of the great Captain Picard, “Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.” It’s what I’ll probably be drinking when I write.