In which I discuss madness and the fictional people that live in my head.

So another year has rolled by and I'm faced once again with a sheer wall of words.

It's November tomorrow, by which I mean I will start work on another novel tomorrow. I don't know how many 18-year-olds (or how many people at all, for that matter) can say they've written three novels in three consecutive years, but as of 1st December, I will be one of them.

I hope.

I have a lot more responsibility this year, I'm at university, I've got a boyfriend, I've sort of got a social life, although most of my interaction still occurs via the internet or with the imaginary people in my head. Which is to say that my characters are very real to me, and not that I'm schizophrenic.

I attended my very first write-in yesterday. Well, it was the welcome meet up. It was a lot of fun, I was a little overwhelmed at first, and a bit shy since I'd rolled in on my own with no idea what to expect, but everyone was really kind and friendly. It was so nice to be able to speak to people in real life that understand the sheer, blissful, horrid, gut-wrenching madness November represents to me.

Although I'm daunted by the thought of writing a novel in a month I don't think I could go without it from now on. It's like a drug, I like to put myself under such pressure, I like to juggle every aspect of my life and let everything revolve around this novel that I'm writing.

I have a system this time, over the last two years I was at college and could get away with pushing a deadline, but now I'm at university I know that deadlines are set in stone, so I have to be more flexible with my writing hours. Here's the decision I've made: try and get at least two days ahead over the course of the first week. That way I can drop a day if I need to.

I'm also going to try and write maybe an extra 150, 200 words a night, which is a couple of paragraphs, really, nothing at all. It'll all count towards inching ahead and giving myself some leeway that I'm going to need desperately towards the end of the month. How long that well-intentioned idea will last, though, who knows?

I hope no one minds me doing this, like, at uni and stuff.

You know what? Fuck them if they do. This is my thing. I started this long before them and I'll continue for as long as I damn well please. Writing is a passion, everything beside the education I've paid for is coming second. (Except Craig. Because, y'know, he's my boyfriend. Favouritism.)

I will be at every write-in bar one this year, since I'll be at Memorabilia on that Saturday. Which will be a day where no novelling will happen, all the more reason I need to stay ahead. It's better to be ahead than to have to catch up, is what I think, because when you begin to fall behind all you become aware of is catching up, and that's not exactly something you want to be doing. So yes, those are my theories.

I'm glad to be bringing my characters back again, they're like old friends I haven't seen in a long time. I've missed them. Although I have been planning this since February and I've been editing my novel from last year in between so they never actually went away... hm...

Ok, I have a better analogy. They're my best friends in all the world, and this is the road trip we've been building towards all year. And it's going to be fantastic.

See you on the other side.

-Katie xxx