With three hours to spare I crossed that finished line with 50,029. My goal in doing this year's NaNo was knock out the first draft of my next novel. Of the 50,000 words written I think two thirds of it is a good chunk of new novel. I still have a lot of writing to do. The story is still settling. I had started out wanting the story to go one way but it would not come out. So I just started free writing instead. As a result I ended up with the same story from a totally different characters point of view.

It's a pleasant surprise. That is one of my favorite parts about writing, the discovery. I didn't have a plan for what happened so I will be spending my time filling in the blanks and digging into the characters motivations. On many occasions I don't know why they did what they did so I have to spend a lot of time trying to figure that out so I can make sure there is consistency with them as well as the plot. Characters are people too. I know I am not the only writer who has imaginary people in their heads doing the unexpected.

"I invent nothing, I rediscover." --Aguste Rodin. I think that is all I ever do. I feel like I, and any creative person, have access to secret worlds that no one else does. The act of creating is to give other access to these secret places hidden inside all of us. 

PG: Reality television has grown in popularity over the years. What are your thoughts, Morpheus?

MORPHEUS: It is everywhere, it is all around us, even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes.

PG: I know, right? It even has it's own Emmy category now.

MORPHEUS: It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you .

PG: Do you think that this trend will fade out anytime soon?

MORPHEUS: You are a slave to it. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind.

PG: Okay, sure. But some people would say that about all television, not just reality shows.

MORPHEUS: It's a system. That system is our enemy. Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. People are part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.

PG: I'm surprised you feel so strongly about this.

MORPHEUS: Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.

The Fall by Tarsem Singh is one of the most amazing films you will ever see. It is visually stunning filmed on location in 28 unique places on earth. The acting is organic and spontaneous. It is like a moving art piece.

If you don't believe me check out this great review here and then go put it on your Netflix queue.

Week 2 is under way and I am one day behind but feeling okay about that. By Monday morning I will be caught up. But I have to say that those first couple of days were rough. Really rough. I was beginning to wonder how I had ever written anything.

Habit. I'm telling you. I was out of the habit of writing daily. By day 5 I had to make a commitment to myself to just sit and write for one hour. Sixty torturous minutes. And whatever my word count was, that's what it would be.

Literally on the 7th day it was like old times again. I'm still trying to find the story. My characters are doing thing I didn't expect them too and stuff is happening that I hadn't planned for. It's a mess right now. But at least I'm writing. Getting something down is the hardest part. Fixing it later is a lot easier.