No writer's block allowed

November, 17 2006

By MARY AMES

Frontiersman

MAT-SU -Taking what some might call a novel approach to writing novels, Summer Horton gives herself a one-month deadline each year, from Nov. 1 to

Nov. 30.

Horton's goal is to produce 50,000 words of fiction every November as a participant in the National Novel Writing Month, known as NaNoWriMo to the frenzied participants.

Horton can't remember how she first heard about the project, but she does recall being the only one she knew of writing a novel that first year. Her first novel was a piece of junk, written off the cuff, she said.

&#8220It was about some girl who has a fall, hits her head, gets seizures and some 800-word disability,” Horton said. &#8220The second year I had a plan and a whole plot arc. I got to about 4,000 words, about a girl dealing with retinitis pigmentosis.”

One year, when Horton got stuck and wanted to make her word count, she had tap-dancing poodles burst onto the scene, she said.

The pressure of creating a 175-page story makes November a really productive month for Horton, who also is an active member of the Valley Performing Arts.

&#8220Last year, we were in rehearsals for a VPA play,” she said. &#8220I'd be down at the theater typing away madly while waiting to go on stage.”

Horton became the first, and until this year, the only state liaison for the national writing project. She gets the word out about the project to other aspiring writers. They gather on weekends to load up on the caffeine and write, en masse, but each working on their own project.

&#8220We write for about a half hour, then hang out for about a half hour,” she said. &#8220We laugh about how high our caffeine consumption goes.”

Horton lives in Wasilla, but was raised in Willow, where her mother still lives, since she was 3. While she was away at college in Arizona, Horton developed a seizure disorder and had to readjust her goals.

&#8220For five years, I've been pulling everything back together,” she said. &#8220I was a theater major, which is a less realistic career option in Anchorage than in Arizona.”

Being a professional actor was her goal for a long time, but now she's entertaining the idea of entering another crowded field. After furiously pounding the keyboard the past few years, Horton is considering writing professionally.

&#8220I'm trying to make this my real life,” Horton said. &#8220I want to be a starving novelist. I've been thinking very seriously about what I want to do, and this is it.”

Participating in the NaNoWriMo project taught Horton she doesn't like to edit, and she prefers writing fiction to facts.

&#8220I'm working on an article now, thinking about sending it to the newspaper,” she said. &#8220But something happens when I get to the end. It has no life.”

Because she dislikes editing, and because she liked last-year's novel so much, Horton is writing the same novel this year, but from a first-person perspective.

&#8220I'm in love with that story,” she said.

&#8220I had the characters hanging out in my head for a while. That was about all the planning, other than writing down everyone's names.”

Even when not consciously thinking about the writing project, Horton could see it affecting her life.

On Oct. 31, she and her mother stopped in for a bite to eat at MacDonald's and she wanted to order huge amounts of food.

&#8220I wondered why I was so hungry,” she said. &#8220Then I realized NaNo started the next day, and I was stressed out.”

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.