The gnashing sound you hear is my teeth

Still angsting over what to work on for NaNoWriMo and whether any of my ideas are even worth my time. I know that ideas are only one part of the equation, and that the success of any idea depends on it's execution.

People say to write ideas that are different and dangerous, but how do you tell if an idea is dangerous or not? Danger implies that there is risk of harm, and I'm not sure how to apply that to my writing or to an idea or a story.

Besides, writing itself is a risky business. You risk dying in penniless obscurity, doomed to love doing something that may never work out for you.

So far I feel the only danger in my ideas is of them hurting people's brains.

I think part of my issue is that I have no way to gauge what my skill level is and whether I'm anywhere near being professional and publication-ready or if I need years of development yet. And I really wish that wasn't the case.

Even if finding out would mean knowing that I'm five or ten or twenty years away from being anywhere near professional, at least I'd know. At least I'd have some idea if I need to put in a lot more work than I'm already doing or what, or if I'm on the right track or not.

At least then I'd know that maybe I need to focus less on thinking about publication and more on development of basic skills, maybe I'd need to invest in a workshop here or there or in a writing class or something.

There should be signs on the road you know? 20 Miles 'til You Don't Suck or something.