Booo! (Photo credit: Steve B, UK)
An alternate title for this post is “The Lack of Writing was Monumental.”
I had all these writing plans for this weekend. They were all very reasonable and responsible, conscientious even. And they all seemed to go in the crapper (excuse me very much).
Booo hoo, waaaahhh for me, right? I know, I’m pathetic. I shouldn’t get to be discouraged when I have so many good things that were my distractions: my kids, friends, church, birthday parties, and family. But the writing…
Ah, the writing.
I’ve never been a big drinker, and I’ve never grown addicted to cigarettes or any other chemical (do fountain Diet Cokes count? I’m sure they must.), but the desire to write is how I imagine a low-grade addiction must be; an impulse or hankering that seems to grow the longer you deny it.
Have you ever had a project you couldn’t wait to get home to?
Maybe you decided to paint the bedroom. You picked out a color you love, you’ve got everything prepped and taped, and all that needs to happen now is to change into your grubby clothes and get to it?
That is a good example of writing for me. I often feel that when I sit down, I finally get to apply a coat of paint and get rid of that boring off-white, replace it with a deep red or rich, buttery yellow.
Even though I am discouraged tonight, and I might have to face the grim reality that it is unlikely I will be able to make up the 10,000 words I am behind schedule, I’m not going to walk away from the project. I’m not going to put the dresser back against the wall. I can admit that I might not end on time, but I can still work through the whole story and let the characters have their say.
Any Nano-ers or writers out there, how are your writing projects coming? How are you giving yourself permission to not become a hermit? I hope you’re having all kinds of breakthroughs and moments of brilliance. And if it didn’t happen today, there’s always tomorrow morning at o’dark hundred. That’s what I’ll be doing before the sun comes up (but that’s not saying much — I’m in Minnesota and sunrise isn’t until 6:30 or so right now).
Happy writing!
You can do it! Just keep writing! I love the ten minute word war thread on the NaNo forms, and I can usually get around 350 words for each war (with five minute breaks between wars). So, in an hour, I can write 1400 words. Two hours and I can bring that up to 2800. It really adds up fast, and even if you don’t have two hours to spare, just write a few words here and there throughout the day. Every little bit helps!
Thanks for the tip. I haven’t really taken time to snoop around the NaNo website (haven’t even figured out how to upload a pic for my profile). The way I figure it, if I’m at the computer, I’d better be using the time for writing! 🙂 The word war sounds like a fun twist. And I think you’re right that even just sneaking in a few more words here and there will help. Hope you get a lot done today!