My First Nano
I was trying to link this year's NaNoWriMo story to the story of my first Nano which had so many obstacles to it. But, of course, that post was on my old blog! So, here it is for you. The tale of my first (and maybe my hardest) NaNoWriMo.
#1--I work full time. Not just 40 hours a week full time, but at least 40 hours, sometimes 50 hours or more on the job.
#2--I'm a mom. I have a 5 year old Kindergartener and a 2 and a half year old terror who need Mommy's constant attention when she's home because she's rarely home. My poor husband doesn't stand a chance to have time with me.
#3--My family is in the process of moving. We bought a fixer upper last month, have been renovating the whole place ourselves and started moving stuff in last week. So that means I've been spending every possible minute when I'm not working at my soon-to-be-house doing demo, painting, nailing floors, hanging cabinets, moving furniture, carrying boxes, unpacking boxes, etc., etc.
#4--Thanksgiving. 'Nuff said.
#5--Stomach flu. My whole family had the stomach flu at some point the week before or the week of Thanksgiving. It finally hit me with three days left of NaNo and I was already behind on word count. So, after 14 hours of sleep and writing zero words on November 28th, I knew I was too far behind in NaNo to ever catch up. I figured I might as well give up. I spent some time on the 29th relaxing (recovering) doing puzzles, watching TV, whatever.
That evening I looked at my word count and was depressed that I had made it so close (42,000 words) but didn't have time to finish. I decided to keep writing. Even if I didn't make it in time, I had to get close. I couldn't give up. I wrote 2,000 words. On November 30th, I woke up an hour early for work for no reason. My laptop lay next to me. I started writing. At work that day, I put off things I should be doing and wrote. By evening I had 46,000 words.
All month I had never written more than about 2,600 words in a day. By the time I dealt with the kids and put them to bed, I had 4 hours left to get 4,000 words. No way was this going to happen. But I sat down and started writing. At nine o'clock I was surprised I had written another thousand words. At this rate, I could finish in time. I would have to stay up late, but maybe it was possible. Ten o'clock--48,000 words. I was tired, sleepy. I thought, what was the point of "winning" NaNo anyway? I should just go to bed. But I was so close. I finally decided, I'd sit in bed and write. If I fell asleep, it wasn't meant to be. If I didn't fall asleep...maybe....
The last two hours were one giant word sprint. Don't edit, just write. It's not great writing, but it's something. Just write. 11:30 pm, thirty minutes left of November...50,000 words! I jumped on the NaNo site to verify...49,976 words. What? Speed typing, a couple more sentences. Verify. "WINNER!" Woo hoo!!!!!!! I had done it. I had survived November. I had typed 6,000 words in a single day. I finished a novel draft in a single month. I had only been a true writer for a couple of months and now I won NaNoWriMo. All my life I have wanted to be a writer. Now I'm well on my way...
Friday, December 4, 2015
I haven't posted in weeks and that is because I was consumed with my crazy life and NaNoWriMo (that thing where you try to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November). Here's the gist of things: I recently turned that spark of writing desire into a flame of writing reality. However, my everyday life is not set up for a writing addict. Here are the reasons I shouldn't have had time to write this November.#1--I work full time. Not just 40 hours a week full time, but at least 40 hours, sometimes 50 hours or more on the job.
#2--I'm a mom. I have a 5 year old Kindergartener and a 2 and a half year old terror who need Mommy's constant attention when she's home because she's rarely home. My poor husband doesn't stand a chance to have time with me.
#3--My family is in the process of moving. We bought a fixer upper last month, have been renovating the whole place ourselves and started moving stuff in last week. So that means I've been spending every possible minute when I'm not working at my soon-to-be-house doing demo, painting, nailing floors, hanging cabinets, moving furniture, carrying boxes, unpacking boxes, etc., etc.
#4--Thanksgiving. 'Nuff said.
#5--Stomach flu. My whole family had the stomach flu at some point the week before or the week of Thanksgiving. It finally hit me with three days left of NaNo and I was already behind on word count. So, after 14 hours of sleep and writing zero words on November 28th, I knew I was too far behind in NaNo to ever catch up. I figured I might as well give up. I spent some time on the 29th relaxing (recovering) doing puzzles, watching TV, whatever.
That evening I looked at my word count and was depressed that I had made it so close (42,000 words) but didn't have time to finish. I decided to keep writing. Even if I didn't make it in time, I had to get close. I couldn't give up. I wrote 2,000 words. On November 30th, I woke up an hour early for work for no reason. My laptop lay next to me. I started writing. At work that day, I put off things I should be doing and wrote. By evening I had 46,000 words.
All month I had never written more than about 2,600 words in a day. By the time I dealt with the kids and put them to bed, I had 4 hours left to get 4,000 words. No way was this going to happen. But I sat down and started writing. At nine o'clock I was surprised I had written another thousand words. At this rate, I could finish in time. I would have to stay up late, but maybe it was possible. Ten o'clock--48,000 words. I was tired, sleepy. I thought, what was the point of "winning" NaNo anyway? I should just go to bed. But I was so close. I finally decided, I'd sit in bed and write. If I fell asleep, it wasn't meant to be. If I didn't fall asleep...maybe....
The last two hours were one giant word sprint. Don't edit, just write. It's not great writing, but it's something. Just write. 11:30 pm, thirty minutes left of November...50,000 words! I jumped on the NaNo site to verify...49,976 words. What? Speed typing, a couple more sentences. Verify. "WINNER!" Woo hoo!!!!!!! I had done it. I had survived November. I had typed 6,000 words in a single day. I finished a novel draft in a single month. I had only been a true writer for a couple of months and now I won NaNoWriMo. All my life I have wanted to be a writer. Now I'm well on my way...
Comments
Post a Comment