WAVING THE WHITE FLAG

I had a very productive weekend of packing.  We have boxes stacked everywhere and it's evident that we are moving.  We are using paper plates, plastic silverware and cups.  I kept out two ceramic coffee mugs and two wine glasses (who wants to drink wine out of plastic?  well, not me)

That being said, I did not write one darn word all weekend...not one word, until last night when I opened my novel and wrote four words.  It was late, I was tired but I thought maybe my imagination and fingers might come back to life.  They didn't.  I wrote my four words and shut my laptop down and went to bed.

I clearly am not going to finish this novel in the next three days.  I may get to 20,000 words by then (but that is doubtful). 

I am missing the 50,000 mark by a lot. 
I will not win Nanowrimo this year. 
I am okay with that. 

The upside is that I have a strong start to a good novel and I completed a lot of writing despite travel and moving.  I will just have to continue my heroine's journey after we get moved into our new house. 

Until then, I will carry on with more sorting, cleaning and packing.

NANO-ING

I'm very far behind on my word count.  But I am much further ahead on my writing in general, than I ever would have been had I not signed up for Nanowrimo.

I have every intention of finishing (still).  My novel has taken shape and is off in a good direction.  I just need to close myself off from the world for a week and do nothing but write.  No eating, no sleeping...just writing.  It will never happen, of course, but that is what it will probably take.

I finally reached 10,000 words on Thursday night and then only wrote 719 more on Friday.  Way behind the 1,667 words a day to finish by November 30.  I plan to get more writing done today, and I have tomorrow, too. (That's what I keep telling myself so I don't quit.)

I have to admit that it is overwhelming with all the catching up I have to do.  I don't even want to say how far behind I am...Let's just say I might as well be trying to scale Mt. Everest. 

That is how daunting my goal feels right now to me.

Okay, I am through whining here...time to write.  See ya!

PACKIN' UP

We've begun packing!  I have one room started and it feels good to have made this first step.  We took down the pool, scrubbed and hosed off the liner and folded it up.  That was a huge chore in and of itself. 

We will be in the new house before Christmas, though I am not certain how prepared I will be for Christmas decorating and entertaining.  I'm sure it will probably be chaotic, but we will be somewhat settled (not unpacked) in the new house. 

So, I thought I'd get more writing done this weekend, and it was not for lack of time, but instead I struggled with a bit of writer's block.   

My writer's brain was somewhere else.  I couldn't get a writing flow going until, of course, Sunday night at the precisely the time I needed to turn in for the night.  So, I left a sentence hanging and went to bed.  I'm hoping that the flow will return when I open my laptop up again, tonight.

My goal is to write a novel in 30 days.  If I don't complete it, I will still have written more and been writing more consistently than I have in a long time.  That is already true and I'm feeling more in tune as a writer than I have in a long time.

It's typical for me to get a brainstorm late at night and then stay up writing into the wee hours, until my eyelids are so heavy that I can barely focus on the screen.  But working a full time day job requires sleep, so that makes meeting my writing goals a bit trickier.

Balancing my writing with everything else is hard, but I'm just gonna run with it.

NOVEL START TO NOVEMBER

Well, I have jumped into NANOWRIMO with both feet and jammed with a storyline that began to just fly out of my fingers onto the screen.  Sure surprised the heck out of me.

For a month now, I have fretted about an outline and coming up with some ideas and that was making me feel very stressed.  When I am stressed, I just want to hide away and usually I get nothing done, so that's what happened with my preparing for my Novel adventure this month. Nothing.  No preparation.

And suddenly, it was November 1st and I had no choice but to begin writing.

Last night, after dinner...I opened my laptop and began typing.  Sentences. I was ecstatic when a character emerged and before I knew it, so had a crazy plot line. 

Just like life, I have no clear idea where this is headed, but I can promise that it's going to be a twisting, quirky ride to get to the end.

I can't wait until tonight when I am able to continue my character's journey!  Day one down.  1,676 words.  On track.