NaNoPREPPED

I’ve got it.

I’ve got an idea. I’ve taken some notes. I put the project into the NaNo website and I am READY TO GO.

Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com

Happy NaNo Eve, friends!!

Angels and Demon Coworkers

Forgive me, Internet, for I have sinned. It’s been 19 days since my last post.

It’s just that I’ve been in work hell this whole time, battling my inner demons and their outer demons and the angel on my shoulder, it turns out, was just blowing smoke up my ass so I wouldn’t give up and leave her there by herself. It’s been more than your average amount of adjustment to a new job. Some day I’ll write a book about it.

But not today.

TODAY, I am here to declare: I am going to sort of try to maybe do NaNoWriMo this year. I’m not hopeful–as I say every year because every year is a fresh hell of scheduling insanity and massive teetering piles of responsibility–but I’m going to TRY. And if I fail, well then at least I will have written something which is more than I can say for the past… ohhh… so many months I can’t even count.

I am missing the process of writing. I am missing the community of writers. I’m missing the part of my soul that isn’t daily tortured by bureaucracy and inept coworkers.

Friends, I am ready to WRITE!

P.S. I’m pantsing so hard this year that I have… no… starting point for this year’s project.

 

I have no idea what I’m doooooooing! Photo by Jopwell on Pexels.com

Too Far Away to Camp

It’s so cute how I make little To Do notes to myself that say things like, “Finish writing that story” because… I’m not gonna finish writing that story. I’m going to open the document, stare at it, play some Twitter #amwriting hashtag games and then take 16 Buzzfeed quizzes.

This is why every other month should be NaNoWriMo. It’s the only way I get anything done.

WriMo Completo

So, that’s done.

I’m gonna go walk confidently to the coffee machine now, making no eye contact and checking the floor for obstacles.

It’s NaNoYoBusiness

Yes, today is the last day of NaNo and yes, I should be focused on that but instead, I’m thinking about How To Walk, as taught by a college professor of mine.

You must walk with your chest or hips leading. You must hold your chin up, keep your back straight. You must keep your eyes up and make eye contact with the people you pass. This is what confidence looks like and you MUST project confidence.

Ok, but… must I? Must strangers know that I am CONFIDENT or can I just BE confident and not care what strangers think? Must I make eye contact or can I just ignore most of the people I pass because what the hell do I care what they’re doing? Must I keep my eyes up because I’m nearsighted and I do not wear my glasses so, for real, I need to look down a lot so I don’t trip.

Must I project confidence? Because I’d rather project LEAVE ME ALONE, I’M NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.

This train of thought brought to you by The Extroverts Ain’t Always Right, Just Loud Awareness Campaign.

Now let’s go quietly be confident that I’m going to win Nanowrimo 2018 because that’s for me, ya’ll. I write for me.

NaNo Freaking Problem, Ya’ll

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I’m not counting my chickens or anything but there’s two days left of NaNoWriMo and my wordcount is 48,385.

So. You know. I’m feeling a little…. INVINCIBLE!

You can’t stop me, life! You can’t slow ME down, priorities! You can’t– oh wait, both kids pooped and it’s almost dinner time and I have to bring the boy to karate in an hour? Right. So… I’m occasionally vincible. That’s ok.

 

NaNoPants

There are certain drawbacks to being a pantser. For instance, I just discovered what a total douche one of my main characters is and now I’m like, LET’S JUST SCRAP THE WHOLE THING because this isn’t working out the way I thought it would.

There are certain benefits to being a pantser. Now this character is intentionally a douche bag and there will be consequences for his actions. I don’t know what they are yet, but I look forward to seeing his comeuppance.

NaNO Arguing with Word Count Goals

I’ve read a bit about the use of “she said”s , both the pros and the cons, and while you really could come down on either side of the debate, I was two words away from today’s NaNo word count goal.

So you know what? She said.

Self-Fulfilling NaNophesy

I met the word count goal 8 days in a row and told myself I’d catch up on Sunday when I fell behind.

It’s Sunday, I have a half-dozen metaphorical fires to put out, and my brain does not care half as much about writing this thing as it does making sure the rest of my life doesn’t burn down around me.

This is what I anticipated when I started NaNo this month. I was kinda just hoping that was the pessimism talking and that it’d all work out in the end.

NaNoProblem

It’s only three days in so really, it’s too early to make any predictions but what I’ve got going for me so far:

• I’ve met the word count goal every day so far
• I’ve found a way to sneak like 15-20 minutes of writing into my regular routine with only minor changes that my son only sort of notices.
• My husband is on board so far with helping me find more time by taking the kids on a nap ride in the afternoon without me. This won’t work every day but it’s working so far
• I’ve chosen a story that I’m interested in finding out more about in a location I’ve been curious about for a while with a main character who reflects some of my current attitudes about interacting with other humans (bad) so it’s been easy to write so far
• I’m so used to surviving on precious little sleep at this point. Like, why not stay up writing a few extra half-hours?

What I’ve got going against me is:

• Having two children now, neither or whom will nap without a ride in the car or go to bed at night without a whole lot of love and attention.
• Two imploding job situations where I’m dealing with two separate sets of problems alongside two teams of people who can’t always handle their shiz
• Honestly, like three or four non-consecutive hours of sleep at night. I’m on the brink of sleep-deprived madness, for REAL. Maybe it’s fueling my creativity? Or maybe it’s making my husband and children WANT to escape from me for a few hours every afternoon. Hard to say.

Anyway, I’m at 5100 words and the fam’s not back from their nap ride yet so I’m going to forge ahead and make tomorrow easier.

Or I could take a break and watch another episode of A Million Little Things. Can you believe the baby’s father is the other guy? No, because you don’t care? Well, I kinda do… for the 54 minutes I’m watching, anyway.