Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Mid-week NaNoPost



Including today, you NaNo'ers out there have almost a week left to work on your novel. Of course there's also a holiday tomorrow for those who celebrate Thanksgiving, the holiday weekend that follows, and assorted celebrations, visitations, possibly traveling . . . plenty to do, and to derail you during this last stretch.

I'll tell you a professional secret: there's always the possibility of something to derail you. Holidays, domestic crises, disappointments, arguments, family emergencies, equipment failure, power outtages, illness, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods -- and they all seem to happen at the worst moment, like right on the first day of a deadline week. Or on the last. Usually, on the last.

Here's another professional secret: whatever it is, don't sweat it. Deal with life, write when you can, and let the rest go until the situation improves and allows you more writing time. To do otherwise is like trying to juggle chainsaws. It's just not worth it.

That's not me saying give up. Doing this job is never about quitting, it's about making it a part of your life. Life is not going to stand still while you write, so you have to work it in. Sometimes you can do that, and sometimes you simply can't. You'd never give up watching television just because you got a flat tire on the way home from work and missed one episode of your favorite program, right? Same thing with writing.

I'll be back on Saturday with my NaNo wrap-up post. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving, and have a great weekend.

9 comments:

  1. Some interesting thoughts here. Interesting. I'm going to have some cake and consider if I could leave a better comment.

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  2. Um. Yeah. As one who has tried to juggle the chainsaw once or twice, this is good advice.

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  3. Good advice. Thanks.

    Have a Happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate and a Happy Thursday just to celebrate.Wild Turkeys

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  4. Happy Thanksgiving to you, too! I am grateful for my daily visits to your blog.

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  5. Happy Thanksgiving to you, Lynn. :)

    I won't 'win' NaNo again this year. Between the flu (which I still can't seem to get past) everyone else in the house being sick and a few other 'life gets in the way' things again this month, I have failed miserably. But I like my characters, so I'll keep plugging away. Thanks to your pep talks and encouragement. Maybe when this one is done, I'll even go back to the one I abandoned last year that was so close...

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  6. Happy Thanksgiving.

    I'm almost at the end of my Nano novel but can't quite figure out the ending. I have too many ideas so I'd better pick one and write it.

    I'll fix it later, right? :-)

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  7. I needed this post so much. Life has been insane and I've been twirling, not knowing how to put it all in perspective with the writing. Thank you.

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  8. I'm convinced that's the true test of NaNo. It's in November, the pre-holiday insanity month.
    It's good preparation for deadlines.
    Happy Thanksgiving!!!

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  9. I posted to our NaNo region some similar thoughts -- about writing when one can and not panicking. It's nice to see my thoughts echoed here!

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