“Write even when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you are writing, and aren’t writing particularly well.” – Agatha Christie
NaNoWriMo Update … 40,035 words
First Maggie got the doggie runs. She needed to go out every hour on the hour for the entire night. The consequences of not crawling down from my bed over the cab of my small RV was enough to make sure I kept getting up hour after hour.
So I awoke with very little sleep, and so my writing suffered. My best writing occurs when I am in bed by 10 p.m. and get up and get in front of my computer by 5 or 6 a.m.
Second it was Thanksgiving, and there was family around that needed my attention, or I needed theirs, or whatever. And calls from family far away, and too much eating going on, followed by several games of Settlers, none of which I won.
And so my writing suffered.
Today, with the end of NaNo only five days away, it was back to the keyboard. My decision to demand everyone leave me alone, however, has probably earned me a few black marks in my ledger. It’s the big Christmas decorating-day here at my son’s house in Harker Heights.
My daughter-in-law looked shocked when I refused the call to arms.
The upside, however, is that today I got past the 40,000 word mark. if I write 2,000 words a day for the next five days, I will meet the 50,000-word goal.
What I have going for me is that I think I’ve figured things out in my head on how my story is going to end. And that in my 37 years as a journalist I never missed a deadline.
I’m also thinking that my conclusion might not take the book all the way to 50,000 words, but I’m hoping that’s the case. I have lots of extra scenes in mind to flesh out what is already written. The trick will be to add these scenes without deleting all the unnecessary and redundant words that go into all my first drafts.
It takes much longer to write short than it does long.
So now if you’ll excuse me, I still have writing I can do today. I don’t want to push that deadline beyond my capability.
Fantastic photo, Pat! I can see why you wanna go back. Maine is a state I’ve never been to, but hope to visit next year.
Sending good thoughts your way as you reach the end of the NaNo goal.
Love the picture. Now that the end of the writing is in sight, I would think that things will go along much quicker than you imagine. And of course, you would have to take time off for Turkey Day!
Keep going Pat. You can do it! The goal is 50,000 words, even if they have to be revised a lot!
Thanks Nancy
Positive thoughts will win out in the end.
Jim
Love your photo, too. I live on the seacoast in New Hampshire, which is only one drawbridge away from Maine. Moose are a sight to behold; your photo says it all.