For those of you who don’t know, November is NaNoWriMo, short for National Novel Writing Month. What, you ask, in the holy hell is that? Well, it’s just as scary as it sounds — especially as I am a participant this year.
NaNoWriMo was created by a group of sadomasochists ambitious people who knew, just knew that they could write a 50,000 word novel in a month if only they sacrificed every waking second toward this endeavor. Then, they spread the punishment idea around the internet, and gullible hacks overachievers like me thought to themselves, “Hey, I am already spending every waking hour writing copy and articles and looking for enough writing and editing gigs to pay for my daily food habit, so why not squeeze in several more hours of unpaid work everyday?”
Working fourteen hours a day has never been easier!
So yeah, this is where I’ve been all month. Holed up in my office, writing a novel.
My cat’s in here somewhere. Probably gnawing on my power chord again.
I’m working more hours than I have since being a full-time grad student with two jobs, but let me tell you — I freaking love it. Though I’m tired and busy, this madness will not last forever. At least it’ll be over once I finish my manuscript, sell it for a billionty dollars and then live out the remainder of my days in Provence eating nothing but cheese and gelato, churning out a novel every few years.
Yes, I am grounded in reality. Why do you ask?
So, just for a little fun, here’s a list of things I’ve learned so far from NaNoWriMo:
- Writing a novel is hard
- My husband doesn’t like being ignored, even if it’s “for the sake of my art! and by extension, the world!”
- My cat likes to sit on my lap precariously while I’m typing, grooming herself and holding on with her claws and sheer determination
- My dog is annoying
- There really are not enough hours in a day. I’m thinking of proposing the addition of three extra hours per day, minimum
- Writing takes a lot of energy that must be properly fueled with gallons of herbal iced tea, many cups of Turkish coffee, and homemade almond flax bread
- I am behind on my word count (1,667 words per day), and this is not bothering me nearly as much as I thought it might
- On a side note, I am self-diagnosing again, which prompted me to crawl out of my
holeoffice and make a doctor’s appointment. Vive l’assurance maladie! - I’m not very good at procrastinating when there’s a deadline
- Similarly, I forgot that I’m a bit of a workaholic when it comes to doing something I love
- Breaks every once in a while are necessary for those prone to hysteria
- My real-life friends are gracious, as I’ve been neglecting them this month
- Writing gets easier the more you do it
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