NaNoWriMo Almost Complete

At least I got to try all the Starbucks holiday drinks I wanted

NaNoWriMo is as much an exploration of me as it is of any creative content I produce. I learn as much about myself as I do about my novel and about the writing process.

This year’s NaNo proved especially hard for factors I hadn’t really anticipated but should have. It may be a sign of things to come.

While I set out to write 50,000 words for a novel in three parts, by the end of the month I had only written 42,000 words for two parts of the novel, the third one left untouched. It was not a frantic scramble at the end. I basically gave up with several days left in the month.

What happened?

1.     I was 7 months pregnant and the third-trimester fatigue stated to sink in.

2.     Demands from the business were harder to set aside in the evening.

3.     The flu: this is what sealed the deal. I got a terrible flu the day after Thanksgiving and it wiped me out for a week. I couldn't’ even write in bed and by the time I felt better I would have had to pull an all-nighter to meet my goal. Maybe in a non-pregnant body this would be possible, but my pregnant self can’t stay awake past 11:00pm.

All four versions of the holiday cup

I am proud that I was able to get to 42,000 words though. That’s nothing to laugh at. I also learned some valuable lessons about myself and my relationship to fictional writing amidst building a consultancy.

1.     I already have to write A LOT for my business: newsletters, articles, emails, and jus the act of writing all day in that setting makes the act of novel writing exhausting. In my other jobs, the hours of my day were occupied by meetings, simple emails, teaching, and doing endeavors I would otherwise not consider creative. But with my business veery act of writing is an act of creation, and I only have so much energy to create in the day. If I had a less creative job, I would look forward to novel writing more and more, but that’s not the space I am in now.

2.     I don’t like working at cafes anymore. Wow.  A big shift for me. Cafes used to be my writing haven, but perhaps because of pregnancy and fatigue keep me home more often. I wrote most of my NaNo words from the dining room table or my office. Getting dressed and going out to a café to order a decaf latte just seemed like too big of a pain when I could just write form home.

3.     I don’t like Starbucks anymore. Since I wrote there in November, I avoided the dreaded Christmas music. This year, I did sample all 5 of the drinks I wanted to try, but I found them all too sickeningly sweet and lacking in quality. Starbucks coffee itself is pretty bad.

4.     My novel is no longer the BIG thing I want to accomplish in my life. It has taken a backseat to my business and my baby. Priorities, priorities. I love my creative work, but right now I don’t have the mental focus to devote to this endeavor. I need to get my business going and get ready for motherhood. It does’t mean I wil never finish my novel or write again. It just means that this will project will have to live on the back-burner while the other areas of my life flourish.

Day	Date	Place	Goal Words	Actual Words
Thursday	1	living room table	1,000	705
		living room table		1,013
Friday	2	Starbucks		618
		Starbucks		331
Saturday	3	14th Street Café	4,000	666
		14th Street Café		1,360
		Astoria Coffeehouse		1,094
		Astoria Coffeehouse		886
Sunday	4	Blue Scorchers	4,000	1,072
		14th Street Café		878
		14th Street Café		725
Monday	5		1,000	-
Tuesday	6	Starbucks	1,000	489
		Starbucks		579
		Starbucks		198
		Starbucks		94
		Starbucks		287
Wednesday	7	Little T	1,000	76
		Little T		761
Thursday	8	office	1,000	158
		office		217
Friday	9	office	1,000	3,343
Saturday	10	office	4,000	1,386
		office		2,996
Sunday	11	office	4,000	1,461
				3,372
Monday	12		1,000
Tuesday	13		1,000	-
Wednesday	14		1,000	-
Thursday	15		1,000	-
Friday	16		1,000	-
Saturday	17	living room table	4,000	917
		living room table		200
		living room table		797
		living room table		1,868
Sunday	18		4,000	-
Monday	19	living room table	1,000	2,087
Tuesday	20		1,000	-
Wednesday	21		1,000	-
Thursday	22	living room table	1,000	1,180
		living room table		286
		living room table		1,457
		living room table		1,240
Friday	23	living room table	2,000	1,740
		Good Coffee		195
		Good Coffee		1,428
Saturday	24	living room table	2,000	831
Sunday	25		2,000	-
Monday	26	Good Coffee	1,000	375
Tuesday	27		1,000	2,500
Wednesday	28		1,000	-
Thursday	29		1,000	-
Friday	30		1,000
			50,000	41,866