December 1, 2008

Up until 9 p.m. last night, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it. Everything in me wanted to watch TV and eat chocolate or bury myself in a good mystery (and eat chocolate). But shortly after 9 p.m. I did a quick word count and realized I’d actually gone over the required 50,000 words. I quit in the middle of the scene and cheered. And got the chocolate.

Bits and Pieces, Inch by Inch

Until Week Four, I was on track with my word count, and my plan for Thanksgiving week had been in place since October. I would write three hours Thanksgiving morning, cook my part of the feast and head to my daughter’s for the whole family gathering at 1:00 p.m, then go to my husband’s family gathering that night. On Friday I expected to be in the car eight hours going to see more family, then in the car on Sunday eight hours coming home. My laptop was ready with an extra battery. I’d written volumes on this trip one other time, and I was actually looking forward to it.

The night before Thanksgiving all plans changed. No trip. No driving on Friday and Sunday, giving me sixteen hours with my laptop to finish the final 12,000 words needed to meet the NaNoWriMo challenge. Instead, we’d be home, and someone requiring entertaining and feeding would be here too.

No Way, José!

I could see no way to meet the deadline with the change of plans. I finally decided I would write as much as I could, sandwiching in the writing time between meals and talking and going places. I would get up real early and write also. For several days, I wrote two hours while the rest of the world slept. I snatched bits of time here and there, sometimes up to an hour if they napped or ran an errand. I plotted in my head while I cooked and while on a walk in a park. Then at my next opportunity, I dashed into the office and typed up a scene. I didn’t bother posting the word count for several days, knowing all those bits and pieces couldn’t be adding up to much.

Boy, was I surprised!

By Saturday night when I added up the hit-and-miss chapters, I was within 5,000 words of making the NaNoWriMo challenge! After church on Sunday, I was home by 1:30. Done eating by 2:30, and the house was empty shortly after that. I decided to try to make the goal, if I could do it without killing my neck and back. I wrote (badly), took short breaks, ate a ton of cheese and crackers, and finally finished after 9 p.m.

The Time Lie

Unknowingly, I had fallen for the “time lie,” as Julia Cameron calls it in her book, The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life. “The myth that we must have ‘time’–more time–in order to create is a myth that keeps us from using the time we do have… Years as a single mother, a full-time teacher, and full-time fiction writer taught me to grab for time to write instead of wait for time… Grabbing works.” Later she wrote about living her life with family and friends, filling in the blank spots with writing, instead of the other way around. “I like writing to be more portable and flexible. I like writing to be something that fits into cracks and crannies. I don’t like it to dominate my life. I like it to fill my life.”

I wrote like that for twenty years, when my children were babies and toddlers and as they grew. The family came first, including everything that went into keeping a house and husband happy. But when my last “baby” went off to college in 2000, I finally was able to structure my writing the way I wanted to, writing early in the day in big chunks, leaving marketing or teaching or housework/meals for later. I realized during Thanksgiving that I had become rather rigid. I was delighted that I could still remember how to “write in the cracks and crannies” when I needed to.

I’m glad the NaNoWriMo month is over. I’m thrilled to have finished rough drafts of one book and half of another juvenile novel, which I plan to finish drafting by Christmas. My desk is piled rather high with stuff to attend to. And unlike others who conquered all their Christmas shopping on Black Friday, I haven’t even begun. But I’m really glad I did the challenge in November. I plan to do it again next year. I’d be glad to have some company! Anyone care to join me?

8 Comments »

1. 

   Congratulations on making your NaNoWriMo goal, Kristi!

   Comment by PatriciaW — December 1, 2008 @ 8:17 pm

2. 

   Thanks for sharing your nano challenges!

   I, too, had an exciting last-weekend of nanoing, but I made it! Woo-hoo!

   Feel free to jump over to my blog to recount my adventure with me!

   http://avilyjerome.blogspot.com/

   And I’ll see what I can do about joining you next year, too!

   Comment by Avily Jerome — December 1, 2008 @ 10:54 pm

3. 

   Congrats! I didn’t make it this year, but I plan on doing it next year as well.

   Comment by JC Martin — December 2, 2008 @ 2:33 am

4. 

   Thanks for the pat on the back, Patricia!

   Comment by Kristi Holl — December 2, 2008 @ 2:50 pm

5. 

   Hi, Avily! I will definitely pop over and read about your own NaNo adventure! I am re-reading the rough draft today–with fear and trepidation!
   Kristi

   Comment by Kristi Holl — December 2, 2008 @ 2:52 pm

6. 

   The trick is planning ahead, JC, if you do it next year. I already know some things I will do differently–and I will plan in some buffer time for when things come up!
   Kristi

   Comment by Kristi Holl — December 2, 2008 @ 2:54 pm

7. 

   Fantastic, Kristi. And you are so right about the cracks and crannies, when we have to. But when we don’t have to, having several hours or days is just bliss.

   Comment by Sherryl — December 2, 2008 @ 8:09 pm

8. 

   Sherryl, you are so right. And I still dream of having a week or two at a mountain cabin retreat or seaside cottage, where I do nothing but eat and walk and write and read and sleep, then start the cycle over. That is my idea of heaven!
   Kristi

   Comment by Kristi Holl — December 3, 2008 @ 4:18 pm

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