November 18, 2009

This morning I moaned and groaned at breakfast about how far behind I had fallen on my NaNoWriMo book project. If I had been on track, today’s word count would have been at 29,988. Instead I was dragging at 21,691 words–more than 8,000 words behind.

I’d given two workshops last weekend, ended up sick a couple of days, and fallen behind. And with Thanksgiving coming next week, house guests for three days, and a huge dinner to prepare, I despaired of being able to get caught up. By my calculations, I’d need to write 3,100 words every day that I would have free in order to pass the 50,000 word mark before December 1.

Why Even Try? 

No doubt about it. I felt defeated. What should I do? Admit defeat gracefully now? Like most of you doing NaNo, I have a lot on my calendar that I can’t scratch in order to spend my days just writing fiction. What to do? What to do?

Later, in the margin of my Bible, I found a scribbled quote that grabbed my attention. It said: “The person who will not command his or her thoughts will soon lose command of his or her actions.”

That was me! My thinking had fallen to the level of complaints and “I can never get caught up!” My procrastinating actions were hard on the heels of my thinking, “proving” I couldn’t do it.

Switching Gears

Well, enough of that. I decided to take charge of my stinking thinking. First, I stared at the “13 Key Truths to Maximize Your Talent” taped to my computer. I read them out loud. I made some of them personal.

• Passion energizes my talent!
• Initiative activates my talent!
• Focus directs my talent!
• Perseverance sustains my talent!
• Responsibility strengthens my talent!

After letting these truths sink deeply into my thinking, I actually felt better! I didn’t feel like quitting anymore–at least, not yet. So I decided to see what I could do in a couple of hours this morning.

I was shocked. Believe it or not, with very little effort and no gnashing of teeth, I wrote 3,513 words in 90 minutes! I never write that fast. But changing my thinking sure changed my performance. You can bet that I’m going to use this technique again tomorrow!

6 Comments »

1. 

   Nice!

   Comment by Vijaya — November 18, 2009 @ 3:35 pm

2. 

   I don’t suppose I should complain. My word count’s been ahead of the game for the first half of the month. But I read your blog about “the middle”, and realized, hey yeah, I am lagging a bit. Monday I received horrible news that hit me like a transport truck running over my head, and now “the middle” is a giant tar pit. I don’t know how I can pull myself through the rest of the month. I really want to finish this story, because I really like it, and I’m not good at leaving stuff unfinished anyway. But my mind is running me right now, instead of the other way around, and to change that almost feels like a superhuman effort.

   Can it be done?? I need someone to tell me it can, because I’m not listening to myself right now.

   Comment by Yvette — November 18, 2009 @ 8:43 pm

3. 

   Yvette, I’m so sorry that you got some devastating news this week, regardless of NaNoWriMo. If you have to set the project aside to deal with something else, don’t give it a second thought. You can come back to finish when you’re able. NaNo also runs some other challenges during the year–you can check their website next month about that. Again, my advice probably wouldn’t be much help in a tragedy–just normal life circumstances. Take care.

   Comment by Kristi Holl — November 18, 2009 @ 8:51 pm

4. 

   I’m in almost exactly the same position. A little over 21,000 words thus far and wondering if it is possible to catch up in time. My sweet oldest daughter, 13 years old, and a writer herself, has been my biggest cheerleader. She encouraged me during the first week of NaNoWriMo when I was discouraged and already falling behind. She told me, “If you say you can’t and give up then you certainly won’t make it, but if you say you might and just keep going you never know what you can do!” Out of the mouths of babes. Now back to the novel…

   Comment by Stephanie — November 18, 2009 @ 10:28 pm

5. 

   Kristi, you inspire me so often through your blog, so today I want to tell you: “You can do it! You can finish NaNo!” And when you get to the 50K finish line, there will be many, many people waiting to applaud and thank you.

   Comment by Marilyn — November 19, 2009 @ 10:48 am

6. 

   Stephanie, your daughter is such a wonderful cheerleader! Good for her–and you! “If you say you might and just keep going, you never know what you can do!” That will be MY mantra too now!

   Marilyn, thanks for being my encourager today! I really appreciate it!

   Comment by Kristi Holl — November 19, 2009 @ 5:46 pm

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