Tidings of Comfort and Joy

I got through NaNo this year by the skin of my already skinny teeth. In 2007 and 2008 I had zoomed through the National Novel Writing Month challenge of writing 50k words during the month of November without too much stress. This year, with a very complex and demanding job, I was less than confident that I would be able to meet the challenge.

As usual, I planned ahead and did so in a big way. I announced on FaceBook my own challenge and thus, I was committed. My FB challenge was to write a minimum of 100 words a day for 100 days. I started in September and planned this challenge to take me through the end of the year. I was pleasantly surprised when other writers joined me and when many others cheered us on.

I was a cheerleader for those who seriously got their NaNo words in high gear but lagged far behind. Some days, after working 1o hours and driving a considerable distance home, it was all I could do to squeeze out the 100 words. I posted this tiny progress each day and did write more during my 3-day weekend but doubted that I would make it across the NaNo finish line. Imagine my surprise when a friend poked me the day after Thanksgiving to inquire as to my word count and I discovered that I'd written 44k. I made an all out effort and finished November with just over 51k. Amazed myself.

The moral of this tale is that by adopting the habit of daily writing, one can become more productive overall. Join me at http://www.facebook.com/junefaver to jump in and commit to writing. Have a great holiday season.

Coping my way through NaNo 2009

Well, it's on. This NaNo is going a lot slower for me than in the past. I'm having doubts as to whether I can do it or not.

The day job requires that I work 4-10 hour days and I'm doing well after the long drive home to be able to write my 100 words per day. I hear you. Nobody likes a whiner and if I didn't have this job, I could go live under a nice cozy underpass...and then how would I keep the computer online under the bridge?

I think that finding a sugar daddy at this point in my life is a little far-fetched...although I could be VERY nice to a man who would pay my bills and allow me to write my fingers to the bone. ;-)

So the answer is, I must cope. Cope with the day job. Cope with the commute. Cope with my darling family and beloved friends who think I should spend time with them. Cope with the mechanic and the grocery clerk. And don't forget, cope with Minx (Micro-Beast) the 7.5 pound bundle of energy who thinks my only function is to throw balls, open cans of dog food and give belly-rubs. Easy to cope with Emily and Daisy, my guardian cats who keep me centered, purred over, massaged and comforted throughout.

Enough of this whining. I am focused and opening the manuscript. Writing words and not fretting over whether or not I can write a full 50k this month. The truth is, who cares? What I will do is write new words and maybe make the 50k mark again this year. I will continue to drive to the day job, and go to writer's organization meetings and my critique group, and visit my family and have dinner with friends...and prepare a big Thanksgiving dinner for my family and clean up afterwards...and still manage to write a few more words. If you're NaNoing, I wish you the best of luck and hope you can cope. *hugs*

100 Words for 100 Days-The Challenge

For over 500 days, I committed to writing every day. During that time, I cranked out 7 complete novels. Not perfect, by any means...but finished first drafts. Words flowed without end. And then I stopped writing daily. I changed direction when I began editing the first drafts. I stopped the flow and focused on a different process. Polishing the manuscripts took precedence over writing new words. On September 22nd, in an attempt to unstaunch the flow, I issued a challenge to all who would take it on. The challenge is simply to write 100 words a day for 100 straight days. That will end up about Christmas time and possibly go through the end of the year. If you want to revise your writing habits, jump on board. After all, Nora Roberts empowered all writers to write a crappy first draft. You can post on my FaceBook page to brag or whine. Wish you the very best. Write on!!!