I fail

Well despite the best of intentions I didn't increase my word count much since my last blog post. So you could say I failed at Nanowrimo. Or you could say I succeeded at trying.

Between governmental paperwork, doctor appointments, dental appointments, my daughter getting her wisdom teeth out, and her panic attacks I have had a busy time of things. I have actually been exhausted, and so I am glad I didn't push myself too hard.

Another wall

Here I am working hard at my novel, which is a change since I've procrastinated it almost constantly. But I've hit a rather unexpected wall.

I am at about 10,000 words. I have 40,000 more to go. But I am almost at the end of the story that I had outlined.

What to do, what to do.

Do I just finish it the way I have it and not worry about winning Nanowrimo?

Or do I add more to it? Perhaps an extra few chapters or more characters. Maybe even a huge flashback sequence would need to be added.

I just don't know what I want to do.

But I do know that chocolate will make me feel better.

More than just hitting a wall

I had two lovely days of writing bliss, working on my Nanowrimo novel without any real inconvenience. Then life decided to tell me I was foolish.

My cold is worse. I have a fever that requires Advil plus Tylenol plus Aleve in order to reduce. I am extremely tired and could probably sleep all day if I wanted.

My daughter's mental health issues have reared their nasty heads and she therefore requires extra attention and help getting through the day. It doesn't help that she has a three day weekend.

I am having difficulty concentrating. I don't know if it's because of my cold, some anxiety over government red tape, worry for my daughter, or whatever else. Maybe it's all of the above.

I don't know if God is trying to tell me that I was foolish to think I could do this novel. Maybe it's just a test of my perseverance. Either way I'm 2 days behind now in my word count. There will probably be a few more days of no writing until I feel better. I don't know if I'll be able to finish it this month. But I would like to try.

Challenging myself

I haven't blogged much this past month. I've been busy with my kids, playing Halo: Reach, and preparing for my very first NaNoWriMo. I have refined and outlined my plot and settings. I have a good idea of my characters. I even thought of a title: Coffee Run.

I am still a tiny bit scared to death. I don't want to fail, but I don't want to be too scared to try either. So I'm stepping out in faith and determined to do my best.

Writing a novel

I am on medication that causes me to have intense wacky dreams (a very strange side effect.) I have dreamt things that are so bizarre I can't imagine where my mind got the ideas from. The other night my dream turned a little unusual. I dreamt a long and complicated story in which I was someone else. There was a cool plot, subplots, and side characters as well. I woke up thinking it would make an interesting novel or movie. Seeing as I have virtually no video-making or editing skills I have decided to try to write it out as a novel.

On one of my podcasts I learned about NaNoWriMo which is a website where you can sign up to dedicate yourself to writing an entire novel in the month of November. November is quite a ways away. I still decided to join since I can use the time beforehand to create character descriptions and plot outlines as well as prepare myself mentally.

I don't know if I will ever complete or publish the novel, but I intend to thoroughly enjoy myself during the entire writing and creative process.