November and NaNoWriMo

November is a busy time in my house. It always has been, as long as I can remember. I loved November when I was a child. I thought that school was closed all those days as a birthday present to me. Thanksgiving was a time for me to see all my relatives and usually score a belated gift or two. Yes, life was good.

Then I got older and had kids of my own. November turned into a nightmare. 'How many days off do I need to plan on for day care? How can I ask my boss for more time off? I have to start shopping for Christmas when, exactly?' And it only got worse as my boys got older. The end of the first quarter is in November, so there are loads of projects and final papers (help me Rhonda). And my Irish dance boy has all the prep and nerves leading up to the regional championships. We get to go to Phoenix in eleven days. Imagine the joy.

So this year, what do I do? On top of my ninth grader skirting with disaster in all his core classes? On top of spending three nights a week at a dance studio? On top of helping a friend untangle her new business accounting? Yep. I sign up for NaNo. What kind of cyber Kool-Aid did my friends entice me to drink?

But wait...I haven't crashed and burned. I've MADE time. I've written. I've gotten (as of yesterday) almost 12,000 words done on my new book. The words may be of questionable quality, but they're down on paper so I'm countin' 'em. The big shocker to me is that I've managed to stay almost caught up with the rest of the NaNo peeps.

It's been a crazy eight days so far. My kitchen table looks like a paper recycling bin. There are dishes in the sink and dust bunnies on the floor. But I've paid the bills and fed the kids. And in the midst of the craziness, I get a happy, warm glow from knowing that I've done something just for me.

What have you done for yourself lately?

Quote of the Week

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.” -Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

The Wisdom of Day Two

So we're not even forty-eight hours into this thing and already I've learned a lesson or two about cranking out 50K in 30 days.

1. It isn't going to be easy.
2. The amount of time your family will suddenly want to spend with you is in direct proportion to the amount of time you have planned to devote to writing.
3. Editing at this stage of the game is Not Good. One of the reasons that I worked so long with so little to show for it today is because I kept sneaking back into yesterday's work to add a thing or two here, to tweak a little there. This is bad. Wrong. Don't do it! Not until December 1, at least.
4. I need more sleep.

That last one should be easy to fix. I'm going to bed! I'll deal with the rest tomorrow.

What's the biggest lesson you've learned so far?