But How Did You Find the Time?

This is the other question I get a lot.

To be honest, finding time to write was much easier than I had anticipated. No Plot, No Problem and the NaNo forums are full of helpful/panicky ideas, like cooking and freezing a month's worth of dinners and chopping up a whole bunch of veggies ahead of time, because you won't have time to cut your own vegetables in November!!!!!! And you'd better hire a maid because you won't be able to put your own laundry in the washing machine!!!!!

Pish posh.

Here's what I did:
Wrote during lunch breaks at work.
Wrote after Edythe went to bed (generally between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.) or during her naps on weekends.
Did some extra cleaning/organizing at the end of October so I could slack a bit in November.
Cut way back on internet time.*
Rarely watched TV. **
Tried not to start too many craft projects.
When I got stuck on one part of the story, jumped to another part. Or if I was bored, ended the scene and started a new one. If I was sick of a character, I stopped including her. It's my book, I can do what I want.
Rarely worked out.***

On the grand scale of busy times in my life, this past month doesn't rate anywhere near as high as, say, graduate school, or tech for virtually any show I've done. Or wedding planning. Or having a newborn.

If you're considering participating next year, I say go for it! You can find the time! If you want to.

It's the wanting to that's key.

I'm still writing 1k/day for fun, and can't wait for Script Frenzy in June!

*I think this is critical. I can't help but roll my eyes at the people stuck at 25,000 words today, but with a hundred posts by their NaNoWriMo profiles. That's increasing the wrong wordcount!
**This wasn't a change I made, but I think it did have an effect on my writing time, so I'm listing it.
***Okay, this one was bad. But it also had to do with the time/weather change (it's now dark and cold out so I can't take E for walks when I get home).

Two for One?

Hmnm. I think maybe I've started a second book. I don't know. It's gone off in a very different direction from my original NaNo project. This could be a good thing. Usually I enjoy the editing process much more than the first draft writing process, so I'll go with this extended drafting!

Work has been draining this week. I know all workplaces have their more difficult personalities, but the difficult personalities I work with are certifiable. Really.

I have this fantasy, where I stay home with Edythe and write during her naps. I'd get to see her for more than that hectic last hour before bedtime. We could go to the park, and hang out with my other mom friends, and make crafts together and sell them on etsy. Me and my girl, in our matching dresses that I'd sew. And I'd teach her to cook, and we'd make dinner for Christopher every night. I can see it now. Fire in the fireplace, fresh baked cookies on the table, Edythe and I and the cats, all lined up in a row and with cute little bows on our heads.

Whew! Ah, my tummy hurts from all the laughing. Yeah, that would be fun, living in a cardboard box and eating leaves for dinner.

Christopher and I have an agreement. I can stay home and write once my writing is generating actual income. I know, isn't he just annoyingly practical and unfair?

So, Can I Read the Book?

I've had a couple of people ask me if they can read the book.

The short answer is, no.

The long answer is, it's not anywhere near being completed. When I said I was "finished," I meant I'd hit 50K and had won NaNoWriMo. Even if I weren't still adding to the first draft daily (which I am), when writing at such a furious pace, the first draft is more like a sketch than a fully executed portrait. Add to the mix that this is my first novel, and you can imagine what a sketchy state it's in now, indeed. I'm actually a little afraid to go back and look at the first draft at this point. So I'll just keep making it longer!

A couple of my NaNo buddies are still furiously writing, so I want to give a shout-out and oodles of encouragement to CKHB, Harriet_Vane, crankymama, and Li! Go, mamas, go!

We Artsy Types Know How to Throw a Party

So, you may be wondering, other than adding that fabulous new winner icon to her website, how did RB celebrate finishing her novel?

Well first I told Christopher. He was happy for me, but not jump-up-and-down happy, as he had been to a friend's funeral that day. We opened a bottle of wine, special wine that we'd bought in September and saved for just this occasion. But it had gone bad. We opened a second bottle of the same, tried it, and it had gone bad too. So we toasted with a $6 bottle of Trader Joe's Coastal. And then we had one of those long, stay up way too late and get depressed conversations about What Are We Doing With Our Lives.

The next day there was a trip to the winery, where we exchanged the bad wine for good. The staff was very nice, the drive was beautiful, and Edythe did have fun playing in the leaves outside. But it was also freezing cold, we were in a hurry, and Edythe was a superfuss for the entire car trip.

And now, I'm missing writing every day. I have some more ideas for this novel, how I might take pieces from this project and use them with something else I've had in mind. We'll see. I'm going to write a bit tonight. Maybe I'll keep posting a daily word count, just to keep myself honest. It's interesting, though, that I already find that I read books differently. I pay more attention to structure and how the author reveals things about the characters.

I'll post more thoughts about the NaNoWriMo experience later, but now I need to write.

Edited to Add: 1143

November 23 and Guess What?

(Cue trumpet fanfare.) I finished the novel tonight!

Total Word Count: 50, 042

And now I'm going to back away from the computer and open up that bottle of good wine that Christopher and I have been saving for the occasion.

November 22. Happy Thanksgiving!

Tonight I give thanks for having an imagination, for having the ability to create, and for having a loving family who supports me despite my seemingly neverending supply of crazy ideas.

I am blessed to be able to celebrate today with so much of my family, from Little Edie who smeared apple pie all over her head, to my in-laws who braved the traffic to drive down from New Hampshire, and to my brother and sister-in-law and my Aunt who joined us from afar by phone. I do indeed have a lot to be thankful for.

Not to mention this crazy warm weather! Can you believe we were wearing sandals on Thanksgiving?


Today's Word Count: 699/2,000
Total Word Count: 46,318/50,000 (93%)

November 21

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and today it was 70 degrees outside. This is weird but good, because I think the warm weather loosened up my brain as well as my fingers. The story is just flowing now, and I seem to be at the climax, an exciting place to be.

Which, by definition, is what a climax should be, right?

I had planned to take tomorrow off to wallow in pie, but I have a feeling I may be back at the computer before Friday.

Today's Word Count: 2,435/2,000
Total Word Count: 45,619/50,000 (91%)