None of these are acceptable excuses to stop writing because they’re all things that will plague you the rest of your writer life. The only difference between a hobbyist and a professional is that one allows these things to stop them, and the other does not. If you want to turn this into a job, you have to learn how to manage these things and power through.
I’ll admit I’ve been pretty hard on everyone, cracking that whip like I’m known to do. I do it to myself all the time, which is why I’ve been able to accomplish what I’ve been able to accomplish.
Sometimes, though, life comes knocking at the door and cannot be ignored. Many times this unwelcome visitor comes bearing unexpected gifts, like chaos that you’ll have to manage first and foremost so that you can get back to writing.
It’s inevitable, really. Life has a habit of making a mockery of all your best-laid plans.
Knowing this, I had already outlined a spot for it during the midway part of the month just to show how this works in practice, fitting into an actual working writer’s life.
Sadly, I’ve been expecting real life to pay me an unwelcome call this month, due at any moment. My mother has been put into hospice care and is not doing well, which means I’m not doing all that well. Most times, including a couple of times this year already, the Grim Reaper doesn’t give me a heads' up. Of all the (many) deaths of my loved ones, most have been a complete shock/surprise. (My dad when I was 11, my uncle when I was 13. My 2-year-old niece when I was 14. My 9-day old son, my first husband, my sweet and wonderful friend James.) Only with my Aunt Eleanor, my Uncle Mac and my mother has there been any warning.
It’s almost worse somehow. The mourning period has begun, even though – technically speaking – there’s nothing quite yet to mourn. She’s still here but she isn’t. And I’ve had a bitch of a time managing how I feel about it.
Mostly I’ve been powering through, keeping myself busy and focused on the Nano project as a means to cope. But I knew that there would be a day (at least) at some point this month that I’d want to call a Time Out. Plus there’s my birthday, there’s Thanksgiving… real life is happening all over the place, and it’s up to me to figure out where to fit the writing into it.
The deadline is set. The word requirement is set. Our lives? Not so much. Things happen, and that’s just the reality.
I wanted to show that in practice, too. Though I respect Stephen King to the moon and back, I’ve never been an “X-number of words a day” writer. My life, such as it is, has always demanded a more fluid schedule, and that’s never been truer than when I became a full-time writer.
I wanted to use this chapter to show you how to keep balance. To show that sometimes it’s necessary (and okay) to walk away from the material. If you’re writing something heavy and you need to skip a day to mentally regroup, there’s nothing at all wrong with that approach. To complete Nanowrimo, you simply need to finish 50,000 words in a month. How you fit them into that month is up to you.
I prefer to stay ahead of the game, writing as much as I can when I can, to allow for this time off that I know I’ll need or suspect I’ll need. Instead of writing 2,000 words per day every day, some days I’ll write 5,000 and some days I’ll write nothing at all. Some days it’s like pulling teeth just to reach 1,000 words, and that’s never a fun experience.
I double up whenever possible to make room for those days. I don’t know when I’ll need them, just that I’ll need them, and I like to be prepared, even for those things for which you can never prepare.
Then, Friday 13, 2015 happened. Then Paris happened. And I really don’t think I need to add any more on how priorities can shift on a dime.
We’re going to take a break today, and it’s going to be okay. We may have to double our output tomorrow, and that’s okay, too. This is all part of the process.
Sometimes it can even work in your favor. Instead of one bad day where you have to pull a bunch of crap words out of your keister with a rusty pair of needle-nose pliers, you can take a break and come back in that ring swinging. You’ll throw down a thousand words or two without any effort at all, just because you took a few moments to sit on that stool and refocus.
Even though you won’t be producing content, your mind will be hard at work on your WIP anyway. Let it simmer in your subconscious. Much of what you do as a creative artist is mental, as your beautiful mind ticks away with all sorts of ideas that it can consider and discard before you ever commit anything to paper.
This time away from the keyboard will develop that muscle. Pro-tip, though. Take notes of anything that does come to you in the down time. If you’re lucky, your characters will keep whispering to you in those quiet moments when you regroup, which will encourage you to jump back into it as soon as you’re ready and able.
In the meantime, find a way to reclaim your zen. I personally like walks at the park, around nature, where it’s green. Exercise works well. Listen to music. Go to a museum or art gallery, immerse yourself in other forms of creative expression to renew the soul. Sometimes just catching a silly movie with your bestie is all the shot in the arm you need. Meditate. Try hypnotherapy. Even better, read. I usually find that I can’t make it a page or two before I jump back into my WIP, inspired and renewed to finish my own project.
Whatever you need to do to take care of you needs no permission or apology.
Life will hit the pause button every now and again, and that's okay.
Do whatever you can, to be ready, to take control, so that you can resume "play" tomorrow.
Started First Draft: November 14, 2015 4:01pm PST
Completed First draft: November 14, 2015 5:06pm PST
Word Count of first draft: 1,008
Completed revisions: November 14, 2015 5:49pm PST
Updated WC: 1,129/53,350
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