The Hare Is Waking Up

          If anyone is following me on the NaNoWriMo site, you know that I am way, way behind. I’m trying, really I am. I’m not going to make it to 50K by writing 2605 words a week, though. I wouldn’t be too concerned if this was a normal month and that low word count indicated time spent at the computer struggling with the story. I always go slower the first week or two (although not this slow!) as I get into the story, meet the characters, get to know their foibles, desires and fatal flaws. About halfway through the month, I realize I’m behind (like the hare in that old fable) and I sprint toward the finish. Usually I make it, but even when I don’t I double and triple my word count and feel good about my progress. And my story!

          This November is not a normal NaNoWriMo for me. This year I only have three weeks to get to the finish line. Or to get close enough that finishing will be a matter of squeezing tiny bits of time out of the remaining days. In case you haven’t picked up on it from previous posts, I’m a people and a family person. This Thanksgiving week will be filled with people and family activities that are becoming rarer and more precious as each day wings into the past. I won’t sacrifice that on the altar of NaNo. That means my 50K needs to be written by November 23.

          I thought I could do that. Easily. Just adjust my mental awareness of the deadline (I’m very deadline motivated) and start writing. Last week, though, life erupted around me. Family and household responsibilities, sick family members, a new family start-up business that required my help at unexpected times and more schedule-busting activities are conspiring to whittle away at my writing time. When I do finally sit down at the computer, I am utterly exhausted, falling asleep at my keyboard. I might eke out a couple hundred words, but not 1000. And I’m ignoring the scratchy throat that usually heralds a couple of days in bed. I can’t afford the time! My self-imposed deadline of Nov 23, when my Iraq-bound son and college-on-the-other-side-of-the-country daughter arrive for Thanksgiving holidays, is looming. If I don’t have 50,000, or at least 40,000 words written by then, it won’t happen.

          But I’m not giving up! No way! Darren Gore’s post last week reminded me of the reason I do this. It’s fun! Somehow a work attitude has permeated my writing this past year. It’s been an attitude that has drained away my excitement for the stories and my motivation and turned it all into guilt. I’d thought I’d whupped that puppy and sent him scurrying for cover, but he’s back nipping at my NaNo heels. And I’ve found a great way to get rid of him.

          Shonna told us about the Young Writer’s Program and I visited the site. The first thing that jumped out at me was the dare. “Have your protagonist send your antagonist a singing telegram.” Bingo! I’ve been searching for some childhood experiences for my heroine that will highlight the relationship with her father. He is the villain, but in my mind, not just the bad guy. In my mind, he’s a tortured, abused child who, through misunderstanding and the fear to trust anyone, has missed multiple opportunities to climb out of his dark dungeon. And I wanted to show at least glimpses of that downward journey. It will create credibility for the heroine’s love for him, making the story richer. This singing telegram was perfect. And, as a bonus, when I was writing it, the hero sprang into the scene as the 16-year-old messenger. THAT opens all kinds of possibilities for his future scenes.

          Maybe I was right after all. Adjusting my mental awareness of the deadline is working. I’m inspired by the dares from the YWP, energized by my growing enthusiasm, and encouraged that this week looks to be a lot less non-writing busy. I’m at that place in my NaNoNovel where the ideas are pouring out faster than I can keep up. And, when they dwindle and I find myself searching for more scenes, all I’ll have to do is to go mining through the already written scenes. I’m back in the race!

          (Yes. I do realize that I’ve used multiple metaphors throughout this post. If I had the time, I might go through the post and polish it down to one hard-hitting metaphor echoed from start to finish. In the spirit of NaNo, though, I’m leaving it. It’s written. It’s readable. And it’s done.)

          Off to my NaNoNovel!