Monday Meanderings

Monday rolls around again, and I've no book review to share.  I did finally finish one--the October Terry Pratchett from my Humor Club read. But I've reviewed so many of his books, and I'm not sure I'm up for another--though The Hogfather seems to have called out some disgruntlement among other devoted fans.  The fact that I didn't have any problem with it suggests to me that I either wasn't paying enough attention or I'm easily satisfied.  Though I'm not sure I could make a coherent narration of the plot, that doesn't mean much with Pratchett.  So I'll digest that one a bit more before I decide if I want to attempt something of a review.

Meanwhile, what have I been spending my time on?  Editing, when I'm not campaigning (that's a different story and one I'll be happy to put behind me in 9 days).  And contemplating how to make the schedule work to join in the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) madness.  I had hoped to have the first Orcaville PTA mystery tucked away and the second fully outlined by the start of the month.  It is gradually dawning on me that it's simply not going to happen.  I'm thinking that I might start NaNo a week late, and let it run until I finish the draft, which is really the point anyway. 

Though all that might conflict with my plan to sleep for a week when the election is over.  Preferably on a beach in Tahiti.  Probably not happening anyway. 

See you Wednesday--I hope to have something worth sharing by then. 

Sometimes the work is watching you too closely.

And sometimes you have to look twice to find it at all.

What gets in the way

I just thought I'd detour here for a moment to talk about what gets between us and writing.  Mostly because right now a nasty headache is making me more than a little disinclined to do actual work.  That includes doing our taxes, writing, or (especially) editing.  And that made me think about all the things that get in the way for writers, especially for writers like me who are doing it as a sideline to two or three other jobs.

For the most part, I've been finding it to be a pretty effective approach to say that I work as a writer from 9-11 every morning (which incidentally works out to 10 hours a week, the same as my part-time job at the library).  The trouble of course comes in two parts, one of which I can control and one I can't.  No control over things like a stinking awful headache or kids who throw up. Just have to do my best to cope when and as they happen, and forgive myself for not being perfect.

Other areas are more fuzzy.  Appointments.  Why not make them some other time?  But it always seems like the only ones available are during the morning hours (probably because everyone else claimed the after-work or after-school times).  Chores.  I try to make them wait until after work (after writing and/or after work at the library).  But what about that commitment to reduce our carbon footprint by hanging the laundry outside?  That means the stuff has to be done in the a.m., or it does no good (I live in a climate that is marginal for drying laundry outdoors, though it is better in winter than summer).  Baking bread.  Gotta do that when I'm home for a longer period.  And those dang taxes.

But here's the thing: none of those things (except maybe appointments and taxes) needs to stop me from working.  I have to get up every 15 minutes or so anyway (I have some issues that make it a good idea not to sit too long).  A five-minute break to work out the bread or ten minutes to hang out the laundry doesn't mean I have to give up.  In fact, a little time to think never hurt anything, when it comes to writing.  It's a little like cheating on your diet.  You don't eat one cookie, decide you've failed at dieting, and go back to swallowing entire boxes of chocolate truffles in one sitting.  Even an appointment isn't a disaster.  I've learned to carry my notebook everywhere, and scribble a page or so while waiting for the doctor or dentist.

Same with writing.  You have a bad day, but get back at it next day.  You spend half an hour of your writing time unclogging the toilet?  Great, you still have 90 minutes.

And as for the headache?  I managed to complete grad school with a headache (my memory says it was pretty much constant.  Given the nature of graduate school, that may well be accurate).  Surely I can write 500 words that way.  They don't even have to be good words.  Anne Lamott said so!

 When in doubt, Stinky says: have another cup of coffee!

NaNoWriMo

What the heck.  Everyone else is talking about it, so I might as well too.  The month is November, and the title stands for National Novel Writing Month.  It's an interesting concept--get together (virtually, of course) with all the people who are always saying they are going to write a novel, and commit to producing a draft (or some 50,000 words, anyway) in one month.  Clear the decks and make it a priority, presumably except when actually stuffing yourself on Thanksgiving turkey.  Have a website where people can log their progress and offer each other support.

So I'm intrigued by the idea, especially as all my novels have been written over the course of not days and weeks, nor even months, but years.  I have always shoehorned a bit of writing in here and there, right up to this year, when I committed to getting the second Ninja Librarian novel out in a year, which means working at it like I mean it, but still has let me take about eight months for a draft, (leaving four for revisions, though some revising has happened as I go, whenever I just don't have a new story in me).  Compressing that into a single month would mean taking a very different approach to my writing--not scheduling it in when other commitments allow, but putting aside other commitments to make writing my primary job.

To be honest, I'm not sure I could do it.  For one thing, some of my commitments are, well, things to which I'm committed.  I can't blow them off for a month.  I could still work around that--many people do NaNoWriMo while working full time.  I can only assume that they blow off commitments to family (if any), exercise, and sleep.  My writing matters to me.  But my family and my health, I cannot deny it, matter more.  I'm not very creative when sleep-deprived anyway.

Then there's the matter of sitting still.  How do they do it?  If I stay at my desk or computer for more than a half hour at a stretch, I get so stiff I'll probably never move again.  I fidget a lot, and I mix writing with housework to avoid petrification.  That works for me, but probably will never allow for 50,000 words in 30 days.  But who knows.  Maybe another year. . . because an awful lot of this sounds like excuses.  I am growing very suspicious of all the reasons why I can't write more.

Still, I won't be participating in NaNoWriMo this year.  I may make November revise-a-novel-in-one-month time, however (a far more painful project).  I'm on track to finish my first draft within a week or so, and will be working hard to beat it into its final form before the New Year is very old.  Given the impact of the December holiday season on my ability to find time to write, November looks like a good month for rewrites.  I have to be sure to give my readers and editors plenty of time, too.  They'll be working on it at the same time I am, but they have lives too.  Then I have to put it all together.  Writing a draft is only the beginning. 

But it's a darn good beginning.

Maybe next year.