It's November, and if you are a writer like me you know that it is NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month, a month where authors temporarily lose their minds in an attempt to write 50,000 words in thirty days. I've done this two previous years in a row and actually excelled. Then came this year...
What's different about this year you ask?
Well, this fall has not been going my way at all. I've had a sick relative that was in a hospital and then a physical therapy facility for a whole month who has now returned home, turmoil in my relationship that hopefully is calming down, a surprise book release, and another book coming out in less than two months. Who wouldn't be freaking out?!?
On top of that, the "perfectly constructed story idea" that sounded so good in my head is not going so well on paper. I can actually feel the psoriasis breaking out on my skin as I type this. So I'm not really feeling the spirit of NaNoWriMo this year.
So to soldier on, I've decided to do NaNoWriMo my way to keep the stress at a minimum.
Here's how I'm switching things up...
1. I left my "Home Region" on the NaNoWriMo website.
Why did I even join that region anyway? Even though it's one of the two closest geographically to where I live (as in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin) it isn't really accessible for me to get to write-ins 45 miles away when I have neither a car nor a license, nor, if I'm being perfectly honest, the spare time to sit around at a library working on the same thing I could be working on at home just for the sense of camaraderie. Besides that, there's one woman in my "home region" who is a total witch with a b. I mean on day one she claimed to have written over 13,000 words which I swear is an impossibility. I'm not competitive, but she gloats and rubs it in and is overall not a nice person - and this is the second year of having to put up with this. And I don't need the stress, so the group had to go.
Whew, I feel better already.
2. I'm taking on a "Que Sera, Sera" attitude.
If I can figure out the kinks in this story then eventually I'll finish it, even if I don't hit 50,000 words in the month of November or finish the first draft in thirty days. I'm not going to freak out if I don't. I'm patting myself on the back because you know what? I've already written 92,000 words this year on two other writing projects. That's pretty damn good if I say so myself.
3. I'm not writing every day.
Sure, I can tell you I'm sitting here on my laptop every day writing. But some days I'm just not feeling it. I'm not behind... I don't think? I'm at 12,000 words written since November 1st and I'm tired. So if I want to read, I'm going to read. If I have a book that pops up that I have to review or a blog post to type and schedule, that will come first. I can stress myself out by staring at a flashing cursor on the screen or I can relax and let the words flow out of me if and when they come.
4. I'm not thinking about writing when I'm not writing.
Sure, if an idea pops up, I'll write it down. But I have other things on my mind so I'm not going to panic and think "oh no, I haven't written today," or "I'm so behind on my word count!" Like I said, if it's going to happen, it will happen in time. I think that's part of my anxiety issue, I'm so afraid of what's going to happen if I don't get what needs to be done, done now that I don't stop and think about what will really happen, which usually is nothing. Why did we let NaNoWriMo get to be such a big thing? Did it used to be fun before all the competition and pressure? Some of my friends talk about being supportive and encouraging and I want to get back to that, not surround myself with writers who act like jerks and pick on people if they don't have a certain word count on a certain day.
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Are you doing NaNoWriMo? What are you doing to keep your stress levels in check?
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