After a year long hiatus, I'm back to finally updating my blog. It has been a crazy year filled with growing children, job quitting, a lot of writing and a little bit of being published. Yes, I've finally had a few short stories published and I couldn't be happier about it. How's that for a not-so-subtle plug?
So, a year later, what am I up to now? You guessed it -- writing. You'd think that not having a full time job would allow me more time to accomplish this, but the fact is, it's still a struggle. I'm learning that although I am not paid for 40 hours/week, I still have a full time job. I have two beautiful, growing children, a husband and a house to look after and they all require most of my time. Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way. The kids and my husband are what make life worth living. I thank God every day for them.
Being a writer, however, doesn't really allow you the choice to focus on one aspect of your life. As the characters in my head demand, their stories must be told. If I don't write, all of these strange conversations and character revelations bounce around my head until I put them to paper. Writing is the only way to get a moment's peace! So I continue to struggle with making my writing a priority. Enter the mother of all writing committments -- NaNoWriMo.
For those not familiar with NaNoWriMo, let me explain. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writer's Month. Every November, writers from all over the world set out on a quest to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Insanity is not a strong enough word for it. But while those of sound mind would never attempt it, writers (who are definitely not of sound mind) wait all year for their chance at NaNoWriMo glory. I am one of these crazy writers. Of the two years I've competed, I've only finished once and that was two years ago. In my defense, November of last year brought 4 weeks with 12 hours of mandatory overtime each week with it. No way all of that extra work time would allow a 50K word novel to materialize. This year, I have no excuse.
So, in the 30 days leading up to it, I am outlining the novel that I intend to write during the month of November. I'm about half way done and insanely excited to write it. I am also, however, dreading it. That, in a nutshell, sums up NaNoWriMo -- the thing you look forward to hating.
So, I'll outline and try to submit a few more short stories before I enter the craziness that is November. While others are planning Thanksgiving dinner or beginning their Christmas shopping, I will be sitting here, trying to figure out what Andi is going to do about her werewolf's legal dilemma. It will be awesome!
