Well, I’ve admitted defeat. There was a long holiday weekend that was supposed to be all about the writing, but it turned out to be more about a lot of ocean swimming, going up into the mountain hinterlands, and driving a Jaguar.
Not my Jaguar, sadly, but I count myself lucky to have driven it.
Ordinarily, I’d be tearing myself apart for goofing off all weekend instead of writing. Certainly, if I were writing for deadline, I’d be in a world of pain right now (I was 15k words down on the 20th). In fact, if I had been writing for a freelance deadline I wouldn’t have gone on the trip — because I know myself.
The reason I’m not upset that I lost a long weekend writing is that I spent it living. I hung out with friends, talking and laughing and being obnoxious and silly. I spent some time on my own, in the sun and in the ocean. And I got to watch people, and listen to them, and just see life going on. And I saw some incredibly beautiful places, too.
I got to do a bit of living.
For me, and I suspect for a lot of people, everything is a story. At least, everything has the potential for a story in my fevered little mind. Hearing how other people talk gives me the ear and experience I need to write good dialogue. Seeing new places and doing new things opens up ideas and keeps me from getting in a rut.
Again, I emphasize–had I been under a professional deadline, I wouldn’t have gone.
That said, I’m at peace with losing NaNo this year. The story I was writing was holding together fairly well — it wasn’t a question of not being able to move the story forward, it was simply a matter of not organizing my time properly. I am a little sad I won’t have anything done for November 30, but I’m prepping myself now for Script Frenzy, which is in April.
Before that, I’m thinking of composing something for the BBC World Service‘s 2011 International Radio Playwriting Competition. The deadline’s in March, which is doable for a 60-minute radio play. Now I just have to come up with an idea.
November 29th, 2010 at 04:17
I think that’s fair. NaNo is a tool to help you/us. Life is the real deal, and sometimes the two don’t mesh. So it goes.
But don’t think that means you’re off the hook for finishing that story at some point. :)
January 27th, 2012 at 03:31
[...] Oh, NaNo (or, forgiving oneself) (storytrade.wordpress.com) [...]