Brace yourselves, NaNo is coming...

In just a few short hours I will be embarking in the yearly month of caffeine driven brain farts and hand cramps, also known as National Novel Writing Month. For some (that’s me) 50000 words in one month can be stressful. It’s time to lay down some ground rules for myself.

My NaNoWriMo rules:

1. You do not have to stay up till midnight writing on the first day if you feel sleepy. Or any other day. You have to work the next day and unfortunately don’t have the privilege to stay home and write all day with nap breaks.
2. No writing at work. Multitasking to that degree stresses you out and you get so distracted even on slow days that you’d write like four words anyway. Relax. You can write when you clock out.
3. You must write every day. None of that ‘it’s been a long day’ or ‘I’ll make it up tomorrow’ nonsense. You know you’re lying. One page, one paragraph, one sentence. That’s all I’m asking.
4. Don’t make yourself get up early. You hate getting up early. You’ll stare at the page wishing you were sleep and write an amount of words that wasn’t worth it. Get your sleep.
5. Don’t make yourself stay up late. You love staying up late. But the less sleep you get the more likely you’ll stop to stare at the page and write an amount of words that wasn’t worth it. Sound familiar? Seriously, GET YOUR SLEEP.
6. You don’t have to be out of the house just to get stuff done. Except for write-ins, those are pretty productive. But if you can’t make it to one don’t use that as an excuse. You can write at home to.
7. Really though, just have fun. It’s not homework. No one is going to be mad or let down if you don’t make 50k. Just do the thing

I did the thing!

I'm awesome at starting things. I get ideas and I plan and I research and I get so pumped. It's like the first day the pools open in summer. It's refreshing. I jump in with both feet.

But then the pool gets crowded, all the floaties are taken, and your goggles start fogging up. You get out to try jumping in again but things keep floating where you're about to jump and your suit is all wet and heavy and...

I digress. My point is that while ideas are new and exciting it takes a lot of work to keep that momentum up. Life happens, you get to a hard part of the plot, new ideas, other goals and deadlines, and unsurpassable plot holes, just to name a few.

So when I wrote the closing scene of a story that I had going for years IT WAS SUCH A RELIEF. I'd been fighting with ideas for this thing, letting other ideas get me distracted, and just plain life happened so there are plenty of months where it just collected dust but it was always on my mind.

Finishing it was like when you finally drag yourself out of the pool and relax on your towel. It's like breaking open that cooler you packed and getting yourself a snack. Like getting comfortable with a good book while the sun warms you back up.

I mean that it's reaaaally nice to not have my brain running on one thing now. I've gotten distracted by how much fun it is to start things that I've forgotten how cool it is to finish them. Perhaps I need a Lazy River Method. You know, those skinny pools that go in a circle around a water park? How people get in and just float but the currant keeps them moving around and around that part of the park? I need a way to stay relaxed about a project but be always moving forward.

Anywho, I hope I figure something out soon because while it's nice here on my beach towel for now that pool is looking mighty tempting again.

What's New?

New day, new month, new year.

Its that time of year where people turn over their figurative leaves in hopes of bringing good changes into their lives. Or perhaps hope to do something cool that they never tried before so as to broaden their horizons.

Or perhaps theres some people I know *cough me cough* that make bold statements and follow through with them in rose colored glasses.... for all of two weeks or so when they then throw all their motivation into the void.

I've stopped making resolutions. I use to be really big on it. I even had a notebook one year (or one month if you want to be precise about it).  But I never kept with them, these resolutions.

That doesn't mean I've stopped trying new things or trying to better myself through whatever means. It's just now I'm finding new ways to motivate myself since essentially writing myself rules to follow was not working.

New things are coming to this blog. (How many times have you heard that though? Ha.) Maybe not with any regularity or consistent content themes but they're coming and they'll be here. Just keep me away from any voids.