Like one of our fearless Atlanta ML (Municipal Liaison) would say, this week feels like being in the middle of a traffic jam on 285 during morning rush. After writing 35,000 words, I feel like I’m in the last stages of labor. I can’t sleep, I have a lot to drink, therefore a lot of stops to make, I’m craving weird stuff to eat and pain…oh a lot of pain (from thinking and typing, LOL!). The reality is that they are just Braxton hicks’ contractions, in other words false alarms; this baby is not ready to come out( or in NaNoWriMo lingo, we still have writing to do. The story is not finished yet).

One thing I have learned from this year’s Nano is that you should never stop writing. If your story is not finished, the fact that you have a bazillion words doesn’t mean you can take a break. Somehow your brain thinks that the break implies that you’re done and it takes twice the effort to get yourself in gear. So, if you want to give yourself a mini-break, get on the page at least for five minutes and write a paragraph, a line…whatever it takes to keep you connected to your story. I had to learn it the hard way. I was very confident with my work last week. I wrote a little on Friday and none on Saturday even though I had the time. Then yesterday, going back to my labor analogy, it took pitocin (meaning going to a write-in), a chai latte, three word wars and a good frustration cry to get me back in gear.

My story has taken a life of its own. I had something envisioned and for those who do not write, believe me characters are like your children, they may have your DNA but ultimately they do what they want, and you have to rail them in to do what you know it’s best for them (or your story). I knew I had reached insanity when I spent five paragraphs describing a bathroom and a doll house. They were pretty though. So after a good chat and a couple of laughs I’m ready to get back to business, the discovery of the murder. Who did it? Stay tuned…

Related Articles

• Go, Go #NaNoWriMo (bostonbibliophile.com)
• Learning from NaNo: Write What You Don’t Know from Exchange of Realities (exchangeofrealities.com)