NaNo Comfort

I’ll admit it. I’m off to a slow start. I’ve been futzing with a lot of stuff that isn’t quite writing for a while now, and it takes time to get back in the zone. Especially when you go and change projects midstream. >_>

A word to the wise: Zokutou clause? Really hard to pull off. Really hard. I’ve never switched projects mid-NaNo before, but this time I really had to.

Now that I have, though, I’m not worried about being some twenty thousand words behind. I have time. My wordcount will recover.

You see, I’ve done this before. I know I’ll be all right (except for that small niggling doubt that keeps asking if this is the year I fail NaNo, then running away gibbering before I can stomp it.) So rather than get to work (in my defense, it is very hard to write hot smut with a 12yo in the room, sometimes looking over my shoulder), I thought I’d post some comfort/consolation/encouragement/whatever.

First, come here. Have a hug. Go ahead and cry if you like. I’ll pet your hair and murmur soothing things like “there’s time” and “you’ll be all right” and “there’s more chocolate.”

Did you know Chris Baty, founder of NaNo, spends most of the month behind? Every year? And he’s not the only one. November 26th or so, every year, maybe hundreds of WriMos hit the panic button and burn through thousands of words a day, going from stunning deficits to brilliant purple bars while all of NaNodom cheers them on. If it comes down to it, you can do that too. I’ve seen people who were certain they could never do it cough up thirty thousand words in two days. (I’ve seen faster rates than that, of course, but usually those were people who did know they could do it–they’d done it before.)

Maybe, though, you really can’t. Maybe NaNo isn’t for you this year. Maybe you’re in over your head. It’s okay to decide that. I have friends who have won it repeatedly, but this year for one reason or another (generally lifesplosions) they just can’t do it. And rather than driving themselves crazy trying, they pulled out. It’s okay if you have to do that. NaNo isn’t about winning some silly internet contest. It’s about you. And it will be here for you next year, when maybe all that other crap will have calmed down a bit.

NaNo is supposed to be fun. It can’t be all the time, of course, but if you’re not having fun at all, something needs adjusting.

Maybe you want to do it and you have the ideas and you really do have the time, but it’s just not working. Don’t be afraid to throw in the sillies. Two years ago I used the NaNo dare thread to spark me through a dry spot, and ended up with a wonderful mad mage who nearly took out all my good guys. That part was completely unplanned and completely awesome. Don’t dismiss the potential of crazy just because you’re writing a serious book!

Maybe you just need some peace. Take a day off. Go ahead, play sick if you possibly can. Hide under your covers with the netbook or the notebook and just write. It’s not lying, you are sick–sick of real life getting in the way of your real life, the life you want and have a right to earn. Go ahead. Give you some you time, and write a damned book.

The NaNo forums may be the cure for what ails you. Try the NaNoisms thread, it’s always laugh-out-loud funny. Try the dares threads, or the word-sprint ones. Drop in on the Spork Room in NaNo Ate My Soul, or go waste some time on the procrastination station. Statistics show WriMos who visit the forums (in moderation) are more likely to win. I know because Chris Baty told me so.

In a dream. There were yaks. It was smelly.

Feeling better? Have some more chocolate. And another hug. Then go forth and do what you must, whether it’s soldiering on, screwing off, or shutting NaNo in a box with the label “Do Not Open Till October.”

It’s all good.