NaNoWriMo 2010 Progress

Word Goal as of Nov. 21st:  35,000
NaNoWriMo novel words written: 8,700
Fan Fiction words written: 17,000+ since Nov. 1st, for a total of 27,700
Hours of Tax Classes attended: 25+
Piles of laundry currently on the family room floor: 4
Number of days I attempted to ignore my fan-fic and focus only on my novel: 7
Number of days I succeeded at this: 0
Number of days I was a complete and utter stressed-out bitch: 7

It's all better now.  I've accepted the fact that I will not be completing NaNoWriMo this year.  I will however, be completing my Harry Potter fan-fic.  I hope all those fangirls appreciate my sacrifice.  :)

NaNoWriMo Continues

I'm not sure if writing at this pace is good for my story or not.  As with last year's NaNoWriMo, I'm afraid I might be overwriting the beginning of the story for fear of running out of words and will yet again, fail to get to the end.

Unlike last year's story, I do not have this one  worked out in my head yet, so I may either surprise myself, or run right into a dead end. 

And that's all for my blog tonight.  I still have to write 4800 words this weekend to catch up.  (NaNoWriMo=50,000 words in 30 days=1667 words a day)  If I can manage 1000 per 1/2 hour I'll only need 2 hours.  But there's a catch, I need breaks.  And I need ideas.  

Counting Down to November

A very hasty blog post tonight.  Only six days until NaNoWriMo begins, so I still have time to get my house in order, put the finishing touches on a Halloween costume, (and oh yeah, buy candy), stock the fridge, and make sure all bills are paid in advance for November. 

I had started a marvelous blog entry about multi-tasking, but it requires a little editing and I'm feeling too frantic for that, so you're stuck reading this.  And if this NaNoWriMo stuff is boring you, just ignore me for the next month, because IF I squeeze in time to blog, it will only be because I'm having a writer's block crisis or need to rant about word count.

Must go back to work now on my Harry Potter fan-fiction and hopefully get it out of my system before Nov 1st, so I don't feel compelled to write a character into my novel who writes fan-fiction in her spare time.

Any fellow NaNoWriMos out there find me at nanowrimo.org.  My user name is mommia. 

Worthwhile?

I’ll admit as a stay-at-home mom, I often feel like I’m doing nothing worthwhile with my life. Oh sure, I take care of my two young children, maintain the household, keep things clean and organized (yes honey, I really do, just not every room simultaneously) do all the shopping, pay bills etc.

But to claim that as an accomplishment seems a little like bragging that I brush my teeth every day. (I do, twice in fact, and usually at least once before noon.)

I do this writing stuff, which I’m not sure is anything more than an excuse for me to daydream, fantasize, and think of imaginary people with made-up problems.

And then there’s the four or five months of my other identity, as a working mom, a practical dollars and sense tax professional, focused on numbers, rules, real people, real situations and solutions.

And when all three of these cross paths, my life starts to feel a little crazy. I mean, NaNoWriMo is less than a month away, and I don’t even have an outline.

What DO I have?

1. An idea and a few characters.

2. A rough novel from last year with severe holes in the plot.

3. Twelve completed hours of tax classes and 18 hours to go.

4. At least one, and hopefully two tax certification exams to complete sometime in late November.

5. Two children who take turns being too sick to go to school.

6. A lingering cough thanks to two sick children infecting me.

7. An impressive 7000+ words of Harry Potter fan fiction I’ve convinced myself I’m writing as a NaNoWriMo warm-up and which cannot possibly indicate that I’ve regressed to the level of a 15-year-old groupie, because that would be embarrassing.

Why do I do it? Because I want to. Hoping some of it turns out to be worthwhile. (Not the fan-fic, obviously, I know. I mean the other stuff.)