Eating My Own Words (c) Ry Young

This is where I should be in my NaNo count: 23,333

This is where I am in my NaNo count: 11,983

This is what my brain is currently doing: ksufgh sahgakj.dbh

Looking back at last year, I honestly have no idea how I managed to write an entire book in a month. And not a 50,000 word book. The first version of Sing, Sweet Nightingale clocked in around 106,000 words. Where did I find the time? I don’t remember sleeping much that month, so that might be it. I also didn’t travel at all, so that helped.

It’s not like I don’t have ideas. I have full outlines for all three projects I’m working on this month (and let’s pause for a moment to appreciate the absolute oddity of that occurrence… me? Outlines? What?). I know where the stories are going and every time I sit down to write words appear. They may not flow like Niagara Falls onto the page, but they at least trickle like a creek. There’s forward movement every time and that’s the important part because I could be stalled completely and I’m not. Yay for that, at least.

Can I still catch up to the goal and at least hit 50,000 by the end of the month? Yes, I think I can. But it won’t be easy. Things keep seem to pop up that eat away at writing time. Things like deadlines and day jobs and holidays. But life will always do this to us, so I look at it as a challenge. If I want to be able to call writing my day job one day, I need to be able to make it work despite what life throws at me or what distractions pop up. Even despite Pinterest. (But, speaking of, I’m totally in love with my boards right now and you should absolutely go check them out here.)

So, November, I will take your challenge. And I’ll beat it. Because I’m a writer and nothing can change that now.