Tuesday, November 8, 2011

We pause during NaNo for station identification or: can I put this post toward my word count?

First, a follow-up:  World Fantasy Convention 2011 was a great time.  I got to meet several of the most awesome authors in fantasy writing, including Neil Gaiman (who I mentioned last time), Graham Joyce (you may not have heard of him, but I love his stuff, and I nearly squee'd when he signed my book), and Peter S. Beagle.  I sat next to Steve Rasnic Tem at the banquet -- I admit I'd never heard of him before, but he's an award winning author, and we had a nice conversation about what metafiction is and is not.  I got to watch Charlaine Harris (who writes the Sookie Stackhouse urban fantasy series) get out of a queue to introduce herself to Connie Willis.

And then I went back to work, where one of my bosses admitted she didn't know who Neil Gaiman was.

But in the interim, between flying back from Never-Never Land on Monday and crashing back to Real Life on Wednesday, I had a day off -- a day that just so happened to be November 1st, also known as the first day of National Novel Writing Month.  So I waited 'til my daughter went to work, and then I booted up the computer and started writing.  Ahhhh.

What usually happens, on the first day of NaNoWriMo, is that I find myself out of town, or otherwise unable to start working on my novel on day one.  And then I spend the rest of the month feeling like I'm playing catch-up.  But this year, not only did I start on the first day, but I had all my pre-planning out of the way, and a whole day to make headway.  The result:  a comfortable word-count cushion for the inevitable days I will have to take off.  And needless to say, there have been a few since then.  Sunday, I stayed at book club much longer than I anticipated.  Last night, after work, I needed to go grocery shopping.  Tonight, I voted after work, and then my daughter and I went out to eat, and now I'm writing this post.  So it's been a little frustrating.  I still have a pretty good cushion, but it will diminish rapidly if I don't clear my schedule again.

So!  Tomorrow night, nobody tempt me with movies or conversations or shiny websites, okay?  Because I will be writing.

5 comments:

Amy said...

Sooo...no Eat, Pray, Love then?

Lynne Cantwell said...

You really know how to hurt a person, Chan. :D Friday, okay?

Mel said...

Does this mean I can't call you tomorrow night to chat about knitting? Well, boo:))

Lynne Cantwell said...

Mel, you know I will always talk to you. But I might be a little antsy and unfocused. ;)

krobinett said...

A week later - how are things going on the new novel? Are you keeping up with your goals?