Sunday, November 29, 2020

NaNoWriMo?

 It barely happened this year for so many reasons outside my control. I'm forgiving myself, though - it really was just impossible - and I'm thinking about giving myself some time over summer when I can try to do some serious work. I factor in a space where I can study uninterrupted daily so why not make a similar space for writing? Since this time of year I'm usually awake at around 5:00 AM instead of turning over and going back to sleep for an hour - never very successful because I only doze fitfully  from then on - I might as well get up, make myself a decent mug of coffee then sit down and write, mightn't I.  I'll let you know how this works out. 

I can see one problem with this plan, though. I've always liked my afternoon nap - I truly should have been born into a society where the siesta was mandatory. Even in the days when I went out to work I'd find somewhere private where I could have a doze of twenty minutes or so during my lunch break (this was back in the day when a lunch hour was actually an hour). I can see I'm going to have to make sure a short nap doesn't morph into a long sleep but that shouldn't be impossible.

While getting actual words down did not go as I'd planned during NaNoWriMo I did do some thinking about the story line. There's always been a section in the middle of this novel where I just couldn't seem to get things to work - and now I know why.  This means I can fill in this blank space - at the moment marked by place holder chapter headings - and move the story on so it links with the next part - which is already written. I always knew this would be three novels but I hadn't planned how or where each of the successive novels should end  - or begin for that matter. Now I've worked it out - and I have to say it's something of a relief. 

So there you go - NaNoWri-Mo may not have worked as it's supposed to but now I can move forward and I'm really looking forward to doing just that.

2 comments:

David M. Gascoigne, said...

I have an afternoon nap most days, and I can vouch that it is a very agreeable habit to get into!

Helen V. said...

David, I find one of the good things about being older is that I no longer have to justify my afternoon nap. I can just enjoy it.