I promised myself, that in my life, if things became routine, that I would really examine why I kept doing them, to look out for things that I perhaps did not want to keep doing.
NaNoWriMo is exempt from that promise. There are things that are very conducive to knowing I will come home, I will find at least an hour or two to dedicate to writing at least 1667 words, but up to 2000 words. I have been able in the past, dedicate upwards of 5000 words in a day.
But I need to be practical for a little while. I have 3 company blog posts during November. I will have to post those or at least prepare them over an hour in advance of publication over the three weeks. I have work that requires a lot more of my energy. I will also have to prepare the quarterly budget report. The good news, not a lot changed from the previous quarter, so that's not too demanding.
Of course there are obligations like family and the need to relax. And there are exciting things happening with my friends I wish to take part in.
So how does time management come into this? Well, there are things I will have to give up. Showers, food, and sleep are non-negotiable. In bed by 10, up by 6:30. That's my life, non-negotiable. TV and gaming time are flexible. My productivity drops to around 15-25% activity during those times, but I combine that with family time, and so I don't think that's too bad.
So more importantly: what I am I writing?
I'm writing a prequel to a story I worked on for years. I came across a story plot by accident. I was writing a suggestion to someone and then I realized it would be a great baseline for myself, so I kept it for myself. And as I created the situation, I realized, the person who sat across from my doomed main character was someone I had already created.
It is the first time I'll really look at an adult/child professional relationship and the helplessness of adults and children even when they do really want to help the other.
That's what I've got going for November.
I have prepared two books for publication in 2015. I think those are almost ready to go. I have the cover ready for the first. The second I keep working on the material. It's harder to manage a vocabulary only book than I anticipated. In the meantime, I keep working.
I hope to announce my word counts more regularly. See you soon! Writing like crazy.
