How is NaNo Serving You? — Ekphrastic Mama
At the end of a very interesting week one, how are you feeling about your writing?
It has been an up-and-down week for me, but it’s ending on a higher note. I hope you feel the same. Here are some of the ways I’ve gotten myself back on track when enthusiasm or motivation lagged.
First, I looked at my thoughts- what was I telling myself about the writing (and the life going on all around me)? Awareness of my own thoughts, along with knowing that I choose my thoughts has enabled me to 1) accept myself and my thoughts, and 2) choose thoughts that serve me.
So, for example, this week when I thought writing was drudgery and the world around me felt like a mess of uncertainty and upheaval, I acknowledged that sometimes life just feels that way. Actually, we have negative thoughts about 50% of the time-some more, some less. I tend to be a fairly positive person, but I digress…
In other words, it’s normal and natural to have negative thoughts, and when I accept that I can move beyond them with some grace. I think about how I’d like to feel, and then I think about what thoughts help me feel that way. I can’t change the circumstances, but I can change my thoughts.
During NaNo I made the wise decision to enter into it with a writing partner. This week when we got together- out on my deck overlooking the forest which is quite inspiring and forces me outdoors even in cold weather- we dress warm, use heaters, and sit under an umbrella if it rains, etc.-my writing partner, Sara, said she’d had some set-backs and was behind in her word count. But she has written over 50K during the last two NaNos, and she just finished revising one of those novels, then got it out to her beta-readers by October 30. She may be a little writing weary, with good reason. But her plan, a lot like mine, was to write up to 1000 new words per day while revising another 1000 on the novel she wrote the year before (not the one she just finished).
However, once NaNo got underway and she saw the graph, she felt like she was falling behind if she didn’t write 1667+ new words each day. She quickly caved, and got laid low by the NaNo word count calculator, instead of writing and revising in service of her story. She was also using a new program that had her “world-building” and writing character sketches, etc. all possibly profitable, if that is the way you write. But I’ve found I build the world around my story, and my characters develop at their own pace. Sometimes a template can throw off a writer. She decided to set the template aside and go back to what was working. We also chatted about playing with tropes, and did some prompt writing, all exercises she, and I enjoy. If this isn’t for fun, why are we doing it?
I know writing isn’t always fun. But having written always feels good, so I remind myself of that when I need to. And then I look for thoughts and activities that push my writing forward while also playing with words and scenes and even art that inspires my writing. Seeing the work of writing as play, and as a privilege- I get to sit here and create a story-helps me re-frame my thoughts so I enjoy what I’m doing. And that helps me stick with the writing.
I’d love to hear how you’re doing, and if I can offer anything helpful, let me know.
Until next time,
Writer Hugs from Ekphrastic Mama
Originally published at https://lorilyngreenstone.com on November 7, 2020.