As I sit here, taking a break from my usual NaNo writing
(which is going better than it was earlier this week incidentally) I tried to
figure out what to talk about. Fridays are the day that I talk about my writing
or thoughts about writing that relate directly to my experience. Then I thought
‘hey, I’m working and writing during NaNo at the same time for the first time,
I’m working and writing at the same time for the first time full stop. Why not
focus on that?’ So I am.
Writing is one of the most important things in my life. I
think about writing and my ideas most of the time, even when I’m watching
brain-numbing TV. I read about it a lot, I’ve got close to 20 books about
writing on my Kindle alone, with a couple more physical books in my room
somewhere. I searched for and downloaded podcasts about writing. Hearing about
other people’s experience in doing what I do and learning from the mistakes
they may have made or adapting ideas that they use is something that interests
me, it inspires me. So I want to try to inspire you dear readers as others have
inspired me.
If I don’t write I get grouchy. If I have no access to paper
or pen, if I can’t get hold of anything to put down my ideas I get grouchy. If
the words just won’t come out I get grouchy. This grouchiness, for me tends to
lead towards the beginnings of depression (something that both sides of my
family are genetically inclined towards, I don’t know why). This is something I’ve
experienced at least twice before, once earlier this year when I was doing
mind-numbing clerical work for 7 hours a day and once earlier this week.
Thankfully I caught the shift in my mood quick enough and made changes to what
I was doing so that I felt fulfilled and happy. The bad mood shifted away
pretty rapidly after that and now I don’t feel like I’m going to break down in
tears at any moment. That’s how much I love writing. Not being able to write or
not feeling like I’m writing the right thing gets me down and has that much of
an effect on my mood and mentality.
Working full time for the last couple of weeks and the next
couple of weeks to come I need to make time for myself to write. Thankfully I
have few obligations to family and friends which means that I generally get
left alone. A pair of supportive parents who understand how much I love writing
has certainly helped. They let me lock myself away in my room to hammer out a
few thousand words and only interrupt me with important stuff, the news that
dinner is ready or, my favourite, to bring me a cup of tea. They ask me how it’s
going; they want to read my work and let me mumble about misbehaving characters.
They don’t complain that they don’t see me for hours. In fact they remembered
that come November I’d be out most of Saturday every single week. They
encourage me and drive me onwards. In fact my mum gave me an idea on how to get
more time for my writing once I get back from work this week. She said I should
do it as soon as I’m home, when I’m still in a mildly professional zone and
before I veg out with a computer game or book. And she was right. The first few
days of NaNo I’d come home from work, play a game and then try to write. The
words wouldn’t come. I’d gotten out of that zone and lost my focus. So I tried
doing what she suggested and I found it amazing, a real improvement. The time
it took me to get out a certain number of words was less and the words were all
better quality. For a woman who doesn’t write that was some pretty savvy
advice.
Originally I intended to take some time to write in the
mornings, just to get a few words out before I got sucked into spreadsheets and
attendance lists. That didn’t really happen as the buses to work are too uneven
in when they arrive at the bus stop. I couldn’t write on the bus either as I
get travel sick. Instead I’d listen to podcasts on writing and think about my
characters and my plot. I also planned to write in my lunch break, to take a
quiet 20 minutes or so to just get some ideas down. I even bought a notebook
with just that purpose in mind. That didn’t happen either. My work colleagues
are too fun to chat to (conspiracy theories and existential conversations
abound in the canteen) and I tend to lose track of the time during lunch. Plus
I didn’t want to become that odd work experience girl who sits in the break
room covered in paper.
As it turned out though I didn’t need to do any of this; my
word-count is healthy (about 20k+ at last count) and I’ve got plenty of time to
write in the evenings. I may not be getting as much written each day as I could
hope for but that has less to do with me having no time and more to do with the
number of distractions I allow myself; namely surfing the NaNo site, sitting on
Facebook and looking at blogs. So I decided to give myself some incentives. I
bought a new game on Saturday and began to play it. I had to stop quite early
as it was bedtime but I was really into it. SO I’ve decided that I can’t play
it again until I hit 45, 000 words. I also use chocolate bars as an incentive,
giving myself one entire row every time I hit the daily word goal. I ate the
entire bar by the end of Saturday. I need to buy a new one tomorrow. I have
also got plans to buy a new notebook. Which one that will be I don’t yet know
but what I do know is that I can’t have it until the end of the month or when I
hit the 100k+ that I’m aiming for, whichever one comes first. I make myself
write for an hour with the internet turned off and I refuse to move my butt
from my chair until I’ve got 1k down, even if I really need to pee.
Incidentally withholding that kind of thing (peeing or cigarettes)
from myself actually gets me writing more than I plan to; I did it earlier to
get to 2000 words. When I added it up and topped up my word count on NaNoWriMo
site I found I’d written 200 words past that goal. That little extra incentive
to write lots and to write quickly really spurred me on.
What about you dear readers? If you’re taking part in
NaNoWriMo this month;
what do you do to encourage yourself to write?
How are you making time to write if you have a busy
schedule?
With those questions I leave you, to continue writing and to
see what it is that’s making that loud banging noise I keep hearing.
Keep Writing.
