Why did I disappear for over 2 months, including 2/3 of Nano? Especially when in years past I’ve updated twice a week during the event?
It has something to do in part with my technology woes. In October, my laptop fell off the end table (because I perched it on a shaky pile of stuff), and the charger broke. Unbeknownst to me, the inside port also was damaged. I got a new charger, and it sort of works, but it’s not entirely reliable, and almost never charges while in use. But it also sometimes decides not to charge while it just sits there, so rather than coming back to a device I can use for a few hours at a time, I sometimes have to abandon my task, or rush though something to get what I need and get out.
What does this have to do with updating? It’s a whole lot easier, with me logged in on my laptop, to update my blog than to remember what my password is and get access on the Chromebook I’ve been using for the majority of my writing. (I thought I had the laptop figured out to work, but that didn’t pan out, so I had to switch back, adding to my complications.) That was more laziness than anything, and I know that, but I’ve been trying to balance things better this year than I maybe have in the past.
I’ve tried to keep writing and walking for Pokémon Go evenly distributed throughout my week so I’m not making up massive amounts of either at some point. Not going for some massive word count goal has also aided me in this. But also making sure I’m taking time to get some physical distance in each day has also made it that I’m not spending all of my Sunday walking around and ruining my knees in the process.
It’s weird, though, that I had ideas for almost all of my 12 Months, 12 Genres 2 novels this year, and yet I didn’t know what to write for Nano until I decided shortly before the month started. I’ve almost completely pantsed this month, and yet yesterday, when I crossed the 50K line, I realized I still have quite a bit of plot to get through if I want to finish the draft before the month is through. That often happens, in part because I got caught up in a subplot that grew larger than it probably should, but on the other hand, by going down that narrational rabbit hole, I realized how I can connect it to the larger plot. So that’s not so bad.
There have been some playful personal writing battles going on this month. I’ve also been in charge of prompts, which has been a great deal of fun. Since my novel has a main character that sells videos of her feet to make money, I’ve made every usage of the prompts in my novel include something to do with feet or toes or whatever. Sometimes I forget, and have to shoehorn in a reference, but usually I’m on the ball with it.
I had planned to keep writing every day this year, even if I wasn’t finishing any particular project, but I fell short a few days before Nano in part I forgot and my laptop wasn’t working right. I may end up taking December off to lick my literary wounds. I had thought I would try to work on those projects I didn’t finish from this year by breaking the months down into quarters, but I’m not as sure now.
2024 is going to be a big deal, and maybe I should spend more time editing and readying pieces, both short and long, for potential publication. After all, my historical fiction piece was one of my favorites, and I’ve had strong feedback from the parts of it that I’ve shared with my critique group. Shouldn’t I hone that and maybe see if I can’t get that book out there?
Anyway, that’s where I am right now. Another Nano victory, and some idea, if not a proper heading, for the future. That’s about as good as I can count on for now.
I wish you all a happy and healthy writing adventure as you finish 2023!