It's a wonderful day in London with the sun shining, and instead of being out in it, I'm currently in the basement of a coffee shop in Central typing this. I will also be doing something more consistent with the word 'work' whilst here, but this has got to come first because otherwise I'll have to write it when I get home!! Also, I would say that the grass is green, but this is London - I haven't seen any grass.
1/3 of the way through NaNo events is a big thing, no matter what your goal is and no matter how you're getting along with it, because it is a cause for reflection. Now, it's true that the gidgets and doodads that they have on the website allow for you to track your progress all the way along and I know that my own, and other's, greastest procrastination tool is to become very pensive and wonder how it that we've wasted so much time and have only got to word count of x or through a certain amount of pages of an edit etc. No matter how you are doing it is easy to feel, well, a little bit crap by this point and be wondering if you could be doing more.
I saw a video this morning about different phasal sleep patterns. So, single, bi and multiphasal sleep and it made me think about how, particularly during the November event, my sleeping pattern goes bazerk. When being completely honest, everything essentially becomes subservient to the novel. Every aspect of my life has it's value considered against what it means for or what it adds to or subtracts from the novel. It's at landmark points like this that we begin thinking, if I sleep for however many less hours a day I can get so much more done. Day 20 is then when you look back and either see that you spent that time asleep, or you were so groggy and disorientated that nothing productive came from those extra hours. (Though if you're like me and groggy and disorientated is a daily occurence when you wake up, it may add to your productive time...)
This all goes back to what I was saying previously about needing to look after yourself. Yes, NaNo is tough - we don't call it tackling the NaNoBeast for nothing!! It's a full on rugby style tackle, and you will probably come out bruised. Yes, some of the programs, particularly Write or Die are evil, but they work at getting you working. Yes, writing a novel is hard, and giving yourself only 30 days to do it is a reason to go see a shrink, but that's because it is not normally; it is exceptional.
Just attempting to do this makes you exceptional. Not making the full target does not diminish that. No matter what your goal is, no matter how much you do, taking this on is exceptional. At the end of the event you will ALWAYS have more than you did when you started. If you delete your novel because it sucks, you have more because you know that idea didn't work and you will understand why, if you only wrote a thousand words, well, you have a thousand words and a better understanding of yourself. If you wrote a novel, you know you're exceptional, just look what you did, you shouldn't need your ego stroking. Come on.
NaNo and all it's events show you what you can, and sometimes what you can't, do. Script Frenzy (R.I.P) showed me I cannot and should not write scripts and that I do not enjoy it. Previous CampNaNo events have shown me that I can ignore everything going on in my life (like being off university for Easter and exam leave) to write a novel, but that doesn't make it a good idea. November 2015 proved that I can have a 15K day. It hurts, it's tough and bridges start looking really attractive around 12/13K, but I can do it. I can also write something I am emotionally involved with, and still put it down at the end and give myself some breathing room with it. I can also love pets more than humans.
The big thing I want anyone joining in on Camp this year to take from this is, wherever you are, congratulations and I'llcatach you tomorrow.
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