This Month...

I have felt like this:

Day: 22
Words: 10,879

I am a little embarrassed about the state of my novel. In the past week I have dribbled out less than a thousand words and it is a pretty painful process. To be honest, I have been avoiding my laptop. I just completely ignore the corner of the room it is in. Maybe my heart isn't in this one. I don't love my characters or the plot. What I should do is change to something I do love. What I will probably do is just not...

I know, disappointing.

I am starting to think that part of the reason it has been so difficult to write is because I am away from home. I joke about being the crazy cat lady. Yes, most of my posts on facebook are pictures of my kitty, but that is what happens when you are hardly employed. You spend lots of time in your apartment; with your cat. It's like having a sidekick...that purrs.

Cats are all about teamwork. 

So maybe this is not the year that I write a novel. Maybe next year. Especially since I only have 7 days to write 40,000 words. 

Yeeeaahh...

Shipwrecked

Day: 14
Words: 8550

We are now plodding into week three of Novel Writing Month, and every day I sink deeper and deeper into the hole. I am about 15000 words behind schedule (how is that even possible?!) and yesterday I spent hours in front of my computer without a single new word typed. I think I am in the pit of despair.

On the bright side, I have developed more of a plot since last week. Now the story is about a hit-man who falls for a girl who he is hired to kill, who turns out to be a serial killer. I still don't have all the details worked out, but I am pretty sure that one of them will die at the end. Happy endings really are not my thing. I am also killing off a grandma. Don't worry, she dies from cancer, not from being brutally murdered.

The downside of writing/thinking about serial killers all the time is waking up in the middle of the night from horrific nightmares. It is definitely something I could live without, since I am already behind on my sleep. Maybe it is the inspiration gods trying to reach me. Yeah, let's go with that.

Things I have done today instead of writing:

Stared blankly at the screen (not a good habit)
Baked my first batch of banana bread (it smells delicious)
Wrote this blog post (more for necessity than procrastination)
Obsessively checked facebook (siiiiigh...)

I really, really need to get motivated.

But! The good news is, all my loved ones are out of the hospital and well on their way to recovery. One less thing to worry about.

Here is to more sleepless nights and caffeine induced productivity!

Lost in Novel Writing Month

Day: 7
Word Count: 4945


Indeed. Greetings.

What a week it has been. I would like to say that I have been totally immersed in my writing and nothing else, which is why I have not updated my blog. Or that I wasn't 7000 words behind schedule. Unfortunately, I can say neither.

It's funny how life just hits you in the face sometimes. I knew that I would be taking care of my grandmother while she recovered from knee replacement surgery this month. I figured that it would be the perfect opportunity to stay motivated; having none of my usual distractions around. What I didn't plan on was having a close friend end up in the hospital.

Since I am a natural caretaker, I cannot just sit back when a loved one is in need. So naturally, I have been running around like crazy helping my grandma and friend while he is in the hospital. Which means I am fairly busy during the day and pretty exhausted at night. I have been trying valiantly to keep up on my writing.

I realize that part of the problem is that I didn't really plan for anything other than the main character to fall in love...and then try to kill each other. I need more events. Also, it is somewhat difficult writing about a serial killer when my very sweet grandma is sitting across from me. So I did what anyone would do and added a sweet grandma into the story.

Hopefully some burst of motivation and creativity will help me boost my word count. I know I am not the only one who is behind on words or stuck with an uneventful story. I just need to inject caffeine directly into my veins and write until I collapse.

I'm young. I can sleep when I'm dead.

Cheers!