life is what happens to you
You know when your life is really hectic, and you keep thinking, "Okay, as soon as X happens, then everything is going to calm down, and I'll have time to do those other things," but you're completely deluding yourself, because life never really does become less hectic, because that's just how life is when you're a grownup? Possibly I'm currently in such a busy period that life will in fact be calmer soon. But I'm wary of talking myself into believing that.
It's November, so it's NaNoWriMo, so I'm writing another novel. It was a pretty darn dull novel for the first week and a half of the month, but it's been gradually getting somewhat more interesting over the past few days. It's even possible I'll end up with something in there that I can use for something else later on. The story is mostly about a woman who is deciding whether or not to have an affair. I don't know yet what she's going to decide, so at least wondering how it ends is keeping me going.
This probably would have been a good year for me to skip NaNo, since I was already busy with another writing project (more about The Extent of the Damage another time) and didn't have a strong idea for a first draft I wanted to pound out quickly. But since I signed up again to be one of the municipal liaisons for the South Bay region, I'm expected to participate. As our region grows, outgrowing spaces we've used in the past for gatherings, organizing takes up more time and energy. I may have spent longer dealing with ML duties and logistics in October than I'm spending writing the novel this month. So things actually did become a bit less hectic once the month was underway.
I went to Santa Cruz this weekend for the annual NaNo retreat, and that was a fun time. I wrote some words, read more words, and took a wonderful long walk on the beach. It was a nice chance to catch up with some writing buddies I don't see very often. We've also gotten to spend time with various houseguests who have visited recently, which has been great.
But while all this has been happening, we're having our house painted and windows redone, and it's becoming one of those home improvement projects that will never ever end. The new paint looks great, though, and eventually it will all be finished and beautiful, and I won't have to get up every morning and talk to the contractor. And then I really will be calmer.
Somewhere in there, I wrote another Writecraft column (PDF, see page 5), and now it's already time to write another one. Someday, this will be something I actually have time for.
It's November, so it's NaNoWriMo, so I'm writing another novel. It was a pretty darn dull novel for the first week and a half of the month, but it's been gradually getting somewhat more interesting over the past few days. It's even possible I'll end up with something in there that I can use for something else later on. The story is mostly about a woman who is deciding whether or not to have an affair. I don't know yet what she's going to decide, so at least wondering how it ends is keeping me going.
This probably would have been a good year for me to skip NaNo, since I was already busy with another writing project (more about The Extent of the Damage another time) and didn't have a strong idea for a first draft I wanted to pound out quickly. But since I signed up again to be one of the municipal liaisons for the South Bay region, I'm expected to participate. As our region grows, outgrowing spaces we've used in the past for gatherings, organizing takes up more time and energy. I may have spent longer dealing with ML duties and logistics in October than I'm spending writing the novel this month. So things actually did become a bit less hectic once the month was underway.
I went to Santa Cruz this weekend for the annual NaNo retreat, and that was a fun time. I wrote some words, read more words, and took a wonderful long walk on the beach. It was a nice chance to catch up with some writing buddies I don't see very often. We've also gotten to spend time with various houseguests who have visited recently, which has been great.
But while all this has been happening, we're having our house painted and windows redone, and it's becoming one of those home improvement projects that will never ever end. The new paint looks great, though, and eventually it will all be finished and beautiful, and I won't have to get up every morning and talk to the contractor. And then I really will be calmer.
Somewhere in there, I wrote another Writecraft column (PDF, see page 5), and now it's already time to write another one. Someday, this will be something I actually have time for.