Yes… there is most certainly a theme to my IWSG posts at this point.
Self-Care… it’s most certainly one of the life lessons I’m supposed to be learning, it beats me over the head (gently, of course) at every turn and in pretty much every venue. November was no different.
I was all geared up to go into November writing my heart out. I had a vague idea for a story I wanted to write, and was very excited about the basic premise. I even attended a midnight kick-off event, manage over 2,000 words before I felt ready to pass out (my bedtime these days is, sadly, about 9 pm). Managed another 1,000 the next day and then…
Well, and then life. I have a good friend who has been working seasonally up at Mount Saint Helens, and she ended up crashing at my place for a chunk of the start of November as she transitioned between jobs. It was great to have her around, getting to hang out and visit and go on small adventures around town — but it meant that my after-work and weekend time was filled with socialness. It was awesome, and I had a lot of fun, but writing didn’t occur.
The nice thing – I didn’t feel bad about the writing not occurring. I’ve had great social time, I’ve gotten some good organizing done and I’ve sorted out some thoughts about the story I was working on. So, yes, I may not have met my November goals, but I’ve gotten some great other work done that will help me a lot in the long-run. Not beating myself up about my lack of writing has saved a LOT of energy that was better put towards completing other projects.
This is my monthly post as part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, a
great group of supportive writers, helping one another through our writing ups-and-downs.
There is also a great Facebook Community for more daily connection! More posts from the group are tagged on Twitter at #IWSG.
We also put out a book, available for free, with great articles on topics from writing to publishing, everything in-between and beyond
Eclectic Alli 
Glad you’re not beating yourself up over not getting the word count you wanted. It sounds like you had a great time with your friend. Those times are priceless. NaNo can be any month. Just pick a different one and start in. Good luck with your story project!
LikeLike
Exactly… the time with my friend was far more important in that moment than working on the novel — that’s why I’m doing the novel work this month. December is (oddly enough) a pretty quiet month for me, socially.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I guess you’re right. If we beat ourselves up about not writing we’ll be even more exhausted.
I am glad that your November was a good month. I unexpectedly quit my NaNoWriMo but hope to get back to the story once I have recovered from nanopoplano…
LikeLike
Recovery time is important! I often don’t give myself the proper amount of time to recover from a project and roll into the next one exhausted – it’s not a good way to go.
LikeLike
Great attitude! The best-laid plans and all that…best to just go with the flow. Glad you allowed yourself to enjoy!
LikeLike
Thanks 🙂 It’s taken a LONG time to cultivate that attitude… and hard to keep it up sometimes.
LikeLike
That time with people we care about is so important. And it’s good to socialize! Now you can write, having taken care of other things.
LikeLike
Indeed!
LikeLike
Excellent points! I think self-care does help in the long run. Our life experiences are what allow us to have something about which to write.
LikeLike
Totally. And self-care is SO important… so so so important, otherwise we end up burned out and exhausted… all the time.
LikeLike
Hi Allison nice to meet you. Life happens. Enjoy it!!! You’ll get to your writing!!! Merry Christmas!!!!
LikeLike
Merry Christmas!! Nice to meet you 🙂 And thanks — I now just need to push myself to ACTUALLY write… I want to, but I am letting myself fall into bad, over-analyzing, habits.
LikeLike
Glad to hear you’re doing well.
LikeLike
Sometimes, that’s all right! You got to spend time with a friend. In the grand scheme of things, that is more important.
LikeLike
Very much so!
LikeLike