Every weekend. Every Saturday morning I wake up and think, “I should really write a blog post this weekend.” And you can see by the dearth of blog posts since APRIL that I never actually do it. It’s the thought that counts, right?
I could make a bunch of excuses, but as a sub-standard teacher told me long ago (one of the few things I remember about high school, none of them at all useful, except touch-typing. I use that shit every day): excuses only satisfy the person who makes them. So I guess the fact that I find ALL my excuses satisfactory is enough, and I don’t really need to detail them all for you. Suffice it to say, I’ve thought about doing the thing, but then did other things instead. And I’m not sorry about any of it.
But since we’re here in August, and I usually write something about my NaNoWriMo prep (November will be here before we know it), and I’m actively looking for a reason NOT to sweep the floors in my house, here is a blog post!
The fine folks at NaNoWriMo also promote Camp NaNoWriMo months in April and July; the purpose for these months is to set your own writing goal, and then, well, do the thing. I set a rewrite goal for Book 2 for April, and let’s just say that didn’t go so well. I set a similar rewrite goal for July: 31,000 words of rewrite, 1,000 words a day. And my friends, I DID IT. The most exciting part of that is Book 2 is five sections away from a completed draft two and one step closer to seeing the light of day (and having all of you read it). Of course, I don’t have a timeline, because there are very many steps between here and there, but it’s a tiny smidge closer, and that’s something.
Speaking of Book 2 (tentatively still titled Connections), my rad cover artist Elissa has been working on the cover, and it’s totally awesome and you can find it on my Instagram (which is also on the blog here, I think. Or it should be. I set it up that way, but it’s been a very long time since I even looked at my own website. But it’s there somewhere). At this rate, the cover will be done llloooooooonnnnnnggggg before the book is, but that’s okay too. My current plan is to finish the second draft and print a copy for me to edit, all while simultaneously working on an outline for my NaNoWriMo project. When will that second draft be ready for beta readers? I really don’t know, but I’ve identified my best readers, and they all seem excited about it.
About NaNoWriMo. It’s happening this year. I have an idea, something I’ve been thinking about for awhile, and I fully plan to participate AND knock out those 50,000 words, with a few adjustments.
I might have mentioned before that I take ONE day off from NaNoWriMo each year–my birthday, which is toward the end November. Well, my friends, this year that is significant, because y’all, I am turning 50.
Aside from the existential crisis that such a milestone birthday is sure to elicit, in conjunction with the monumental shift my life has undergone in the last couple of years, how to celebrate such a birthday is a serious consideration. And around the time of my last blog post, I came up with the perfect plan. I want to spend my birthday (or more accurately the weekend before, Thanksgiving weekend) at my favorite place in the world to be.
Friends, WE’RE GOING TO DISNEYLAND.
Don’t @ me. I am a nearly-50-year-old child and I love Disneyland.
But writing while at the parks is going to be an exercise in futility, though I have been known to bash out nearly 1,000 words on my phone when the situation demands. Worrying about hitting that goal is no way to spend one’s vacation, particularly if you think it’s the last vacation you might ever take. Adjusting my daily goal to accommodate those additional days off was giving me no small amount of anxiety, and NaNoWriMo was still six months away!
Leave it to my 19-year-old daughter to come up with a solution. “Mom,” she said, and I’m 100 percent sure she was suppressing an eye roll. “Just start earlier.” Genius.
So for me, NaNoWriMo will begin on Nevada Day, October 27 (there are a couple posts about Nevada Day, here and here) and continue through the end of November. It likely means there will not be a third Nevada Day post, but I’m not discounting the possibility.
Well, that’s me right now. I’m short on blog post ideas or you’d hear from me more often. I would say I will try to post more often, but I’m not at a point in my life where I want to start making promises I can’t keep. Just know that every weekend, I think I should write one. That should count for something.
In the meantime, I hope you all are well and are doing what makes you happy.
Vickie Jarman 