Good Enough

Well, that last post about how maybe I could write 50,000 words in November after all?  Sorry, it isn’t going to happen.

And that’s okay.

I still have six days off left in November, and three work days.  So I need to think through how I want to spend them.

Now, part of this does depend on how things go with these marathon headaches.

I did see a neurologist, and she gave me a corticosteroid that’s giving me some relief.  But it’s something of a catch-22.  When the headache goes, there are some side effects of agitation and an elevated heart rate and not feeling great that aren’t really conducive to clear thinking, either.  When those side effects let up, mostly the headache is coming back.  Actually, both the side effects and the headache were better this afternoon — right before it was time to take another pill!

Anyway, I only have a couple more days of the corticosteroid, and I hope, hope, hope that will be the end of this headache, which is on its tenth day right now.  By then, I’m hoping either the neurologist’s tests will reveal what is causing the new bout with headaches, or else the new preventative she gave me will kick in and they will let up.

So, all that is to say, it’s not the time to burn the midnight oil or skip meals.  I’m going to be gentle on myself, but decide what I want to accomplish in this last week of November.

My son’s going to be with his Dad for Thanksgiving, but I have Wednesday off, and he gets out of school early, so we’ll have a little pre-Thanksgiving feast together, and then I can have a nice cozy weekend retreat for the rest of the weekend, working only on Saturday.

One thing that working on NaNoWriMo did remind me is that I do enjoy writing an hour at a time, that this is actually rather easier and more enjoyable than doing it only fifteen minutes at a time.

It reminded me that, yes, I want to be a writer, and, yes, a writer writes.

So, no, I probably can’t possibly finish 50,000 words on my new novel by November, but I can still make some good progress, and any progress is good progress is good progress, and that is good enough.

Here’s what I’ve decided to make my goals for November:

1.  I will try to finish moving in.  This means finishing putting up my pictures throughout the house, and unpacking the boxes in my room and the spare bedroom.  This will feel very good!

2.  I will see how far I can get on my novel.  I will try to put in at least an hour a day, where possible.  It would be nice to get at least halfway to the 50,000 word goal, but we will see.

3.  I will try to get at least one review posted per day, preferably two or three.  I have a stack of 35 books I want to review, so I’m not going to get caught up in November, but maybe that can be my goal for December.  Of course, the main problem is that when I’m not feeling well, the one thing I can do is read, so the stack just keeps on growing.

As Thanksgiving week begins, I’ve been thinking of how much I have to be thankful for.  NaNoWriMo reminds me that the one thing I ALWAYS wanted to be was a Writer.  I used to think I’d accomplish that by being a stay-at-home Mom supported by a husband, but now I’m finding that being a full-time librarian is actually a bit more conducive to a writer’s work habits.  And I’m definitely more involved in the world of books.

But a writer writes.  It will be interesting to see how many words I can get written in a month, even when I’m plagued by headaches.

So far, on my novel:  13,699 words.

On my blogs: 7,535 words.

Total: 21,234 words.

Write on!