Welcome to my Wild West!

NaNoWriMo Eve and I’m stuck with a mild case of writer’s block. Frankly, I blame the last day of my work shift. Though I made up for it, I missed out on a night of sleep. It’s amazing how one disruption in a person’s circadian rhythm affects a creative flow. 

It’s no wonder I took a few years’ hiatus from writing. If one night of lost sleep messes me up this bad, how much more did three years of chronic sleep deprivation affect me?

First, I know my memory is not what it was. My first two novels were written without plotting, and I could remember every page that minor characters appeared in. Now, I find myself making spreadsheets to keep track of major plot points.

Second, I lack empathy for other writers in what I perceive as minor difficulties. Recently, I read a post from a first-time NaNo participant who expressed distress over their ability to write two 50k novels in a month with no job and nothing to do around the house. No, this individual didn’t work from home.

I forced myself to refrain from commenting as the last time I offered input on such a scenario landed me in Facebook jail on that page. If that person read through the feed, they’d know that most of us have one to two day jobs and actually struggle with time. To put it bluntly, those kinds of comments strike me as attention-seeking.

The truth I must face and accept is that hardship is subjective. While I may lick my wounds in private, and harbor opinions fueled by any own traumas, I have to respect other’s perspectives.

I also have to accept that no one cares about my perspective, or my work.

A coworker recently put it this way. He’s a life-long Vikings fan, and learned this lesson from his wife.

For those who don’t follow American Football, the Vikings have long owned the reputation for losing when the game looks best for them. My coworker recently realized that watching Vikings games is more pleasant if you don’t hope for them to win and simply enjoy watching the game.

This is a great example of my perspective on NaNo. 90% of those I encounter will fizzle out by the end of the month. 

This is especially common for first-timers who seem to think that a first draft is what gets published. 

On the contrary, the first draft won’t be perfect, and you might not finish it. That’s okay. Accept it. Learn from it. Move on. Try again in April, July or next November. The world and your writing career isn’t over. 

In the 17 years I’ve done NaNo, I’ve succeeded maybe a third of the time. Of those wins, only three stories have gone on to publication in some form.

Sometimes my failure came straight from working multiple jobs while trying to do NaNo. Sometimes naysayers fed directly into my imposter syndrome, hence the reason I don’t tell many folks in my life that I’m participating, let alone that I’m an author.

Most of the time, my failure comes from poor time management and simply losing interest in the story I’m writing. While I respect the pantsing method, doing so on a story that I JUST got the urge to write is a guaranteed failure for me, because I lose momentum after two weeks at most.

My other mistakes were believing pretty much anyone else knew more about writing than me. I’m not an expert, but I know my process, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve allowed myself to sabotage a story trying to do what someone else insisted was the “right” way to cultivate creativity.

I bring this up because so many new writers ask how to do this or that with their stories and method, expecting that what they’re told is guaranteed to work. They need to realize writing is not an exact science. That’s why it’s called art.

So, for you newbies, it’s up to you to make it work or not. Stick to it for the long run, not just for this month if you want to publish your story. If publication isn’t your end goal, that’s fine too. Just be honest when handing out advice.

Whether you’re tackling a traditional NaNo or adapting this month to a particular purpose, keep yourself open to learning or accomplishing something you didn’t anticipate at the outset. As long as you take something away from this month, even failure to reach your goal and you learn from it, you will find success.

Happy Writing!