Countdown to NaNo2015: 15 days to go

17 October 
Today's Tarot: The queen of pentacles, reminds us to nurture ourselves by cleaning our homes, eating nutritious and delicious food, and enjoying gorgeous exercise.

I just finished reading Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande.  Too bad it's out of print.  It is available on Amazon, though.  I do have a good pdf copy as well.  Miss Brande talks about two key exercises for a priori writing, before you write that novel.  Which is great because we have about fifteen days to go before NaNo starts.  I try to do these exercises.  First is early morning writing.  Second is writing on schedule.

After her two key exercises, she has a five-finger exercise of actually writing the novel.  It is a natural progression from those above.  You have (1) the story in embryo, (2) the preparatory period, (3) writing confidently, (4) time for detachment, and finally, (5) the critical reading.

I have color-coded my calendar with these five-finger period.  I am so looking forward to happily writing this November!

Countdown to #NaNoWriMo2015: 16 days to go!

16 October
today's key thought: Metabolize pain, disappointment and injury into creative energy.  Let go, move on.  Focus on the good things you still have.

And I might add, do not let anyone stop you from writing!

A few days ago I intimated to a close friend that I am participating again in NaNo.  His reaction was one of dismay: "But you were such a bad person last year when you joined NaNo."  There it was, in one summary sentence, a judgment on my person for writing, for doing what I believe I was put on this planet to do, for making what I believe to be my best contribution to this world.  You were such a bad person.

A bad person because I wasn't so congenial?  Because I didn't hang out with him much?  Because I'd rather take to my notebook and write?  Because I go incognito, unreachable, my head deep into the plotting of my next thread?

I said, "Wait!  You are judging me as a person for who I was over a year ago and at the same time for who you are sure I will be in the future?  You are telling me I am a bad person when I write?  That is incredibly damaging to a writer, you know."

If you have ever been creatively injured, it's not something to sweep under the rug.  I heartfully recommend The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.

My friend's comment stung.

The next day he issued an apology via sms.  "You are a good person.  You are a good writer.  You are self-taught.  You do wonderful things on paper."  That patched things up, but the pain was still there.  What if I get writer's block?  I can't afford that weeks before NaNo!

So what do I do?  I go ahead and write this.  I write at that something that bugs me.  This is metabolizing pain/injury/loss into creative energy.  And it is also making sure that I protect my inner writer, my storyteller, from such attacks.  While we can't control other people, we can control our responses to them.  So that "You are a bad person if you choose to write" is counteracted with "I am a good person.  I make worthwhile contributions.  I am doing what God created me to do."  And doing that write on paper.  As Julia Cameron said, "Writing rights things."

Do not let anyone keep you from writing!