The title says it all. The bad, the good, and the relieved. As you know, I've been excited for months for NaNoWriMo to get here. What I wasn't prepared for was to move at the beginning of the month, which cut into my writing time significantly. The move was rather spontaneous. We had an opportunity that was too good to pass up, and we grabbed it immediately.
By the middle of this month I was nearly 20k words behind. Last night I realized in order to successfully finish NaNoWriMo this year I would have to write nearly 3,000 words per day, every day, for the next two weeks. This isn't that hard for a few of my writer friends, but for me at this point in my life it's next to impossible. Toss in my day job, time with the wife and kids, trying to unpack and organize--not to mention the consistently growing "to do" list I have that comes with living in a new house--and squeeze in some writing for my book coming out next year, and I still don't have enough hours in the day.
I was slacking on my duties around the house so that I could try and meet my daily word count. This caused an unnecessary amount of stress on me (like moving doesn't carry enough stress as is) and laying too much on my wife, who has been very patient and understanding.
By the middle of this month I was nearly 20k words behind. Last night I realized in order to successfully finish NaNoWriMo this year I would have to write nearly 3,000 words per day, every day, for the next two weeks. This isn't that hard for a few of my writer friends, but for me at this point in my life it's next to impossible. Toss in my day job, time with the wife and kids, trying to unpack and organize--not to mention the consistently growing "to do" list I have that comes with living in a new house--and squeeze in some writing for my book coming out next year, and I still don't have enough hours in the day.
I was slacking on my duties around the house so that I could try and meet my daily word count. This caused an unnecessary amount of stress on me (like moving doesn't carry enough stress as is) and laying too much on my wife, who has been very patient and understanding.
Even this lonely bookshelf calls my name to fill its void and bring it to life once again
I have been very adamant about not giving up my first year of NaNoWriMo, but I had to really ask myself what should my priority be right now. Contributing my free time wholeheartedly to the transformation of my new home for me and my family, or 50,000 words worth of bragging rights. There is always next year, and I've made peace with that.
That being said, after 12,000+ words in, I have officially thrown in the NaNo towel and have been defeated by the mighty 50k word dragon. It's a relief to say, because I can now focus on what matters most at this point in my life: Contributing heavily to all that comes along with turning your home from an empty shell to a warm and homey lair. One that helps the wife and kids sleep comfortably and wake up excited to spend another day in it.
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