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November 13, 2005
Cat Pictures and Ecstasy
This whole NaNoWriMo thing is hard, really hard, and I couldn't do it without the love and support of my David and the helpful "assistance" of, well, everybody else I live with. For your viewing pleasure, below are some pictures of my feline aides hard at work.
Polyphemos, not content with simply being my muse, has decided to take a more paws-on approach.
Katala, on the other hand, is content to simply be admired.
And then there's Quickly. No surprise, I suppose, that she must be right in the middle of the creative process (or any process, for that matter) at all times.
(If you were here for the pretty pictures, you can stop reading now. Otherwise, I have some observations about the nature of hard work and creativity.)
Allow me to explain what I mean by the above statement, "This whole NaNoWriMo thing is hard, really hard." Yesterday is an excellent example. Yesterday, I spent eight hours writing 1678 words. I will be honest. I spent much of that time avoiding writing the words because I knew the writing of the words would be hard. Like squeezing grapefruit juice out of a lump of coal hard. So I wrote the words in 3-400 word chunks. And then I would take long breaks.
LOOOOOOOOONG breaks.
I threw the 2k/day rule right out the window because I knew it wasn't going to happen. But since I was ahead of where that would put me anyway, I figured it was okay to "take the day off" by only meeting the Nano goal. I needed to write something. I know myself well enough to know that if I stop, if I take one day off because it is hard, I will never, ever try something like this again. For those of you who know me, I'm sure it comes as no surprise to learn that I am an all or nothing kind of gal.
So I wrote my 1678 and called it good. I had met the Nano goal and exceeded it by 11 words. And I had a pretty good idea about where things needed to go and how the plot needed to progress in-between the bits I already had written. Fair enough. Besides, it was 2am and time for bed.
Inspiration struck while I was brushing my teeth. Swear to god. Spit out toothpaste, rinse mouth quickly, run to computer to turn it on because I had, for once in my life turned my laptop entirely off instead of just closing it. Dance impatiently around office waiting for laptop to boot up. Move cat out of chair. Close stupid windows Messenger opens every time it re-boots. Open window in Word. Begin typing like a fiend.
Fifteen minutes later, I not only had an additional 1,111 words, I had written the climactic moment of the novel. And I had made myself cry while writing it. Fucking. Brilliant.
(This is not to say that it doesn't need some serious editing, only that the bones of what is there are very, very good.)
I saved the document, turned off the laptop, re-brushed my teeth, got some water, climbed into bed, all the while feelng like I had just run a marathon. I was even breathing heavily. Of course, I couldn' t sleep then. Too much adrenaline, too much triumph, too much whatever it is you feel when you give birth to an idea after being in travail for almost 16 hours.
So I grabbed the notebook I keep next to the bed for emergency "I must write this idea before I go back to sleep and forget it" moments and scribbled this:
11/13/05
3:10am
I just need to record this, to save and to savor this moment.
[Blah Blah Blah Blah long-winded exploration of what I just recapped above]
So I have printed it out and put it away and here I sit in bed in my solitary glory, able to share it with no one, really, except the cats.
At this point, Polyphemos, as if hearing his cue, began the noisy process of throwing up. Since he was lying on Dave at the time, I decided it needed dealing with immediately. By the time I got everything cleaned up -- he got to the floor before the worst could happen-- and got back into bed, it was 4am. There was no one I could tell, no one I could call. I just had to enjoy the magic alone.
Now, of course, I feel like something large and pointy ran over me. More than once. Write today? Are you kidding? I need a nap. Or three.
Posted by sally at November 13, 2005 12:43 PM
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