September 2017: rocking the boat

Here’s what September 2017 looked like in writing…

Total Words Written This Month
31,753 words

Average Words Per Day
1,058 words

Monthly Goal
didn’t set one

Yearly Goal
477,587 / 500,000 (96%)

Things completed:

• did an abridged version of Pintosmalto aka Arm Candy for a school doing it in competition
• an abridged version of The Complete Novels of Jane Austen: Now New and Improved!
• wrote up a family story (one of many I’ve been meaning to do for ages)

Other Works Actively in Progress this Month:

• All The NaNoWriMo ML stuff
• The Fourth Orange full length final stuff
• so many letters to my representatives because the world has become a dystopian hellscape

Overall

September was my lowest word count month of the year so far. Or was it?

I mean, yeah. By the numbers, this is my lowest word count month of the year so far. But I also I don’t really know exactly how much I wrote this month. Combination of sickness (for all parties) and teething (baby) meant very sporadic writing time. What working time I did get, was spent dancing in place at my “standing desk” at the kitchen counter working on my tablet trying to keep the fussy baby strapped to my chest asleep and happy. I got a fair amount of work done that way but I didn’t always remember to write those words down in my spreadsheet or, in the case of editing, have a way to track that time, so a lot of that isn’t reflected here.

But, my gosh, am I tired. Like, my whole body hurts. Because the baby wrap + standing desk trick is the only way I’ve been able to get any work done and holding baby in general is the only way I do almost anything else these days, I’ve been on my feet non-stop for the majority of the last two weeks. A few weeks after the baby was born, I joked to a friend that my post-natal fitness plan was to never put the baby down ever but that’s actually sort of becoming true.

Don’t get me wrong, I like holding the baby (she’s not going to be this little forever and I gotta get All The Snuggles now while the getting is good) and having her in the wrap, where I at least am free to move around and do stuff (like go to the bathroom!), is a zillion times better than last time when I was trapped doing nothing under a sleeping baby while my bladder screamed at me. And having the standing desk has been a lifesaver, letting me get work done times when I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to. But I can’t do everything from the tablet (I need a version of Scrivener for Droid immediately) and it requires an adjustment in how I work. Not to mention that it’s also super physically tiring to be standing and moving all the time with just under 20 extra pounds along for the ride.

Anyway, this concludes the whining portion of this post. What did I actually write this month?

• Mostly NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo and more NaNoWriMo. So many emails, lots of prep work, writing email blasts and forum posts ahead of time, stuff like that. First time I really considered asking for a co-ML next year because the work is really getting to be too much for just me.
• I also did a special abridged version of The Complete Novels of Jane Austen: Now New and Improved! for an upcoming anthology and a shortened version of Arm Candy for a school each of which took a couple of days of editing and cutting.
• Putting the finishing touches on The Fourth Orange full length. There is one stupid little connection I need to make to get the ending just right and I am so close but I’m so mentally / physically tired that I just cannot get the pieces to fit together. Really hoping once everyone is better and I get a little more time to think it’ll click so I can finally stick a fork in that one.

One weird writing plus to everyone being sick is that husband (who’s got the worst of it) has been going to bed when the kids do this past week and, since he’s not around to distract me, I’ve been getting evenings to myself to work for the first time in ages. It’s a temporary situation and I hate not getting to see / hang out with him but I never would have been able to finish the abridged version of Jane Austen without that time so it was a lifesaver from that standpoint.

Up Next

NaNoWriMo FOREVER. I have so much ML stuff to do for that in the next few weeks, talks I’m running and scheduling and so much stuff *sobs*

When (and that so feels more like an “if” than a “when” at this point) all my NaNo responsibilities are mostly under control, I need to figure out a plan. Because I HAVE to get 4th Orange full length done first but then? I have NO IDEA what I should work on next and it would be really nice to do something fun for NaNoWriMo that I actually get to prepare to write for a change instead of just working on any old random thing because I spent too much time getting everyone else’s event ready to prepare for it myself.

In a theme you’ve probably detected here the last few years, in making NaNoWriMo great for all the people in my region as ML, I have inadvertently ruined the event for myself and I really need to find a way to fix that. Because I’m tired of working so hard setting up and cheerleading and then spending November watching everyone else have so much fun and wishing I could be writing something I was passionate about instead of just doing something boring just to have something to write with everyone. I’m feeling pessimistic about this at the moment but I’m hoping once I get caught up somewhat it’ll all seem brighter and I’ll figure out a new way through.

The world at large this year, though? Stinks. And it’s having an effect. It’s like, obviously I’m still putting up the numbers. I’m putting out finished stuff. But none of it feels good. It’s harder than it ever was so even the triumphs are colored wrong. Most nights I lose what little writing time I have to writing my representatives and I hate this world and it’s horribleness with no end in sight.

But, you know what? The world is falling apart, everything about my writing routine is shot to hell, life is complete and total chaos and my mental state is really terrible because of all the stress of current events but, hey, I’m still here! It sucks but I’m riding it out. I’m still writing, still getting stuff done and even if it’s not happening exactly how I’d like it to or as easily as it used to, forward motion is forward motion so, yeah, I’m holding on to that.

You hear that New York? The frog is staying!