Setbacks

I am told every good story has setbacks. It can’t all go according to plan,

By those standards this is a good story. The story of a girl trying to write a book. First things get in the way, like quitting her job and having to spend all her time finding a new one. Then she is ‘sent’ on new missions that distract her from her main goal. For example, she decides to go to a festival and sew a costume in spite of the fact that the last thing she made was six years ago and she isn’t sure she knows how to work a sewing machine any more. She has no time for her book, and she keeps on saying, ‘I’ll write soon, when I finish the costume. I just need to…’ But each time, there is something else she hadn’t planned, like washing and ironing the fabric and pinning the selvages together. Just when she thinks she is ready to sew (not long until she can get back to writing) the evil cat decides to throw up on the fabric, rendering all her efforts useless. Now she needs to start all over again! Will she be able to do everything in time for the festival, or will it have all been in vain?

Now in a good story, she would double her efforts and finish everything just in time. There would even be great action music in the background.

Right now, though, I’m doubting my life is a good story. Just feeling like giving up. And like shaving my cat so she doesn’t throw up fur balls on my stuff anymore.

May update

So, May has come already, and I have so much left to write!

What’s that? Nano, you say? Oh yeah, that… Well, I finished with 10 686 words, which I reached on the 25^th April. Rather than 25 000. You could say I have failed. Or you could say it’s 10k closer to the end, which is how I like to look at things (I’ve been trying to ban words like ‘failure’ from my vocabulary. It’s tough.).

You might have noticed I didn’t write anything in the last 5 days of the Nano, which is disgraceful and all. You might ask what on earth I’ve been doing all this time that could be more important.

Well, I’ll enlighten you. I have paid taxes, gone cycling, looked for a job, gone to interviews, looked for more jobs, written application forms, visited relatives, celebrated birthdays, gone running, read a trilogy, opened mail, cleaned the bathroom… life, in short. And life has given me little time for writing.

Now I have read that real writers always find time for writing. I’ll argue I’ve written lots, but only in my head. I’ll admit, though, writing hasn’t been my priority. In fact it’s been pretty low on the list. I mean, come on! Behind cleaning the bathroom? It doesn’t get much lower than that. Yet they were things I felt I ought to do, whereas writing is for pleasure, and therefore optional. I suppose that’s the beauty of the NaNo, when done following the rules: writing becomes your priority. For it to work, you have to accept that life will come second.

But now it’s the bank holiday, and although I have a costume to make and more application forms to do and a course to prepare… I’ll make time. Because when I take the time to think about it, I remember how much I love my world.