I planned to write all weekend and try to catch up, but I didn't. I actually spent the entire long weekend in bed with what I can only assume was a pulled muscle or a pinched nerve in my back. I'm not sure if it was the result of the car accident or the work I did on Friday (carrying around very large picture frames, crawling under desks to clean, and picking up extremely heavy things, including trash bags full of paper - which can actually get very heavy) but something really hit me hard. Maybe the combination of the two. Anyway, I could barely sit up, and when I did it was only for a few minutes.
I know it sounds like I'm making excuses, but that's not what it is. I really wanted to write this weekend. The story was going so well, and I was really in a groove, but I've never felt this kind of pain in my back before. It was really awful. It's feeling better now, still a dull ache but not the sharp pain I was feeling Saturday, Sunday, and most of the day today.
I did do some writing on Friday, but it wasn't for NaNo. I had to rewrite the script for my church's Christmas play to make it a little easier for the actors to memorize. After that, I wrote two press releases for the theatre and made some flyers for the upcoming auditions. This publicity gig is like a second job! I love it, though! It's so much fun and I really feel like I'm a part of the theatre, even if I'm not in the cast of whatever the current play happens to be.
So anyway, that's why my big weekend didn't happen. I feel pretty awful about it, but I can't do anything about it now. I'm going to write tonight, though. I'll write as much as I can. As for NaNo, I'm not sure I can catch up at this point, but any amount of writing I am able to do will help me get closer to my goal of finishing the first book of the Draha series, so that's all that matters to me.
Keep copies of everything you do, PR wise, for the theatre, for your clip file. You can use them in your portfolio when you pitch other jobs. Consider the theatre -- and the church -- your pro bono clients.
ReplyDeleteYou can catch up on Nano, but you have to make it a priority.
The car accident, of course, threw everything out of whack, including your back. What were your co-workers thinking, having you move heavy stuff after an accident? Time to find a new job!
But if you want to write, you have to make it a priority and fit everything else -- including your day job, no matter how "important" your guest is -- around the writing, not the other way around.
Whether you hit 50K this month or not, at least commit to yourself to finish the book, not let it lie around for months as a partial, draining the rest of your creative energy.