Finally caught up!

I've been feeling so guilty, because I was so far behind on my NaNo story.  It was stressing me out, which is a bad thing for numerous reasons, one of them being that I was getting depressed, which makes me sleep more, which makes me stressed out even more, because I'm not being productive!  Whew!  

But I'm doing better now.  The time-off I've spent since the last time I worked on Avienne wasn't doing me any good, and my characters seem to have run off to play in the forest without me, and they won't tell me where they are.  So while I'm hunting them down, I decided to just get SOMETHING down for NaNo, and in doing so, I have finally caught up, and my stress has greatly lessened.

One thing that has helped me is that I've been writing from 10pm to midnight every night, except Sunday, when I had a show to watch on TV and typed from 9-10, then 11-midnight.  I'm getting at least 2,000 words done a night that way, sometimes more.  I'm also crocheting at least five rows a night on an afghan I'm making my mom for Christmas.  Maybe there is something to having a schedule.  So far, it seems to be working for me.

I also suggest that anyone attempting NaNoWriMo invest some time in getting to know some good Writing Buddies.  They're invaluable!  Not only do they understand what you're going through, they're available as cheer leaders, beta readers, and resources, and you might just find yourself with new friends who will last beyond the one-month-long craziness that is NaNo.    

I've even managed to save some time to read one of my favorite authors, Yasmine Galenorn's most recent book, "Shadow Rising", another offering in her wonderful Otherworld series.