Last year I sat down and declared my novel for the annual Nanowrimo challenge. I planned to work on the third book in my Voices series but working everyday between my two jobs, trying to keep up with family and personal obligations and dealing with my struggling health made it an impossible venture. It was the first time I have ever had to pull out of participating and it was something I thought long and hard about before officially deciding. However, in the end, I knew it was the best move for me to make.
I write outside of the Nanowrimo challenge. I will admit I do not find time to focus on writing as much as I would like other than during November, but I do work on it from time to time. It had been my intention to get past the health issues and get down to one job and then go back to write book three so I could begin working on the rewrites and edits for the trilogy that I believed the Voices series to be. The health issues continued unfortunately and I wasn't able to get down to one job until June of this year. Even then I was battling some health concerns though those have mostly cleared up now.
So this year as I was considering if I wanted to attempt it again I talked it over with my boyfriend who is one of the major sounding boards for everything I do. We talked about some of the things I have been doing to improve my health such as training for a 10K and riding in a charity bike ride, both of which I will be taking part in over the next two weeks. It is something I need to continue doing in order to keep my health on an upward trajectory. So that is a time concern to be take into consideration, not only do I need to set aside the time for the run (one day) and time for the ride (3 days to get to and from California) as well as making time in the mornings to get to the gym in order to stay healthier.
The next thing to think about is the three signings I need to make time for. Two of the signings are on the same day which is one less day to take away from writing but it makes for one long and full day. I am also preparing for a holiday party I will be hosting for the Las Vegas authors the day after Nanowrimo officially ends. I will be baking all of the desserts (19 of them) and making the decorations / putting them up in the front and back yards plus throughout my house. So all of those things are more items I need to have in my calendar along with the five days a week I work. Writing this month was starting to feel impossible.
Yet when we talked it over he mentioned me has seen me complete Nano when I didn't start until November 9th and had no idea what I was going to work on. He has seen me complete a novel while working two different jobs and pulling back to back doubles. He knows it is a passion and he has faith I can do it. Not only does he believe in me and how much I love writing but he knows it is an escape for me. When all those other things make me feel overwhelmed and I start getting emotional or frustrated it is a way for me to clear my mind and focus on something I enjoy.
I know the story I will be working on. I have the basic idea and know the ending I am working toward. I now know there is a fourth book that is the actual end of the series but I am excited to get into book three and hopefully when I am done I can jump right into the last book and finish the first full series I have ever written. Bring on Nanowrimo 2018, I am ready!
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