Jenni L. Walsh Has All the Excuses This #NanoWriMo

This week, in honor of National Novel Writing Month (#NanoWriMo), the Debs are talking about our feelings about external challenges, deadlines, writing contests, and more.

I’ll just cut to the chase: I’m not doing #NanoWriMo. I like the idea. I do. And really, I thrive on pressure and tight deadlines.

True story: I got my first round of edits from my editor in December for BECOMING BONNIE. I had a baby December 22nd. My edits were due February 1st. I worked up until my son was born. I took a week off for newborning. In between more newborning, I worked like crazy the rest of month. If that’s not the definition of a pressure-filled, tight deadline then I’m not sure what is 😛

But let’s look at the month of November, shall we? Because I’ve got all the excuses on how #NanoWriMo simply doesn’t make sense for me.

Nov 1st and 2nd: Oops. Those dates already passed and I didn’t write a single word. Really, that’s because I’m researching a new project (details to come!). I’ll be researching all month, actually (so maybe #NanoReMo?). And, I’ll probably get my copyedits for BECOMING BONNIE this month, too. Those are the real reason I won’t be giving #NanoWriMo a shot, but let’s keep on going because, come on, November is an insane month for #NanoWriMo to even exist this year.

Nov 5th: I’m a Pitch Wars mentor, and my mentee’s pitch will be making its debut in the contest’s Agent Showcase. Considering I’ll be clicking refresh every 10 minutes to see which agents have requested to read more… that doesn’t leave a lot of time for writing.

Nov 6th: With daylight savings time ending, my kids are going to be all out of whack. Who can write with an out-of-whack 10-month old and 3-year-old? If you can, please tell me your secrets.

Nov 7th: Still got those out-of-whack kiddos, though Day 2 will be much better. I’m sure. I hope.

Nov 8th: It’s election day. So yep, I’m going to be anxiously watching the news and social media like a hawk, much like everyone else.

Nov 24th: Thanksgiving. Let’s be honest, I’m more worried about eating than writing on this day.

Nov 25th: I may still be in a food coma. But more so, Gilmore Girls will be live on Netflix. It’s a 4-part event. 90 minutes each. So that means…

Nov 26th: Gilmore Girls!

Nov 27th: Gilmore Girls!

Nov 28th: Gilmore Girls!

Nov 29th: Wishing there was more Gilmore Girls.

So there you have it. November simply isn’t a good time for me to somehow get 1,667 words down on paper (aka written into Word) each day. BUT, I will set the goal to have my research complete by the end of November so that December 1st I can tackle chapter 1 of my shiny new project.

So maybe December will be my #NanoWriMo. Except there’s my son’s birthday and Christmas and… 🙂