What I'm thinking today: Thursday, or Thereabouts

NaNoWriMo Writes YET Again!

Yes folks, it's that time of year when writers of all stripes and flavours set pens to paper and/or fingers
to keyboards to crank out some 50,000 words by month's end. This annual writer's marathon which began on Tuesday, is billed as a:

"fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought fleetingly about writing a novel."

Check out the NaNoWriMo website for all the details.

This is my fourth entry into the writing room called November. For me it remains a place of good intentions, really good intentions, to write every day, to finish by month's end a sizable section of the memoir I've been working on for... well let's just say I've been working on it for a while.

I'm not a registered participant because honestly I'm not that driven. My 'Lite' version is a little more relaxed because I've learned, finally, that it's okay to give myself permission to have fun, to accept the better offer when it comes along without obligingly picking up a side order of guilt, and it's okay to attend to my own well being.

And how's that working for me so far?
Day 1 - Tuesday - nearly 1400 words written - the entire opening chapter. This is a huge accomplishment! I have been struggling with how to begin the book for years. I've written so much of the story of my odyssey through Alzheimer's Disease as it unravelled my mother, but that opening chapter had eluded me.

Day 2 - yesterday - I wrote my 'morning pages' - about 250 words before being lured in by the BBC and CBC news websites, a jigsaw puzzle and of course Facebook®. Then I headed into town to enjoy a delightful lunch with a friend I haven't connected with in decades. We noshed and chatted for some three hours and I could have gone on longer.

Back at home I managed to pen another 220 words in the memoir before my love and I drove to the city to take a play. A Brimful of Asha was a delight - fresh, funny and insightful. Live theatre is just so engaging!

Day 3 - Today! 300 words in the morning pages, plus this blog post of 500 words = 800 so far. I need to keyboard the opening chapter written on Tuesday (I write in long hand, with a beloved fountain pen), and then get chapter 2 penned.

Friday I'm off on my annual Fall writing retreat. I'm planning on lots of writing time in the warm company other writers, great food and conversation. A literary agent is the featured presenter. Her workshop will focus on query letters - how to catch and hold an agent's attention. Very exciting for me but also a little scary. I submitted a query letter for her perusal and feedback. Did I catch her interest by any chance? Time will tell.