NaNoWriMo Week 2 Update: Inspiration

            It’s week two of NaNoWriMo. So far so good. The kids have been getting fed regularly, they have clean clothes on their backs and I have not yet begun to question my sanity. I suspect that will come in week three. I been getting up between five and six am each day to write. Several days I’ve toted my trusty lap top along and written while waiting in the car pick up line at my son’s school. I’ve been referring to my CR-V as my “mobile writing studio”. It has become just as messy as the room I work in at home.

By Thursday afternoon last week, keeping up with my own ambitions was beginning to catch up with me. I set the alarm on my phone and grabbed a twenty minute nap in the elementary school parking lot instead of writing. So now all the other moms think I drink. Silly ladies. I only drink AFTER I’ve gotten my writing done.

Fortunately I had a big dose of inspiration Thursday night. Not an idea about what to write next, but hanging out with people who are living their dreams. A friend from college is playing Daniela in the touring company of the Tony Award winning musical In the Heights. I can’t describe the thrill of seeing someone I’ve shared a stage with acting “for real”. She’s making a living doing what I do for fun. When I was in my twenties I would have been green with envy. Now I watched that show with a feeling of joy and pride. It’s good to be a grown-up.

There was inspiration all around me Thursday night. Not only for my friend living her theatrical dream, but for another friend who went with me to the show. She has cast her lot in the field of academia and is succeeding as well. Having finished her doctorate, she’s not only working in the field she loves, now she’s being promoted. She said, “This is what I’ve always wanted to do”. What could be better than that?

I got to bed around 1:00 Thursday night certain I’d never get up when my alarm went off at 5:00. I was wrong. I got out of bed and banged out another 900 words before the kids woke up. They may not be the greatest words, but I pushed through. I figure I can make it look pretty later. Right now, I just need to keep on writing.

I got another dose of inspiration on Saturday. I had the chance to meet up with more college friends. This time at a signing for Unleashed by Sara Humphreys another friend from school. Unleashed is the first in the series of five books about a secret society of shape shifters. That’s right, she has a five book deal for this series, plus a deal for an additional series about vampires. I can’t complain about not having time to write when I see what Sara has accomplished. She has twice as many sons as I do and runs her own business! No time to write? Really Vic? It’s time to make time.

          By Sunday I had passed the 10,000 word mark. I was thrilled. I had originally planned to reward myself with one of these when I reached 10k:

I’ve wanted a ceramic travel mug for  a while because I am a sometime coffee drinker and a sometime tea drinker. The flavor never completely washes out of plastic lined travel mugs. My coffee tastes like tea and my tea tastes like coffee. When I saw this on the NaNoWriMo website, I knew it was mine. But I’ve decided to set the bar higher. When I get to the half-way point, I’ll place my order. Besides, I just discovered they’re out of stock for now. Apparently, I’m not the only writer with a caffeine addiction. Who knew?

Today is day eight and as of this morning I’ve written over 14,000 words. I’ve never written this many words in a single piece before. I feel a huge sense of accomplishment and I’m still fired-up to keep going. Daily I battle with the urge to go back and fix things and make changes. Last week I mentioned the advice my friend Nikki gave me about getting 2000 words written a day in the first week. It’s definitely working out well for me. Her second piece of advice was to add Ninjas when things begin to slow down in the story. I foresee Ninjas in the future for Michaela and Adam. Not literal ninjas, of course. But the chick-lit equivalent of ninjas—a fight, a betrayal, perhaps a car crash. It’s week two. Time to shake things up.