Just finished my word count for the day and have banked a little cushion. My husband took the two kids grocery shopping this morning, so I had a good chunk of writing time and hustled down to work. Historically, my process requires rumination when I sit down at my desk, before I actually start writing. Now I'm finding the rumination happens during other pockets of the day. I'm sure I seem pretty distracted, but I can refine this approach when the month is over and I figure out my real rhythm.
I'm especially glad for the time today because yesterday was a bumpy one. Friday I got a call with some not-great news about my ailing father. It wasn't entirely unexpected, but it still was a shock. I woke up in a funk yesterday, sad about my father, which triggered full-on active grief for my mother who died last October, and finally, for my best friend, who died in an accident in December. And then we were just off to the races.
I wanted very much to channel this emotional state into productivity--in my novel, there are losses and griefs--but there was just no diving in yesterday. I kept my commitment to write some so I wasn't skipping a day, getting a few words down and then recommitting to catch up tomorrow.
So I ended up doing another "two-fer" day today. I'm not planning to do this very often (I keep thinking of Doyce Testerman's advice about not trying to prove anything with your daily word count), but I'm glad of the cushion right now because I suspect I'm going to need it as the month goes on.
I'm starting to understand how Camp NaNoWriMo is, more than anything, an exercise in jumpstarting your process. It's like the swim test at camp--all about the distance, about not getting stuck in either executing the crawl stroke so beautifully you can't make it across the lake, or going down when you get hit by the cramp. So far I'm feeling good about making those leaps every day and relieved that yesterday didn't sink me.
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