It was hard getting up this morning, or I should say, …this afternoon.
But I got my 1600 words for NaNoWriMo, 1667 to be exact.
I think I’m still struggling to adjust to the time change.
I always thought that gaining an hour helped, that losing the hour threw off our systems.
Then last week my eldest who is in graduate school informed me, with no apologies, and in quiet passing while sharing another story of recent events in her life, that, …and you know I’m feeling really off. The time change is messing with me.
She continued her story to the end, and yet I was amazed at how she made no excuses for feeling strangely due to having gained an hour. In fact she said, “I’ve gained this hour, and so when the clock says it’s time for bed, I’m still awake. Then when it’s time to get up I’m sleepy.”
No big deal. Nothing earth shattering. But she was honest and unabashedly so.
Again, what I noticed is that she did not feel ashamed of her humanness, her frailty.
So many of my characters struggle to be perfect.
I work to be perfect.
And always fail.
Many writers seek perfection, or rather we share the desire to achieve perfection.
Excellence can be the enemy of good. Or rather, Don’t allow your desire for excellence destroy any amount of good you might achieve.
As writers we toil for perfection in our stories, crossing all our t’s, dotting all our i‘s.
And so we should.
Yet it is the words we write, the meaning we make, and the intentions of our messages that our characters spill onto the page through their actions, words and deeds, and that move readers the most.
The beautiful thing about NaNoWriMo provides a time to simply write, without judgment, care, or giving ear to what the inner critic thinks. It is a time for the heart to take control of our hands and fingers as we write and/or type and liberate our souls to what is simply present.
In the spirit of NaNoWriMo, “Write“.
Thank you for your post. It is so true. One of the biggest challenges for me with NaNoWriMo isn’t the word count, but rather silencing the inner editor. The first few days were particularly painful. As much as I would love to come out from this event with a finely crafted novel, I have to keep telling my head to let my heart be in control. I hope that by the end of this I will have gained the ability to write without self-censorship on demand.
Thank you for your fabulously worded reminder of why we NaNoWriMo!
Cheryl.
It is when we release this need for perfection that we really begin to thrive as writers/artists. It is as if when we release the need for perfect, the wellspring of creativity opens up.
Our children are indeed our greatest teachers as we are often theirs.
Thanks for sharing.
So wonderfully said.
My children have certainly been, and still are my greatest teachers.
Thanks so much for your sharing.
Have a great week.
And thank you for your honesty.
The compression of time (one month) and required daily word count (1600) leave little time to think, which for me, is where the inner critic slips in.
We have to use this to our advantage, or at least try, which is my challenge.
The inner critic can also beat me up for not maintaining my daily word count. I didn’t write on Saturday.
But I’ll come back. I always do. I love writing.
Thanks again for sharing.
Lots of of people blog about this subject but you said some true words.
Thanks so much for you kind and affirming words.
Please come back again.