Quitter

I’m pretty sure I am going to have to give up on my NaNo goals. Perhaps a better person could do it all, but I am not a better person right now.

The truth of the matter is my new job is kicking my butt. I run around at full speed for 10 straight hours, then have to come home and take care of my baby, try to cook dinner, and try not to make the house a disaster since I’m lucky enough to have my in-laws come over and babysit the little one while I’m at work.

I imagine there are people out there who do all of that (and more) and still have time to write, and I suppose if this was going to be my life for an extended period of time, I’d find time to fit writing in. But, bottom line, it’s only going to last three months.

Since it’s only three months, and you throw the holidays in (which includes my baby’s first birthday), I’ve given myself permission to not push it. There’s no reason to stress myself to the brink just to finish NaNo when I already know the following:

I can write a novel in 30 days; I’ve done it many times before
I can complete a novel; I’ve managed to do it 8 times in the past 7 years (3 being THIS year).
I have three novels out in slush pile land, and more waiting in the wings.

It’s just when my mind is go-go-go for the majority of the day, all I can muster the energy for is the bare minimum. My brain simply doesn’t function. Maybe I will get used to the pace at some point, but for now, I’m only fitting writing in when I’ve got the brain power. I wrote about 100 words on Friday. Not good enough for NaNo, but good enough for my life right now.

I had a feeling this would happen, but I decided to give NaNo a go anyway. Why? It pushed me to pump out 25,000 words this month and get that next story started. I’m glad I tried, and now I’m also glad I’m not going to stress to finish.

It’s all about adjustments.