Yes, it’s true. I haven’t written a thing since the 9th… Four days off in a row. I have to think about it in small increments, though, because otherwise I have to acknowledge that I went to sleep last night 13,668 words behind, and that thought is mentally crippling.

However, this morning I decided I need a plan of action to get me started on the right path. After all, the halfway point isn’t even until tomorrow. I can’t do two 7k days in a row to catch up, but… then I remembered the advice given in the YWP handbooks (helpful for everyone, though, not just young people) and that is to figure out what days you can write, and plan your word count quotas accordingly.

I have 17 days left this month, including today (it’s not even 9am yet). I have 8 days that I don’t work, and 9 that I do. I have 42k left to write, which is not quite 2500 per day. OR I can aim for 3k on days off, and 2k on days I work. Either way gets me to 50k. I am going to strive for 3k each this weekend, but I really want to do as much as possible and no less than 2500. And I’ll see how that goes.

The bonus in falling way behind so early in the month is having more days to catch up, and less writing per day. So it’s actually a really good thing that my husband went into the hospital on day 3, and got out on day 12. Now that he’s on the mend we can really focus on writing.

Part of the reason I wasn’t writing was the stress of Mark being in the hospital, but another part was that I was in the hospital with him. That setting does NOT make me want to write. I am home now, and I am so glad to be back at my desk. I have my writing/reference books, I have a clean surface for Tarot, and I am in a comfortable position sitting here. All of which are highly conducive to writing. I am SO ready to get back in the NaNo game. 🙂

I am going to a write in tomorrow. I want to have 11k by bedtime tonight, and while I would love to have 15k buy bedtime tomorrow, I will settle for 14k.