The Dreaded Nano Curses.

I knew this was a good thread when I saw it was created. Shame you missed the planning meet.

So, me? First of all I have no firm ideas what to write, which is worrying me, but the clincher is work.

I have been working very hard recently and I'm worried this will continue on into November; I'm relying on having lunchbreaks to write. Furthermore I'm already going to have to miss the second Saturday meet due to work; I'm going to a conference on SQL from the 19th-21st (18th-22nd including travel); what I will do about writing whilst I am away is also a worry. I would like to participate in the word war, but three days away by itself is going to make a huge shortfall.

Like I say, I'm getting worried. :S

- Yoz -

2007: The Dust on the Wind - 50K
2008: The Rise of King Drust - 50K
2009: Terrebus Rundstadt: From Child to Lord

Snarfgirl - I second Yorrix commiserations at missing the planning meet, I hope you manage to make all the others :-)

Yorrix - the way to cope with this is to concentrate on getting as much as you can written at the weekends. Sit down tomorrow and try and get ahead, instead of writing 1,667 words, write 3000, or even 4000. If you can get far enough ahead that being away for 3 days isn't going to put you behind, you'll feel much better about the fact that you're going away.

And sign up for the Word War anyway. It'll give you the extra incentive to keep going, and if things are going completely pear-shaped, you have until the 20th to drop out, with no harm done. :-)

For myself, I'm hoping that all my Nano curses happened in October. My Mum was in and out of hospital and my Dad's been waiting to hear about a minor operation he has to have, but I'm really hoping that when he finally gets the date it'll be after November. Fingers crossed.

Lottie

I'll sleep when I'm dead.

My curses are going to sound lame next to some of you but they're big enough for me! - work is very heavy at the moment - I spend 3 hours each day commuting - and we have a big project happening in Durham next week which I'll be going up to, but I'm hoping I can turn it to my advantage and write on the train up and also in my hotel room in the evenings without distractions of a social life. Then I have other commitments like my horse, who has been ill lately and who I need to spend a few hours each weekend tending to. And I also help run a dance society in Cambridge which takes up my Monday and Wednesday evenings. Plus I'm directing a play which takes up another 6 hours at weekends. So I'm really hoping to make it to two of the Sunday meets but not sure I'll make more!

Weeeellllll...

I spent the whole weekend putting my computer back together and am still able to get yWriter to work properly on the very fresh Ubuntu 9.10 installation. I'm actually putting these words together under Windows (yuck). I'm also looking forward to a karate test in December, so I should be doing lots of fitness training. Add to that the cloud that sits over my head in that this is my fourth NaNo and I managed less than 20 words the last time, and less than 10k in total for three events.

I also have two boistrous children, the eldest of whom started school in September, so I'm fetching and carrying for him. My wife is pregnant with number 3 (due in January) and is HUGE, so I'm fetching and carrying for her as well.

Good news, though, is the fact that I put my neck out this morning, when I got into the car, so I am in too much pain to go to karate, so I was able to reach 4k words on day 2. Nice little buffer there.

Now, all I need is for the pain to go away.

It's not a bad thing, but a time eater. I've got to do some rather unconventional flowers/greenery displays for a Pagan handfasting on Saturday. which involves me carving out 24 apples, making 24 ivy and berry spirals, a ball (hopefully with misteltoe in it), 4 baskets representing the 4 elements (with the water one having flowers made from seashells) AND the bouquet.
By 11 am Saturday. And it's not the kind of thing you can start 2 days in advance it will wilt.

So, no pressure!

Headed to Morecambe for the big setting up of a project for work on Monday night. Long drive, arrive late, eat, bed. Have to work 14/15 hour days Tuesday and Wednesday, have known this in advance and planned for a proper catch-up Thursday. Leave Morecambe in good time (4.30pm) Thursday afternoon. Motorways slow but not clogged. ETA Cambridge is 8.30pm. Change drivers on M6 Toll, 6 or 7 miles into my drive and the headlights start to dim and then flicker off... Smells of electrical burning. Pull over onto hard shoulder underneath flyover, car won't start, torrential rain, freezing cold, panicking boss. Call AA. Man from AA doesn't know where M6 toll is. "Is that a road? It isn't on my map..." It is 7.15pm. AA promise help by 8.45pm. I sing "Under The Bridge" to boss. After 1 hour some nice M6 Toll men in a big flashy lorry arrive and put some nice flashy cones out. I examine the wall of the flyover bridge and find a snail and a ladybird. 8.30pm, AA Maintenance Man calls and tells us that the Highways Agency have sent them our position. It is not where he thought it was, or anywhere near him so another AA Man will need to come. I write 300 Nano words before my fingers become too cold to hit keyboard properly. 9pm, we phone the AA - a maintenance man will be with us by 9.15pm. 9.15pm, AA Maintenance Man phones and tells us he will be with us by 9.30pm. 9.40pm AA Man arrives and bump starts our car - we can drive, but we can't stop until we get to Cambridge. Midnight, arrive Cambridge. Made of lame. Though at least have new Nano chapter where MC's spaceship breaks down on cold dark moon.

2007 - Faerydust (23k)
2008 - Black and White (51k)
2009 - No Sign Of Life (?)

It has taken me until today to actually get an idea I like and start writing. In the past few hours I have nearly done 2000 words though so that is good! Not sure if I can catch up but I will give it a go:)

My first NaNoWriMo disaster was my housemate Paul spilling an entire cup of hot tea all over the keyboard and breaking it yesterday. So yesterday I had nothing to write with until Paul fished out a truely anceint keyboard from the depths of the spare room. So Day 6 has been my least productive so far, I only got about a thousand words down because i started so late in the day. Thankfully I have been working above the daily targets or I would be behind.

Here's a good one. After 11 days of staying on the pace (ten more days than I've ever managed before), I get flipping swine flu. So, I've been feeling lousy and going to bed early. Still written every day, but less that a thousand words in three days has left me with something of a catch-up. Anyway, with luck I'll feel well enough tomorrow to write, but not well enough to go to work. Such a difficult balance...

The curse hit me again.

I was doing well and I hit the 3,010 words mark for the day. My husband comes in with a load of geroceries. I thank him for doing the shopping when he hit me with these little words. It the ingredients for the company's "thanksgiving dinner" tomorrow.

I let out my breath because I though I sign up for a desert. (Granted I planned to buy it at Tesco's already made)
He shook his head, I changed it last minute. We are making a fresh salad with all fresh vegtables.

Well there goes my time for writing. I guess I could write more tonight and make up for tomorrow's loss.

He comes back later. I need to make a basket for the door prize. My eyes grew wide. Here it was at 8pm on a sunday and he wants ME to make a gift basket. All the high street stores are closed and he wants me to come up with something. Fourtunely I did find something but it not my best.

Draght that nano curse!

Take care,
Snarfgirl2007

Bad decisions make good stories.