Q: Jen, on November 20 your computer crashed and you lost your 2008 NaNoNovel. That night, you started on a new story. How is it going? Will you be a winner in spite of it all?
A: First off, I feel like I've severely neglected my ML duties. I spend all of November, and portions of the other autumnal months spewing out helpful hints and encouragement to my fellow writers such as: "No idea is stupid!", "Turn off your spellchecker!", "Make sure you wear pants to my write-ins!"... and of course, the mother of all helpful NaNo hints... "Back up your files!" So the day that I closed my laptop (after logging 65k words) and heard a mechanical whirring the equivalent of the four horsemen coming to get me, I knew I needed to hang my head in shame.
I went through the normal stages of grief. Especially anger. I yelled at my husband, my cats, the Californian at Apple Support. Of course that didn't make me feel any better. It made me feel worse, and reminded me yet again that I needed to take control and responsibility of the situation. It was then that I decided that the disaster (yes, I'm going to say it) was a blessing in disguise. The story that I had lost turned out not to be inspiring or fun for me to write, and believe me, if my dear laptop hadn't destroyed it, I would have destroyed it next month during editing. This was a good thing.
I started to work right away (with my new, shiny flash drive.) A brand new story that I had no idea where the plot was heading. I had never written anything without a substantial outline (we're talking pages in the twenties and thirties here, people.) I didn't feel like I could write a novel without one. But suddenly I was flying through the words without the training wheels. I never thought that was possible! To find out that I had a whole new story in me that didn't exist hours... or even minutes... ago, told me that I had been severely underestimating my abilities. On November 20, I found out how strong I really was.
I'm happy to say that here on the 25th of November I am at 35k and still going strong! My current story is fresh and exciting to me, and is something I would have never dreamed up if this disaster hadn't occurred. I really think it took something this horrible for me to realize my true potential. I've discovered that I'm a true Writer (yes, with a capital "W") who can withstand all sorts of pressure, deadlines, and yes even four horsemen-worthy feats of computer crashing.
So congratulations all those purple bars out there! I shall be joining you very, very soon!
(Oh, and back up your files. Please. Apple Support really doesn't need to get any more calls from people like me. And wear pants.)
Jen Oldham is the midcoast Maine ML. She currently spends her time writing fervently and is just hoping that it all makes sense. She is very happy with her 2008 NaNo novel (take 2), and is thrilled that her husband (Nate) and three cat children (Bossa Nova, Bilbo, and Rosco) are talking to her again.
