Day 101 of 365: This is Exhausting, Kid

As I've mentioned before, I've been setting my own NaNoWriMo goal of 1,000 words a day, every day. And I'm going to be 100% honest: the past 4 or 5 days, I've made it by the skin of my teeth. There were even a few days I looked at my Calendar o' Hearts (last year I marked days I met my goal with stars. This year: hearts) and went, "Today might be the day I don't get one of my hearts."


That sounds like a line of dialogue in a fantasy novel. I'll get back to you on that.


Somehow I've been able to pull through on the 11th hour. But it hasn't been easy. The second week of NaNoWriMo is notorious for killing off would-be writers. All that gusto in week one fades away and writers around the world give the collective, "Well FUCK this," and check their email instead.


So far, I've been persevering. But, holy crap, am I exhausted.


It makes sense. I do my 1,000+ words, I write in this blog (and my blog entries are no small thing. I wouldn't be surprised if a few of these are 1,000+ words themselves), I polish up essays for Thought Catalog, and, on occasion, I've been researching writing contests, since the agency thing obviously isn't happening (at least not for manuscript #1) and the last two authors I've read got publishing deals through the various contests they'd won (Name of the Wind & Wise Man's Fear/Patrick Rothfuss, Tell the Wolves I'm Home/Carol Rifka Brunt).


The only thing that really keeps me going sometimes is that fact that what I'm doing is just another day at the office for a professional writer. They write, they correspond, they update their blogs with witty commentary, they continue other ventures, and they work their already-written-novels until they've squeezed every last dime out of it.


Granted, I don't get paid a red cent for my "professional" work schedule, but it's the idea that, maybe, someday, I will, that keeps me going. I can't stress enough: I have such a good feeling about this book. I don't know when or where, but I feel like this might be finally my first step forward. Or not. We'll see.


All I know is that I'm barely at the midway mark of NaNoWriMo and I already need a writing nap.