Week One of NaNo is in the bag for me. I might get in a few more words today, but I kind of doubt it. I finished the week with 14,500 words. The real struggle is not going back and editing anything. Trust me, not all of this is good. But NaNo isn’t always about being great. It’s about letting go of your inner editor and just writing the story. Mine has already taken a turn or two and introduced me to a couple people I hadn’t known would have voices. Those bad guys are creeping me out.
I was extremely productive early in the week and I’m glad I made headway then. There’s a reason you write as long and as hard as you can when you can. It’s because there will be days when you may not have the time or opportunity to write as much as you want.
Friday was one of those days. I woke up early prepared to jump into a fresh chapter with both feet and I just knew I was going to get a lot done. Then Mr. Scott came home from having coffee with a friend and told me about an ad he’d heard on the radio. The Humane Society was offering a special on older dogs. We decided to go look.
The only senior dog wasn’t available for adoption due to an ear infection. But there was a two-year-old girl that stole our hearts. It was a moment of serendipity. I have a cat named Boo. I named her for Boo Radley from Too Kill a Mockingbird because she hid behind the door the first time we turned her loose in the house. We came across Scout this morning and when I double checked the sheet, I saw she was a female. And she had the sweetest smile.
What are the odds of finding a sweet girl named Scout to live with my Boo?
Now what are the odds that Boo and Scout were going to be instant buddies? Yeah… it was a couple days of introductions, over-excitement for the dog, and hurt feelings for the kitty. We’ve got a long way to go.
Meanwhile, I’m just trying to get the words on the paper and not self-edit. Let’s hope the pets and the characters in my book cooperate.
