This is it! The start of our last full week of NaNoWriMo! By now we have overcome so much, and many of you will be approaching 40,00 words soon which means we are in the final stretch! It might be tempting to think that we are entering calm waters, that we have made it to the easy part! Nothing could be further from the truth!
Here in the US, the end of November is marked with the coming of Thanksgiving, one of our national holidays. We gather with family or friends and gorge ourselves on turkey, some bake cookies, others watch movies or football. This is the start of our season of gatherings and for many of us, that means the end of WriMo season is full of obstacles!
Thanksgiving is always a time when I get to see my family. We are separated my many, many states and only get to gather together on special occasions. This year will be no different (with extra precautions taken so no one gets sick). This means my writing time will need to account for traveling a day to see my folks, spending a day helping to bake and prep for the big meal, and at least one more day of travel back. Three days out of this week where, if I am not careful, I could lose valuable time!
Travel is not new to me. I do it regularly for work and this means I have had to figure out ways to work while on the road. To be honest it is really hard to stay sharp while traveling. I drive for most of my travel which means that my brain is numb by the time I get to my destination and write. Finding ways to stay healthy, energized, and ready to tackle our word counts can be hard. Bring your inspiration with you. Guard your writing time. Be diligent. Write. These are not new suggestions. We do not need to reinvent the wheel when we leave our writing dens.
WriMo is a season that will test even the most experienced writers but once it is over that does not mean it ends. Soon some of us will cross the goal line but this is just the start of the journey. Our stories deserve to be finished, they deserve to be polished and cleaned and shared with the world. Our stories deserve to be told. Dear writers, you have made it this far, I encourage you to keep on writing. Keep on telling those stories. Keep dreaming of new worlds and new stories to tell. Your stories are your own, only you can tell them as you see them.