Gearing Up for Nanowrimo

Hello dear readers!

It's almost November, and you know what that means!  NANOWRIMO!!!

Yes, it is that time of year when millions of people take an almost complete leave of their senses and attempt to write a novel of 50,000 words in just thirty days.

Yes, we know it's crazy.

Yes, we know it's masochistic.

All the same, it does get me writing, which usually leads to more writing.  That writing may lead to updates.

Also, would anyone like to beta read for me?  I have a chapter ready to go, but there's a few things I'd like to bounce off someone in the fandom.  Any takers?

Ideas

Hello dear readers!

Ever have so many ideas that your only hope was to snatch a notebook and write them all down because you didn't want to forget them?  I have woken up with ideas, had ideas show up during a shower or while I'm washing dishes (plot bunnies are hydrophilic little critters), while I'm in dance class, while I'm driving - well, you get the idea.  They show up all the time, and usually when I have no notebook available.

I am currently sitting on two great ideas for fanfiction.  One takes place after the Final Battle in Year Seven, and the other takes place during...and after the Final Battle.  It's kind of hard to explain that one.  :)  All the same, they're both awesome stories.  The first is full of reconciliation between characters that make all my feels go a little psycho.  The second is more of an exploration of a situation.  In other words, characters are put in an impossible situation and I kind of sit back and watch.

They're both AMAZING ideas (if I do say so myself...).  I just haven't had time to really put them down on paper, and I know that some of you might actually lynch me if I start new stories without updating the old ones.

My current count of original fiction ideas stands at thirty-one.  Yes, thirty-one.  Three and one together to form a number that matches my age.

Some of them are awesome, others are close to my heart, and some are annoying little idiots that can't seem to keep themselves out of trouble.  One of the characters, Michael, is in the hospital at the moment.  It's not a bad injury, but he did just get over an illness.

They're all in a bit of trouble at the moment.  Cathy just got kicked out of classes...again, Kal is having some issues with a dark wizard, Jade is, well, hiding, and a few others are running.  There is a lot of running.  It's like Doctor Who in my head.

Yes, this does signal the end of the Illness-That-Can't-Be-Named.  Updates are coming!

Less Stressed and NOPE!

Things are finally starting to settle down. 

One of my evening classes is over and suddenly I have a free evening in my schedule.  I'm not entirely sure what I'll be doing.

Sleeping, maybe?

I don't know.

Sleep sounds awesome.

The other side (practical side) says that I'll have more time to dedicate to other things I should be doing. This all goes back to my post about Motivation, Frustration, and Exhaustion, as I'm pretty sure some of that is impacting my decision to avoid certain adult responsibilities.  These are the boring adult responsibilities that I've been having a bit of struggle with in recent weeks.  Organizing my closet.  Filing old bills.  Paying bills.  Weeding out books I'll never read again and giving them away/selling them.  Setting up that expense spreadsheet I've been meaning to set up. Re-organizing my room. Re-doing my budget.  I find them all boring. I don't want to.

When my brain states: "HEY!  LET'S DO THIS!" the other side of my brain goes:

Nope, nope, nope.  Don't want to.  Can't make me.

It's a struggle, I tell you.

If you have struggles like this, please share in the comments below.  I'd like to know I'm not alone in the whole motivation/adulthood nope-ness of avoidance.

Motivation, Frustration, and Exhaustion

Have you ever really, really wanted to do something, but find yourself unable to get started due to things beyond your control?

I'm having that issue.  There are so many things that I want to accomplish, projects to complete, and social obligations to attend that I find myself in a little bit of a dizzying whirl of "I don't have time!!!" and I end up doing nothing except completely giving up.

Yes, complete with slamming my head on my desk....just like that.

I wish I could blame this on something that was outside of my control, but I can't.  I'm just a crazy person that likes to do too many things at once.

I love the creative drive in my life, even though it takes over too much of my time.  When things become overwhelming, I decide to GET. ORGANIZED.

This is always a bad things, my friends.  As with everything else in my life, I take it a little bit to the extreme.

I get a new planner (which is like getting a new purse for other girls, really....it makes me extremely excited and giddy).

I rush home and frantically input information into it, gearing up for the just-out-of-reach dream that is adult responsibility.

There are baskets filled with objects and categorized in my closet.

My whiteboard is reorganized and redrawn with all of the new things I plan to accomplish.

I outline my writing, do some character mapping, draw a few timelines, and post everything where I can see it.

My desk is cleaned and organized, often with little labels of where everything is supposed to go.

I bullet journal everything I need to do in the next month and decide to start into my adventures.

Everything works well for a little while.  I am able to maintain the madness I have created for myself with little effort.  Chapters are planned.  Blog posts are outlined.  Bill payments are organized.  Workouts scheduled.  Home improvement projects pondered.  I am able to master it all for about three or four weeks.

Then, something happens. It doesn't matter what it is, really.  I may need to stop off at the grocery store and arrive home later than I mean to.  I may have an unexpected appointment with the doctor.  I get sick.  I double book myself.

It's all over.  My meticulous organization falls apart.  I forget to do something.  I procrastinate (one of my worst attributes, really).  I decide that watching the Big Bang Theory is more interesting than the projects I want to do.

What happens after that is usually a period of frantic catch up that leaves me looking a little like this:

Does anyone else experience such a phenomenon?

Or am I alone??