By the time I publish this post NaNoWriMo will be over, along with the month-long commitment I made to kicking out the 50,000-word count towards the first draft of my novel. The sacrifice involved in attempting to develop a practice of writing every day is quite daunting on so many levels. Waking up at 5:30am, going for a walk, and then heading to my writing “den” to produce an hours’ worth of material was indeed challenging.
And up to this point (November 26th as I'm writing this) I've been successful.
For the first 15 days, I sat in the Mad Anthony Wayne Cafe, a train station that also harbors a quaint coffee shop. It carries relaxing armchairs, aging wooden floors, and a rather large stainless-steel sign that boldly displays WAYNE. (The name of the city).
I would sit there sporting headphones, a legal notepad, along with my black pen, and review my writings from the previous day. Normally, this would trigger ideas to be added to scenes for that day.
Creativity and I had this ongoing date. It would present itself, but only if I showed up.
And I did!
Writer’s block never had a chance!
After the 15th of the month a change of scenery was needed. And from there I was led to the Gryphon Cafe. This too is a coffee shop in my community. However, the dynamics are quite different. It lends itself to a group of locals that come together with their dogs, newspapers, and financial advice at 6:45am when the doors open.
There, I met two other writers that had projects they were working to complete. I truly felt part of a tribe knowing that there were others that were dedicating their time to writing and were thriving as creatives.
I Did It... I Think!
I say this because at the current time I am unsure of how far I am from the 50,000-word count. I am in the process of exploring various tools of converting my handwritten entries onto my computer safely. Through this I will then be able to determine whether I met the intended goal.
Until then, regardless of whether the mark was hit I will consider myself a "winner."
I can't remember the last time I wrote for 30-consecutive days, and for me, that is the greatest reward to be taken from this endeavor.