NaNoWriWhat? 3

The peer pressure has gone up a notch.

Even my friend who has 5 kids and is running around delivering babies and doing pre- and post- natal home visits has surged way ahead of me in the word-count department. Another friend with a toddler and a baby is right on target for the month.

I have no excuses.

The Teen leaves the house at 7 a.m. and Little isn't up until at least 8:30. And he doesn't want to do much until at least 9. What do I normally do for those two hours?

A whole lot of nothing, that's what. I could spend that time writing.

The good news is that I've been thinking about my story a lot more throughout the course of my day. There's a lot of survival-type stuff in it, so every-day things we take for granted have to be thought out carefully - and there are reminders everywhere. I get in the shower and think about how difficult it would be to stay clean without running water or electricity. I feel the heat in my car as I'm driving and think about how my characters might find ways to stay warm when winter hits. I see the windmill across the street and wonder if I can work some alternative power source into my story and what my characters might use it for. I feed the compost bin and think about the garden in my story.

So I am having less difficulty with the problem of not having the attention span - or maybe just not being in the habit of - thinking and daydreaming about my story. A lot of pieces of it have now come together in my head. Sitting down and actually writing them are the challenge for this week.

And this week, it will be a challenge, as I am working part-time for 6 of the next 9 days.

It's exciting and fun drifting in and out of my imaginary world, though. I don't really mind that the project is not likely to be finished any time soon.