I expect to surpass 37,000 words today. That keeps me on track to finish up 50,000 one week from tomorrow, on November 30th.
I thought the project I chose was going to be easy. Answering 127 questions about my past and myself has taken more time than I expected. I laughed at questions about my favorite hairdo and making a dinner party menu. Yes, I did that, but we called them haircuts (like crewcut) not hairdos, even though they were.
Memories are not forever. Sometimes there’s not much to say. Often, I must ask questions. Like yesterday, I had to ask Yolonda the name of the drive-in burger place where we met. She sent me an article about it closing in the 1970s.
Research can be fun, but to write enough words each day, I must answer four or five questions with four to five hundred words each. And each question is different and unpredictable.
As I enter my fourth week of this self-inflicted Nano challenge, I feel like I will not do it again. It’s a lot. However, I’ve managed to keep up with everything else.
In addition to writing for Nano, I’ve posted at least two poems and one essay each week. On the 8th, I accepted a challenge to write a short prose piece on dVerse, a poetry writing webpage. The problem there was making time to read and respond to 40-plus other bloggers.
I’ve also written three micro-fiction stories for the Friday Fictioneers challenge (30-ish to read and respond to), with one more to do before Nano ends next week.
The weekend of November 5th through the 7th, we drove to west Texas to visit with Julie and her bunch for grandson’s last football game of the season and his 16th birthday.
I’ve also managed to complete several home honey-do and self-assigned projects. I’ve been shopping several times and there is more to do this week in preparation for our family’s Thanksgiving on Saturday.
Except for three or four days, I exercised every day by walking or swimming. I’ve been reading as much as I can (finally completed Papa Hemingway) and trying to figure out what to read next.
I tried doing my Saturday morning writers group zoom meetings. That hasn’t worked well. I’ve had to leave early on two occasions because I couldn’t concentrate (needed to be writing for Nano), and I’ve passed on two others. And now I’ve done this report.
Have a good and thankful week.
Bill
Our Literary Journey 
Hello fellow NaNo’er, I feel your pain and share your joy for sure!
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🙂
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I was reading this, thinking… waitaminute… I read this…and commented. 😉
I think you’re rocking it!
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Yes you did and yes you did. I did comment that I was going to put it here. And thank you, Dale. You rock too.
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Yes you did and yes you did 😉 And, thank you, you are kind.
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😎
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😉
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Congratulations on your Nano progress. You’ve been busy with your writing – good for you! Gosh, I can’t believe Christian is 16. Where does the time go? Wishing you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving.
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Thank you, Sue. I wish the same for you and yours.
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You’re doing great but I understand perfectly why you don’t want to do it again. That challenge you are taking sounds interesting though. Do you plan to write your memoirs?
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Yes. I got them from Writers Write and I have their online course to take. I read a of autobiographical stuff and my ideas come from my life, so I plan to write memoirs.
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WooHoo! (Does a little happy dance for you)! Nano IS a HUGE Challenge no matter what you write. I think I’ve lost as much in editing as I’ve written this year. It happens. Nano does help you get into the discipline of writing something everyday, though. There used to be much more interaction between writers and that was really enjoyable. I do hope you continue to write daily, even after Nano. Writing a memoir of your memories would be really nice for your family to have in the long run of life. I have a handful of pictures for my life, and have lost over half memories from head injury. I can’t even tell you what day I was married. I do remember that it was HOT and humid that day, but the rest… I have to rely on Hubby and a video. It’s like watching someone else, thoguh.
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Thanks Bear. I do write every day but I tend towards poetry. This works my prose chops , so that is good. I am amazed at what I’ve forgotten. 🥴
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I am a poet also. WP just really messes with stanzas and form so much so that I finally decided that it was just too nerve wracking to post here anymore. There used to be a photo processing program online where you could put your poem on a background (not photoshop) that I really liked and had started doing my pieces with my photogs…then the program disappeared. Ugh!
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I don’t get too fancy. The only issue I have on WP is when my lines are long. No problem with prose, but with poetry I have to back and break the line where I want it. It’s also why I keep my blog page so simple. I also avoid long lines. 🙂 (of every kind)
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I totally get that… in some poems I have that issue as well.
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