Words won't stop me!

Words are supposed to be my friend.  As a writer, they are supposed to be my life. But as all writers know, sometimes words can fail us.

I set a goal for myself. To get a novel, a real novel, finished by Christmas. It's an ambitious goal. When I started I had nine weeks to meet my deadline. Working full time I knew this would be challenging, so in an effort to improve my chances I took all my vacation time in November. Now I didn't just have a self-imposed deadline to guide me. I made an investment. I had plans for that vacation time that I will now have to postpone. 

The challenge excited me. I have a great concept, a long list of characters, and a plot with twists and turns. I wrote during my days off, during my lunch hour at work, at four in the morning when there was no one to interrupt me. I'd get ideas while driving to work, taking a shower, or brushing my teeth.  I thought this was going to be, not easy, but certainly doable.  I only had to write 1,200 words a day.  I've written as many as 10,000 in one day, so how hard could it be to come up with 1,200?  When I started this project I was writing on average 3,000 a day, so I thought I was ahead of the game.

Ha! The first day life got busy and I didn't get a chance to write anything I thought no big deal. I had enough done already, so it shouldn't be an issue, right?  I had important things to do like the Build-a-Book project, classwork, etc. Then there was Thanksgiving. I had my extended family over to my house for dinner.  We had a great time and I wouldn't give it up for anything, but that took three days out for shopping, cooking and cleaning. Add in the occasional, I don't feel well day, let's go out to see a movie day, let's go visit friends days, and I now find myself behind.  The farther behind I get, the harder it is to write. It must be the pressure, because where at first the words were flowing so fast I could barely type quickly enough to keep up, now I sit staring at that darn flashing cursor.  Now I know why it's called a cursor, it's cursing at me!

So today, the last vacation day I have left, I am going to lock myself in a room.  Just me and my laptop. Today is the day I vow I will get back on track. I have some catching up to do. I don't know if I can make my deadline, but I plan on trying my best. I refuse to give up. If, come the end of month, I'm not finished, I will not let it get me down. I will keep going until it's done. But I will not readjust that deadline date until then. It's not over until it's over! I know the words are in there, they can't hide forever. I will not let words, or the lack of them stop me!