the panic button
For the first time in my life, I have a room in which I work and a room in which I sleep. Separate rooms. A bedroom without a computer. A work space without scattered clothes. And to think it only took me thirty years to achieve this dream!
My youngest sister has moved to England a while ago, vacating her room, and my room in the souterrain (or basement, if you prefer, although it does have a large window!) has now been renovated, which means that I now have two rooms at my disposal. One for sleeping, reading and just closing the door behind me to get some privacy. Another to sit at a large desk, with lots and lots of daylight and do important things like … well… hm… writing blog posts? Yes. Writing blog posts. Also, read blog updates by other people. And read facebook updates. And catch up on some news, or better, write messages to friends. … Hm. I feel like I’m forgetting something…
OH! Of course. AND prepare for NaNo! Obviously. Very busy with that. Yes. Very. So far, I have done four characterizations out of eight people I need in-depth knowledge of. Two of which I’m not quite happy with yet. Hm. What date is it again?
What? The 25th already? Well, then there’s nothing for it, I’ll have to press the button. [panic mode activated]
What am I doing here? What are yo doing here, reading this? Shouldn’t you be plotting away? Shouldn’t I? So much to do! So little time! Gaaaah, where’s the last week gone?!? Help!
(To the writers: how are your preparations progressing? All done? Struggling? Not preparing anything anyway? Please tell me I’m not the only one whose stomach flutters unpleasantly at the thought of November 1st getting closer and closer!)
Posted on October 25, 2012, in writing and tagged NaNo, NaNoWriMo, plotting, writing. Bookmark the permalink. 14 Comments.
cresting the words 
Isn’t it wonderful to have separate spaces for “life” and for “work”? Best of luck on your NaNo adventure…
It’s totally wonderful! Now I have to work on switching off the internet for the half the day and I might actually be on the way to getting some work done. That’s a really hard one though.
Thank you! I need some kinds words at the moment.
My panic button is also well and truly pressed!
good luck!
Oh my, yes, I just read… Love you stages! I feel like I’m oscillating up and down between excitement, planning and fear right now. What are you going to write for NaNo? And yes, good luck to you, too!
I’m tackling this annual beast myself… sort of. I’m cheating and working on one of two already existing projects. So, it’s not “real” NaNoWriMo, and I won’t claim I won squat if I actually manage 50,000 words, but it will be a huge accomplishment for me. In any case, I’m not going to have time to blog, so I decided to post snippets of my story on my scheduled days instead, and I’m trying to enlist other lunatics to do the same. Because if celebrity has taught us anything, it’s that overexposure is in. 😛
🙂 You made me laugh. Thank you!
I don’t think it matters if you play by the rules or not, if you manage to write 50 k in one month, that’s an achievement, no matter where you started out from!
I’ll be looking forward to reading your snippets. I’ve thought about doing that as well, or just be more explicit about what I’m actually writing and what’s happening in the story, but I feel very, very shy about letting anyone see what I wrote before I’ve gone over a million times and polished it up and made it the best it can be. Not even my sisters get to see it before it’s done, so I don’t think I’m ready to post raw material to my blog. I think you’re very brave for doing that!
I don’t have a panic button, never have done. Sometimes I think if I had a panick button i’d be more productive. Maybe I’d be more preapred for NaNo if I was a little more panicky!
🙂 You’re right, I have to admit that it’s not altogether bad. But I could do without waking up and starting to worry about everything I need to do *immediately* straight away.
And how did you manage to escape the panic button? Is it just in your genes or is it learned behaviour?
I was a nervous child and maybe I have gotten it all out of my system. I find now I don’t tend to worry or get stressed about anything at all. It is a good way to live but it comes with a tendency to be lazy.
I have actually been preparing for NaNo by starting a different poroject. A short story I might post to my blog some time. I think taking my mind of NaNo will keep me mentally fresh when it starts.
Please ignore mistakes in my english here…….
You’ve been preparing by preparing something else? Hm. Unusual. But it makes sense in a strange, roundabout way. 🙂
Well, I know we’ll all be fine once it starts. I’ll be looking forward to the short story!
Congrats on the new room!
I can’t believe October has gone by so fast. NaNo is only a couple of days away! I did all the planning I wish to do (come up with an idea, haha), so now I’m just waiting! In the words of the wise Douglas Adams (and occasionally Chris Baty), “Don’t panic!” Even if you don’t get all your planning done, you can still wing it. =D
I feel outmatched with my seasonal challenge. You’re doing NaNo, and I’m doing Movember.
Though Movember will leave me looking super cool…
Best of luck with it!
… looking supercool AND a hero! Definitely a trump card right there. Good luck to you as well! 🙂