Day 11

Day 11 dawned a while ago and I’m doing all right. The words are coming, some of them in the right order, which is always encouraging. Even more encouraging is that I have finally caught up with the projected target, after losing 2 valuable days where no words would come. At all. Once they began to trickle through I felt as though I was chasing the purple target bar without hope of success. As each midnight hour came and went, and that day’s target was just missed, it was as if the goal posts were being moved further and further apart. I’m not one of these writers who can sit down and churn out ream after ream of chapters, even with my inner editor metaphorically bound and gagged. But I’m there now, I can relax just a little. In another couple of days I should be well above the bar, and maybe, just maybe, gliding. Tonight’s installment involves a huge fight  – between some dragons, with a little help from a pesky fire nymph with ideas above her station – such scenes are always a hoot to write, especially when random snippets of silliness make their way in. For example, is it wise to play I-Spy with a dragon? During last year’s effort I managed to get in the Pleiades playing poker, and a broken chair slapstick gag. Will these scenes survive the brutal first cut of editing, next year? Probably not, but that doesn’t matter. They are words on the page, and I had a good giggle writing them.

Apart from that I have nothing profound, or insightful to offer. Even when out in the real world, my head is busy with the words that must come later. Expect more coherence from me come December, when I’ve caught up with my sleep – burning the midnight oil is my modus operandi, even though I can’t quite bounce back from it like I used to. But the midnight peace suits me perfectly, and I find it helps to mooch in the garden for a few minutes, under the wintery sky – even in the rain – the cold air clears my head. If the sky is clear, the stars and the silhouetted trees make a perfect foil for thought. The Leonids should be raining down soon too – because of NaNoWriMo I see far more shooting stars than I would otherwise. And owls too. Owls are good, as the Log Lady used to say…