November...what a month!

November was supposed to be the month I wrote my first novel. Instead it turned out to be one of the worst months of my life! The first couple of days started well with the writing, then it was a little shaky, before I picked up again on the second week, but after that it all went to pot!

I knew after the second week that I wasn't going to meet the 30th November deadline for my book, but I fully intended to give it a damn good go. I knew I would fall behind in the third week due to a mini-break with my other half in Amsterdam, but I planned to play catch up once I returned. But, as with all plans, they never work out as you think they will.

On the day of our return from Amsterdam, I discovered that my sister and mum were going through some personal issues, which I can't really go into at this time, this mean't that my ten-month-old nephew was to live with me for a while. Having no children of my own and Mason being the only child I have ever really been around it has been an incredibly difficult two weeks, with little sleep, toys everywhere, lots of sick and dirty nappies and one very poorly little baby. Thankful this nightmare is coming to a close and he will soon be back with his Mummy, but for now he is staying with his Nanny and Popsy.

In the middle of last week my other half, Dean, found out that someone very close to him had been diagnosed with Bladder Cancer. This was a massive blow to both of us, but we are hoping that the outcome will be positive. 

During all of this I have had to play piggy in the middle and try and remain positive for everyone and with one thing sorted, I feel emotionally drained. Things at home are starting to get back to normal and my dogs are pleased that there is no snotty baby tugging at their ears! With normality resumed, here's to December!

My first week as a writer...it could have been better!

Last week I blogged about my desire to start writing this month, after much to-ing and fro-ing I decided that it was time to bite the bullet and get on with it. Fortunately I timed it just right as Thursday marked the beginning on National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo) so on Wednesday I logged into the site and set myself up for a month or writing and becoming a hermit.

Day One...
I woke up on Thursday morning full of excitement for what they day ahead had to offer. Logging into Twitter and I was overwhelmed with the number of people who were getting involved and suddenly became extremely daunted about the task ahead. Throughout the day I read lots of tweets and visited lots of sites that offered help and advice about the best ways to tackle NaNoWriMo and make the most out of your time. Getting home I felt prepared to face the challenge ahead.
I sat down in the office and began mapping out my book - characters, timeline, events and plot. I then began writing. After a few hours I reached my daily total and felt a lot better about the whole process.

Day Two...
I woke up eager and excited to get writing, I sat thinking off all the possibilities for my story and couldn't wait to get started...But then I realised I was babysitting my ten month old nephew and had to get up and ready to pick him up.
At home with him I sat him down in the office with his toys and tried to start writing. However, he had other ideas and as much as I tried to coax him into sitting still, he was having a far better time crawling around and making a dash for the stairs! I decided to give up for the day.

Day Three, Four & Five
My initial eagerness to get stuck into the writing process kind of... disappeared. Instead it was replaced with a lazy attitude and me lying on the sofa reading, obviously when I wasn't babysitting or working! I had the occassional thought about my book, but soon dismissed it and distracted myself with something else.

Day Six
Today the bug is back! I came into work early and plan on going home, putting the dinner on, sorting the dogs out and hiding away in the office until I have written at least one days writing quota. If I can manage to write a little more, then I will be happy.
I am having a dreadful time at work at the moment and am really desperate to make some career changes in my life and writing is something that I am hugely passionate about and it is time I turned my dreams into reality, as cheesy as that sounds, otherwise I will be stuck in a job that makes me uphappy for the rest of my life!

So here is to the next 24 days! I will make it to the end and I will write 50,000 words!!!