The Comfort of Quitting

My niece Laura took this picture

I quit.

I quit trying to "win" NaNoWriMo.  Winning would have meant writing 50,000 words of a so-called novel in the 30 days of November.   I started off strong, believing that this was my "winning" year.  As of a few days ago, I have put away NaNoWriMo writing for 2010.  Quitting means that, for the fifth year in a row, I have played and not won.

My inner Pollyanna has struggled a little bit this time in her efforts to turn quitting into winning.  She's a persistent one, though, and has declared that, indeed, I quit one thing so I could win:  

• The opportunity to spend three whole days, and two partial days, with my daughter, son-in-law and grandson.
• Some deliciously long conversations with cherished friends and family.
• A few sacred, unencumbered days to walk with a family through the death of their 45 year old relative.
• The joy of writing and writing and writing on the so-called novel, and now I have won back the joy of a more relaxed writing schedule for sermons, blog posts, and whatever else I want to write.
• Some much-needed goof-off time.  Did I say much needed?

And ... I won the once-in-a-lifetime chance to make 2011 the year I win NaNoWriMo for the first time!

Some See Fungi

Some "rare" Texas mushrooms

Words:  The dawn of Day Four of NaNoWriMo and I have completed a tenth of the 30-day journey of 50,000 words with a current word count at 5163.

As if the voices in my head are not sufficiently taunting and belittling, Laura Miller at Salon.com opines that NaNoWriMo is a (quote) "waste of time and energy."  "Better Yet, Don't Write That Novel" Laura advises those of us who would give ourselves permission to write a whole lot of *compost* for a whole month.

Better yet, read Carolyn Kellogg's rebuttal (debunking?) of Miller's article.  At LA Times online, she offers Twelve Reasons to Ignore the Naysayers:  Do NaNoWriMo.  Why, she makes it seem almost harmless for a couple of hundred thousand writers -- or "writers" -- to have occupied themselves producing 305,703,617 words so far in 2010!

Picture:  Taken in Southlake, Texas (Dallas/Ft. Worth area) in September, this picture of mushrooms in my sister's front yard is evidence that it does, indeed, sometimes get soggy in Texas.

You say "fungus"; I say "mushroom"!  And then, I write about it, because it's what I do.

Words and Pictures: Day Three

Words:  Slightly ahead of pace with 3410 words.  Mood: satisfied!

Picture:  This sweet daisy bloomed for about a month until 2 nights ago when the freeze seriously wilted it.  The joys of warm weather are captured in this picture, especially the joy of gardening during the warmer season.

Farewell sunny daisies and fluttering butterflies!

Hello simmering soup and flannel robes!

Words and Pictures: Day Two

Coffee & General Synod 2009 "goodie bag"

Words:  I have to write 1666.666~ words a day in order to "win" NaNoWriMo by writing 50,000 words in a 30-day month.  Yesterday, my first day total was 1671.  It was my day off.  Writing my quota today will be more challenging.

Picture: Finding coffee at a United Church of Christ General Synod is easy.  Finding good coffee is divine!  It's not a great picture -- and it may actually be tea! -- but it brings back memories of General Synod in 2009 when I got to sponsor our conference youth delegation:  a two-day drive, fun youth, Habitat houses, amazing worship, old and new friends, and the always-appreciated reminder of why I keep on saying "yes" to this call to ministry.