NaNoWriMo Fail

 I gave it a shot but I couldn't complete the National Novel Writing Month, better known as NaNoWriMo, challenge in November. 

I only wrote for about a week, knocking out only 5,000 or so words, before throwing up my hands and giving up. I kept thinking I would get back into it after a day or so, but those days turned into a week and the week into weeks. 

And then it was over.

I suppose the reason for not going full bore into the challenge, as I have done on previous occasions, is that I didn't have anything to write (or say). I'm a pantser, and when I write, I get into a groove and the words begin to flow like a river. This time I must have hit a dam or some other impediment that stopped me cold on the keyboard.

Looking back, perhaps I should have put more into planning. Maybe compose a synopsis of sorts to guide me along the way. I've done that in the past and it helps me work through dry spells. 

I've chatted with some other authors who said the pandemic has stifled their creativity. I'm not sure I have much of an excuse since I had two books, "Make Room for Family" and "Reunion of Familiar Strangers," published this year. If there is an excuse, I wrote one in 2020 and completed the first draft on the other in June. Most of my time after that was in editing and then promoting the books. 

I still have plans of writing the sixth novel in the "John Ross Boomer Lit Series" in 2022, and seeing it published later in the year. I've been self-brainstorming (is that a word?) and feel that I have some key ideas to build a story around. 

I know writers have periods where they sense a lack of motivation. Many simply need a virtual kick in the rear. That's what I need.

Until the next time . . .