The dog ate my power cord

In my entire two years of NaNo-ing, it's been my experience that there is a tipping point. I tend to move from WooHoo! I'm on fire, to Just a little behind, quickly followed by I can catch up if I just . . . Both times I've ended up at Uncle! Uncle!

This year, as I was approaching that precipice, my dog ate my power cord. I'm not sure which of the two pulled it off, but I have my suspicions. The feat took some doing, since the pups and the cord were separated by a baby gate, and the little darlings had to actually tease the cord through the little holes in the gate in order to get a good chew on. Frankly, I'm not sure I could do this were I sans opposable thumbs.

I elected not to take this a commentary on the quality of my novel. Precocious though my little canines may be, they are not literate and therefore do not get to make critiques. Besides, I hardly had any delusions about the quality of the work. I was, indeed, setting new records for "suckitude." (Many thanks to Chris Baty for all the colorful synonyms for really, really bad.)

In the end, I think it's still my inner editor that's doing me in on 30-day novel attempts. She's a sneaky broad. She doesn't attack when I'm in full writer mode, with my fingers on the keys. It's more a wordless whine in the pit of my stomach any time I think about opening that abhorrent document. I don't know what to write. It's all such crap. What do I do with it next? Can I stand another session of taking Blah to Worse?

I'm waving the white flag. Even if my pups hadn't served up an iron-clad separation from myself and my writing software, I probably wouldn't have made it to 50k this year. But, I did start the next novel that I probably wouldn't have started until the Spring without NaNo. I'm 17k ahead, in some ways. Which sounds a lot better than 33,000 short.

For my non-writing friends, if you've wondered why you've seen me step out into the light of day during the last week, now you know. It's been nice seeing you. I'm going back into my cave now. As soon as my power cord arrives - courtesy Ebay - my butt has a daily appointment with my chair. And while I'm not trying to NaNo anymore, I am pushing my limits every day. Because writing is not just a month or a quota. These are devices we use to keep ourselves psyched and sane at the same time. Writing is a way of life.

Congrats to my NaNo buddies who have already crossed the finish line or will be staying up late to finish strong. You rock!