Good news, writer—we’re halfway through! Ready to assess how much of your life we had to cull to keep our wordcount up until December 1st?
Think of all the books you could’ve read this November, but you couldn’t be physically separated from your keyboard long enough to do it, not if you wanted to meet next day’s minimum of words.
Think of all the friends you haven’t seen in a few days, and be grateful you can attribute the fact that you’ve chosen to stay at home to the shitty, shitty November weather. (The weather was very generous with excuses this year in my hometown.)
Think of all the dog walks you’ve cut short to get back to the screen—all the big, sad, puppy eyes you’ve had to endure just because you’ve commited to this crazy idea that a month is enough to write a novel. (Pssst—it actually is! But don’t tell your dog that.)
Think of all the bad movies you managed not to see and—especially if you’re a cinema person like my household—all the money you’ve saved this month. (Luckily, November 2019 didn’t have all that much to offer in terms of celluloid entertainment, at least not where we live—but Grace, Our Augmented Saviour was more than enough, thank you very much.)
Think of all the nice, slowly cooked food you’ve missed out on, too—and this is a tougher one, at least for me. Think of all the easy prepped meals we’ve mentioned at the start of the journey, all the pasta (all of the pasta) you had to devour instead of cooking ‘real’ food, all the breakfasts you managed to skip in favour of more coffee, all the produce gone bad in the fridge. (Okay, some of it’s still salvageable. I think.)
Think, ultimately, of all the time you could’ve spent lounging around on your couch with fluffy tails pointed right at your face (or, if needs must, at your coffee cup), all the social media posts you’ve managed to miss, all the writing articles you could’ve used to improve your odds of finishing this November in style, all the Cinema Sins reviews you could’ve seen, all the board games you could’ve played with your partner and friends, all the celebrity gossip you could’ve gorged on.
Think, if you dare, of all the cat videos you might’ve watched.
And then close your browser, take a deep breath… and go the hell back to typing.
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Photo by alex.ch.
Vesna Kurilic 