Happy Thanksgiving

I've been struggling all day for the topic of today's blog, and while I contemplated all of the possible subjects, I realized that none of them felt quite right.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I've been pretty anti-holiday this year - mostly because I went overboard on holidays last year for various reasons - so I haven't thought much about the meanings behind them lately. They've all seemed like selfish or silly or commercial celebrations. I'm even soured on Christmas already and it's not even December.

But Thanksgiving is different. I know the true reason behind the day is the conquering of the native peoples, but I think the idea behind it is a profound one:

Be thankful for what you have.

People in our capitalist society always seem to want the next new thing - electronics, clothes, cars - but I've come to realize over the past year that those things are all just status symbols. Do we really need all of those trappings to be happy?

The answer is no. Friends. Family. Doing the things you love. Those are the things that make you happy. And for the most part, those important things don't cost money.

So tomorrow, as I sit down to our Thanksgiving feast, I am going to take a minute to count my blessings. And I am going to take that warm feeling and infuse it into the rest of my life.

I am thankful for my health. I'm thankful to have a good job. I'm thankful for little things like a wonderful cup of coffee or a fabulous glass of wine.

I'm thankful for my amazing friends. Those close friends who are the family that I chose, not the one I was born into.

I am so thankful for my family - my brother and sister are amazing people, my Dad has always been supportive and loving, and my aunts and uncles and grandma and grandpa and my cousins.

And I am so thankful for my writing group. These people have helped me realize that I can do this writing thing. Their support and encouragement has been the most amazing thing I've experienced this year.

Because I've also realized that I am finally doing what I love. I am writing. It's the smallest thing, sitting down every night to record the stories in my head, but I love it. Even the days I hate it, I love it. I've challenged myself more this year as far as writing than I have my entire life, and I met every challenge I set for myself. It feels right. It feels like I have finally answered some question about myself that I've been asking all my life.

I am so thankful for everyone who helped an encouraged me to follow my dream. I have a long way to go before I am successful at it, but I've been living my dream every day for the last year. Even if I never publish a book, the time I've spent writing and the time I've spent with my writing friends has been beyond worth it.

The invaluable things are the biggest things I am thankful for.

Thank you friends, family, and readers. I hope you have a fabulous Thanksgiving. Count your blessings, eat, drink, and be merry.

The True Meaning of Nano (for me, at least)

My job is to keep my Wrimos
stocked in sugar and motivation

Day One started with a bang, but since that intense opening scene, I've been whimpering. The words are coming, I really like my idea, and the characters are starting to take shape...but something has been missing.

I finally figured out what it is.

November is no longer the only month of the year that I write. I am missing the excitement I usually feel when embarking on 30 Days of trying to write every day, because I've been writing every day for the last three months already.

So while all the newbies and the weekend warriors who only write in November are blasting through Week One excited and motivated and clocking huge word counts, I am plodding along at the 1,667 words to stay on track, feeling more like it's Week Two.

I know this slow and steady pace will get me to the end. But I want this to be fun! I want to be excited. I want to love my story so much that I keep going back to read over it.

My opening scene is that way. I still read it and love it (you can read it, too - I have it posted on the Current Writing Projects page). I need to find that magic again.

On the upside, I am still having the time of my life this November. I have a whole crew of writers that I get to boss around and administer sugar to. It brings me back to the Christmas analogy: I love getting and giving gifts, of course, but to me, the holidays are more about spending time with family.

I've realized it's the same for Nanowrimo. I love writing. Really. I'm a writer. It's what I do. But for Nanowrimo, it's about the community that forms during November that I look forward to the most now. Anyone can sit and try to write 50,000 words in a month by themselves. Some will succeed. Many will fail. The magic of Nano is in the writers themselves.

Photo compliments of Dave DeHetre

It's like I told Jason in the comments of my last post: my writers are my adoptive family. They are the people who understand exactly what I'm going through because they've been there themselves, who will celebrate my successes with me and comfort me through my failures, who will push me to be a better writer and put myself out there.

I hate to be sappy about it, but it's true. And it's important.

And if any of you make fun of me for this, I will probably cry.

So this year, between painful sprints of writing, I troll the forums, exchange tweets, and haunt our Facebook page to stay in touch with the family.

And I am really looking forward to this Sunday's write-in.