Tuesday, November 12, 2013

A PSA for the Loved Ones of NaNo'ers

As you may have noticed, it's November.  The writer in your life may or may not be participating in the mad rush to get 50K words out by midnight on 11/30.  If they are among the NaNo crazed, here are a few helpful hints to get you all through this month with your relationships intact and a minimum of bloodshed...

1)  They aren't really talking to you.  They're talking to the people in their heads.  So when they suddenly say 'yeah, I could cut off his head', or 'that bitch needs to die', or 'I could hide the inner tube in the elephant's trunk' step away from the phone book.  You don't need to look up the local men in white coats.  And you don't need to be afraid... unless you see them rummaging in the garage for an axe.  And even then, they may just be doing research on the weapon's heft and various battle positions.

2)  Even when they are actually talking to you, they may not be entirely aware of what words are coming out of their mouths.  You may ask them what they want for dinner, and they may think they're replying properly when in actuality they've just asked for a sticky-note fillet with a side of erasers.

3)  There's only one appointment they have - 11/30.  Any other scheduled activity can and will slip their minds, including doctor visits, soccer practice, football games, and that dinner at your boss's house you agreed to back in October because your writer assured you there was no way in hell they were subjecting themselves to NaNo this year.

4)  No matter what other activity they might find themselves engaged in - cooking dinner, walking the dog, having sex - they are, in reality, thinking about what comes next in their book.

5)  When they yell at you for something totally meaningless, they are in fact yelling at a) themselves for being behind, b) their characters for being uncooperative, c) the universe for making them a writer, d) themselves for allowing themselves to get sucked into this again, e) all of the above.

Please be patient.  Your writer needs you.  And they will snap back to normal once this madness is over...

Unless they're doing HoHoWriMo in December or they're still writing this book or they've decided to get the whole thing finished and edited by 1/1/14.  Then you're screwed. 

But hey, you're the one who chose to love a writer.  ;o)

9 comments:

  1. HAH! Ohhh this is going to my husband. I'm not participating in NaNo, but most of these are still true on a day to day basis *snickers*

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    1. LOL, yeah, they do tend to hold true even if it's not November, Nat. I hope your husband enjoys the post. =o)

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  2. LOL --- great advice!

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  3. Well...actually, I didn't BECOME a writer until yearsssss after I'd gotten married, but my husband did ENCOURAGE me, so I guess he really only has himself to blame, huh??

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    1. Exactly, Stacy. I think the Hubs just ignores me for the most part when I'm like this.

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  4. Hmmm...as your daughter, I never really had a choice about your writerliness, which happened waaayyy after I met you. However, I'm not there this year so feel free to be as crazy as you want.

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    1. LOL, I wasn't even thinking of the children of writers. Yeah, no choice there. Sorry. But hey, you got to read lots and you know how to write well. Kinda evens out there, right?

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  5. You nailed it! Luckiy, Lawyer Guy has his man cave and disappears into it. We interact over the coffee pot in the morning and then for dinner. The rest of the time, we communicate by a series of grunts. Neither of us responds unless the dogs/cat get freaked out. Then the noises coming from the other room are serious. LOL

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