Hi Friends!
I'm sitting here today, still sick, but now I have some medicine to help me get over myself, and I realized that it's almost the Friday before Labor Day. That might not strike terror into your heart, but it is giving me some definite uneasyness.
As you might know, I entered a contest to write a complete novel in three days. That's just 72 hours. It might seem like a lot - it did when I decided to sign up. But now it's upon me and 72 hours is nothing.
Let me break it down.
We'll go out Friday, which is fine, because I can't technically start writing til after midnight. So, we'll get home around 2. I won't want to write that late at night, so I'll go to bed around 3 and probably get up, let's say around 9 just to make sure I get good and rested. I have to eat, so that probably means Waffle House, after my shower and blow dry and trip to WH, it's going to be 1:00 easy. So I'll write until I have to eat again, which I'm guessing to be around 6 or so. MONA is playing at WO Wrights (you should go!) I think that starts at 7, so I'll get home again around 12 and we'll probably go out to finish the night. That puts me home and in bed again around 3. Up Sunday at 8, off to church and to volunteer in Harvestland, then I go see my dad, and then we'll eat lunch, after we decide what to eat. I should be able to really dig into my writing around, say, 3. I'll probably be very flustered and jam out some pages that I hate and then delete them and start over. This is when I'll start crying because I only have one more day to write and so far all I have is "It was a dark and stormy night." I'll decide it's too stressful and that'd it be OK to go out to eat, I'm thinking Steak n' Shake at this point. That's at 5, back at 7 (we probably need to go to Kroger for more wine) then down at the computer with a renewed spirit. Reread what I've written (that'll take an hour) I'm typing like a mad man starting at 9 - for real this time! By one in the morning, I'm bushed and ready to sleep - I still have all day Monday after all.
I over-sleep and we need to mow Dad's lawn Monday, so I start to write around 4 after we've eaten...you might notice here that the only day I decided to shower was Saturday...I take the laptop to my Dad's because he doesn't have the internet and I can't get distracted with Facebook there. I write til 8:30 when my man brings me a pizza (because as long as I'm making things up, I might as well get fed) we eat, he asks how the book is going, I start crying again because I'm dumb and should have never thought that I could write a novel, let alone write one in 72 hours! He tells me I'm not dumb and I'm a great writer and then he says that I can't come home until the book is done, and not to even try.
I suck it up. Sit down, review my progress, it's now 10:30 and I'm typing like a professional. The clock chimes 12:00 as I write the last 2 words and I am officially done! I've written the 3 Day Novel in only 26 hours!!
Then, I submit the novel, it wins first prize, Oprah comes out of retirement to do a special "author of the year" show where I meet Ted Dekker, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Janet Evanovich - they all ask for me to sign the fist edition hard cover of my book. Charlaine Harris was supposed to come, but she was too nervous about meeting me.
Wow- maybe I can do this! Thanks for bearing with my rambling. Stop to think of me occasionally this weekend, and if you want to send me pizza - I like Donatos works (no green peppers please!)
Wish me luck - I really don't care if I win or not, I'll be crazy-happy just to finish!!
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