Have you ever had a new character harass you until you write about them? That’s been happening to me on a regular basis this month. These characters don’t have the decency to show up before November starts. Nor do they have the patience to wait until it’s over. I tried to ignore them. Jotting a quick mini character sheet about them didn’t shut them up. One I tried to incorporate into my current story but after 500 words it was clear she belonged in another book. So I gave in and wrote all about a tall garden gnome. She was a foundling and had no idea where she came from. She only knew she was two feet taller than the people who raised her. It turns out she’s a mountain gnome. I found that out when another new character snuck up on me today. The new one was particularly persistent. This one I knew belonged two or three books down the line so I wrote down the basics and tried to get back to work. I couldn’t stop thinking about her so I decided that I might as well get what I had out of my head. This one is a gorgon. She wears a beanie to hide her ‘hair’ and specially spelled goggles so she doesn’t accidentally turn anyone to stone. She’s a healer who wants to make a name for herself so she leaves her home in search of a new one. She runs into the gnome, who happens to be practicing her garden gnome skills and thinks her curse turned the girl into a statue. She recognized the gnome for what she was. It went on and on.

All of that brought me to the point where I’ve written about 10500 words that have nothing to do with nanowrimo. Part of me feels like I should be upset with myself for allowing other things be a priority. But the other and more reasonable part of me says: Whatever, I’ve been writing, that’s what matters. It’s been years since I wrote everyday. Now I know I can keep up a fairly steady pace. That’s what I’m taking away from nanowrimo. I didn’t know if I would be able to win when I started this journey. Who knows I still might, My word count is close to 28000. Maybe I’ll have a day where I have writer magic happen. It doesn’t matter. I need to work on my staying on the correct task restraint but my write as often as I can discipline is fully active.

Last year I gave up on nanowrimo. This year, even though I probably won’t finish, at least I was merely distracted, by writing. I guess that makes me a happy loser.