Play me another song

 Written 25th November.....

I’m writing this offline on Black Friday.

Why?

Because we were supposed to move into our lovely new house on the 21^st October, then a week after, then a week after, and so on.

Here I am, still, in our shoddy flat, surrounded by half packed boxes, one eye on this blog, one eye on my phone.

At least, thank God, there is an endless supply of tea.

I am grateful for all the things which don’t require internet; music, Scrivener, heat.

My new house has internet, lucky house.

So as all those Black Friday deals indifferently pass me by, it is with considerable trepidation and dread that I realise exactly what I can fill my zero byte time with – NaNoWriMo.

Let’s see, by the end of today, to be on track, I should have 41,675. Currently I have 35,822. Plenty of room for improvement I’m sure you’ll agree.

But even on this low day, sulking in my pyjama’s I want to raise a toast, to NaNo, to that slippery 50,000 demand. Because instead of being the burden it was looking likely to be, starting when we moved, tearing me away from painting and purchasing, it has instead been a friend in the gloom. 

As I have sat and left yet another voicemail, been informed of a further set-back, hoped and despaired, NaNo has been a persistent nudge in my ribs, ‘Well, I guess you better write then.’ And so I would drop through the bottom of this real, aggravating world, straight into my created one, for an hour here and there, for half a day. 

The insanity of NaNo has somehow kept me sane.

There is something therapeutic and soothing about giving in to your internal voice, trusting it to yabber on and on across the page, believing it is leading you somewhere, teaching you patience. 

Speeding up access to this dark world of mine, is my ever faithful playlist, created purely to support my novel; the mood, atmosphere, the characters. It is 80 ever shuffled songs which help me sink in. Later on in the editing process I may choose to split these down my chapter, tailor them. I know plenty of writers who need absolute silence. For me, the songs are portals.

I’m going to go away and lean on my friend again now, see where I end up. I’ll leave you with a few snapshots of my soundtrack.