Cari: Performance Anxiety and the Single Writer

Before you get confused about any possible upcoming revelations in this post,  I am a) a female and b) not hampered in any way that chocolate won't cure. But I am NaNoing, and if that sounds like a potentially painful condition, you'd be correct.

I like to write. Honestly. I wouldn't be one if it didn't hold SOME allure. But set a deadline in front of me, and I go as numb as a squirrel in the path of an SUV. I freeze up. Not to mention, I've been sick a couple times recently, and surprise, surprise, physical illness does not contribute to writing productivity! Also, my NaNo story, Heat Lightning, has been percolating for a year and a half, and much like my hero, Ethan, a lightning strike survivor, I've been feeling a bit of performance anxiety. I know the recommendations. Sit down and just do it! Feel the burn! BICHOK! And I'm sure there are more. Lately the only burn I've been feeling is that which comes from watching all my fellow NaNo'ers word counts climb by groups of Ks while mine climbs by single digits.

As of right now, I'm a bit over 10K. (Guess I should update the sidebar, huh?) But I refuse to concede defeat on November 10th! Do you have any suggestions for battling writer's performance anxiety? (I'll include my address if anyone wants to send Godiva...or possibly the niblet of man candy below.)

TARA: NaNoWriMo Madness

Here we go!  I've been VERY remiss in posting over here on Word Wenches.  Trying to get my focus back has been a struggle and a half--hell, a struggle beyond compare sometimes.  But there I am, doing the absolutely crazy NaNo again.

I succeeded last year, and I'm determined to do it again this year.  So, I've got my notebook, my word doc, I've closed my damn emails--evil, how they distract a person--and put my ears in with Rhapsody to smooth out the edges

The first song that pops up...EVEN NOW

Sounds like a little karma is heading my way.

Please God, I hope so.

I intended to have book 1 finished in my Conley Brownstone series, but it didn't happen.  So, I'm going out of order for my own writing and starting book 2 for NaNo.  It's going to drive me a little crazy at first, but it will help in the end I think.

Meet Nicholas Gamble.
He's a bit of a loner.  Oddly enough, he loves to work with authors and spin deals for book contracts and author contracts.  He's the G of the EFG Agency. 

He moseys his way around a deal. Herds people into doing things his way with an affable smile and his quiet ways.  When the job is done--so is Nick.  He escapes to his cabin in the woods, on the outskirts of town.   When the world closes in on him, he moves out even further into the mountains of Upstate NY.

So, what's Nick to do when he meets the overbearing, outspoken Alexis Giordanno?  Run of course.  The question is, will he man up and let her catch him?

Meet Alexis Giordanno
She's a bartender and sometimes waitress at Mystique in Conley, NY.  (My made up town in upstate NY. LOL)  Some people look at Lexi and think there's not much behind her sassy, take no shit woman that works at Mystique.  She can't have ambition if she just bartends, right?

Lexi's reaction to that is firm middle finger in the air.

She works damn hard, and you know what? She makes better money on tips than most office drones and works twice as hard.  All she wants is a good, solid life.  She's not asking much.  But in her line of work, she doesn't exactly see the best in men.  A guy is rarely worth more than a fling or one night stand.  She should probably get lost first before they do anyway.

But then she meets Nick.  He's different.  He doesn't take to her smart ass mouth.  He ignores her looks--when they've done nothing but cause her trouble since she was 16.  Hell, he doesn't even try to hit on her.  Surely, she'll lose interest when the chase is over.  Right?  He can't possibly be different than all the other men that have come and gone in her life....Right?


So...there they are.

And now, Day 1 of NaNoWriMo is about halfway over---GOD HELP ME! ;)