I had my wisdom teeth removed the day before Thanksgiving when I was in college. It was the only day my dentist could work me in while I was home for the holiday, and the timing sucked. I love Thanksgiving, and my mouth was just about out of commission during the feast. Still, I found a way to make it work.
Most Thanksgiving food is soft, which helped. I scraped off tiny forkfuls of mashed potato and stuffing and pumpkin pie with my front teeth, and smushed it against the roof of my mouth with my tongue so I wouldn’t have to use my molars. Each bite was painful but delicious. I didn’t have to miss out on my favorite meal of the year—I just had to approach it differently.
The same works for NaNo. When we’re busy with holidays/family/work/illness/dental work/etc, we may not be able to sit down to an uninterrupted four course meal of writing, but we can take little bites when we’re able, and eventually our bellies and pages will fill. I’ve written some of my favorite and most meaningful scenes when I only had a few minutes to spare, whether that meant bringing a notebook into the bathroom when my kids were little, or using 10 minutes of class time for my own writing projects while my students worked on writing prompts.
Most of my books are built from small chunks of writing time like this, the way houses are built brick by small brick. Any number of words will get you toward your goal, even if you can’t dedicate as much time as you’d like. You just need the stubborn devotion of someone who had their wisdom teeth pulled but is determined to enjoy a holiday meal.
Wishing you happy and delicious writing!
Gayle
Gayle Brandeis is the author of Drawing Breath: Essays on Writing, the Body, and Loss*. Earlier books include the memoir* The Art of Misdiagnosis*, the novel in poems,* Many Restless Concerns*, the poetry collection* The Selfless Bliss of the Body, the craft book Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write*, and the novels* The Book of Dead Birds*,* Self Storage*,* Delta Girls, and My Life with the Lincolns*. Her short story collection* The Three States of Rice is forthcoming from Jackleg Press. Gayle lives in Highland Park, IL and owns Secret World Books with her husband Michael.