National Novel Writing Month is over. I wrote 50,000 words, but I certainly don’t have a book. It’s such a mess, and a few short stories ended up in there because they refused to not be written when I sat down to write. I also lost five pounds and can see a difference.

I’ve dabbled with pilates for years now, but for NaNo, I committed to an hour of pilates before I wrote each day. I missed a few days, but otherwise, it felt great. After concentrating on my movements and breath for an hour, the writing fell into place easier than it has in a long time. I blame the messiness of this latest NaNo book on not committing to a single story, as I have in the past. I had two stories that were started but needed more space than 5,000 words, so I thought I’d stretch them both out and add a third to form a “book” of three novellas.

Wrong.

Stupidly, I began to believe that the two stories I had and the new one I came up with could be woven together into a book of three stories entwined. That’s where things went wrong. I started bringing things in to “join” them that other details no longer made sense, and, well, I did mention it was a mess, didn’t I?

Off of NaNo sent me into submission madness. Between 30 November and 3 December, I sent out 22 things–only two of which are simultaneous subs–the rest are individual stories that still haven’t found homes.

The discipline of NaNo is something I adore. I know I tend to let things slide afterwards, but this week, I’ve put in 1000 words each day on each of the “First Lines” for 2013. I wrapped it up today and will let it sit for a week. The tragedy in Kansas City gave me the end for a story I started in June but abandoned because while I had pushed myself, I needed distance to see where it ended, Sadly, now I know.

I also feel like a moronic idiot because I probably blew every chance I had with the agent that contacted me. Instead of saying, hey thanks, but I was about to do another rewrite with a new first chapter, do you mind waiting a bit, I didn’t. I sent the query letter I had and the first ten pages and *sigh* she hasn’t gotten back to me…Ah well. I knew better than to get my hopes up so I didn’t. Well, a little, I did, but NaNo helped block out a lot of thoughts and feeling I could have dwelled upon.

What I did get was a note from the woman running the Buffalo News Short Story contest saying they would select the winner and notify them during the week of 10 December. I only mention this because I’ve entered before and never heard anything from them at all. At least this time I know they received my entry.

So, thanks for checking in. I have more writing to do, including the holiday letter which I’m finding it difficult to write because there is no snow. I live on the other side of the hill where there is a ski lodge. It’s near Buffalo. It’s December. It’s just not right.

[Ha! I just opened last blog entry file to copy the tagline and found the essay I started. Funny! Even more writing to complete!]

(*These are just my Creekside Reflections. Your experience may vary.)