Random Thoughts on NaNoWriMo

Brilliant sunrise in Arizona
Sunrise yesterday morning. It felt like it was going to be a good day.

When I woke up Tuesday morning to this sunrise — I felt pure joy. How could I not? This is the view from our master bedroom and backyard. I grabbed my husband’s iphone — because he has a better camera on his — and began snapping away. Once I captured the moment, I stood quietly in the backyard as the colors enveloped me.

I’m on my second week of NaNaWriMo and if I were to describe the experience? A pain in the neck.

My neck really hurts. My shoulders hurt too as they hunch up to comfort and hang out with my sore neck. I complained about this last week, and boy howdy! It’s only gotten worse with each passing day.

I took one bit of advice from blogger extraordinaire LA. She said she has a lavender neck wrap that heats up in the microwave. I jumped on Amazon and voila! I now have one and it does help.

I was talking to my daughter on the phone and I complained about my neck.

“Your neck always hurts,” she said.

“But not like it does now. It’s the NaNo challenge that’s making it worse. I’m hunched down over my laptop for hours every day.”

“I know what you need,” she said.

“I already got the lavender neck wrap,” I answered.

“That too, but it’s not what I was going to suggest.”

This was her suggestion:

lap top stand and a work area with a view.
A laptop stand so I’m now working with my screen at eye level. This is my view from where I work in the casita.

I hope it helps. It should. You can now find me wearing a lavender neck wrap working on my raised laptop. I’m impressed with Amazon to get me these items within 24 hours. As much as I don’t like Amazon, I’m also thankful for their convenience and speed.

I took a break and sat in the backyard watching the quail fly onto the patio roof.

My other random thoughts about NaNoWriMo:

I don’t regret the challenge and I’m enjoying starting something new. It was just the thing to get me going on a new project. The words poured out faster than I could type the first week. I’ve slowed down on week two. I’m following my 9-point plot map. But I’ll get through all nine points in 25,000 words which means I need to add more to hit 50,000 words. I think I need more conflict between my characters and more depth in my characters.

What are your thoughts about Amazon? Are you a fan or a foe? Did you use it more during the COVID shutdowns? What are your easiest parts of writing whether it’s blogging or writing a novel? What do you find to be the most difficult?

16 thoughts on “Random Thoughts on NaNoWriMo

  1. Do you have an ergonomic pillow? I have a memory foam one with a curve in it that supports my neck when I sleep which helps with any neck strain accumulated during the day.. The eye level screen and wrap are great ideas too. Hope you feel better.

  2. Amazon Prime has saved me a zillion little trips to Wally, ACE, Home Depot, Lowes, Target, Roses, Dollar General, and Big Lots. Bezos can get as rich as he wants to because he provided a better way.

      • I like stuff I need actually being in stock. In the right color, right size, right quantity….. Amazon has never failed. I hate making a trip out only to find that my needs are not in stock and I just wasted time, energy, and gas. This is especially true if a “part” breaks. Last week it was a little plastic knob that controls the air vent over our stove (a stove that is 15 years old). The maker listed the part as “no longer available”. Well, Amazon had it, and the next day it was sitting on my porch. Yeah. Bezos wins.

  3. I am neutral aboit amazon. I find them helpful, but still mainly prefer shopping locally. I do find it helpful when buying gifts for out of town people because free shipping is awesome

  4. Oh my goodness that sky! The whole view from your windows is just gorgeous. I’m surprised you could get any work done being able to look at that all the time. I do use Amazon occasionally for things that I just can’t find anywhere else or that I need in a hurry.

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