On Christmas Vacation, in which I write 30,000 words and get a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Past

[Debra]

I've done NaNoWriMo twice now. I've written another 50,000 word novella besides that. And if I added up all the words in the many, many files of unfinished work stored on my iMac...well, it's just too many words to bother with counting. But this Christmas has topped them all. In five days of vacation, I've accumulated over 30,000 words of new material. That's just the stuff I save. Not the time I spend writing blog entries, and commenting, and posting to boards on the internet. Today I sat down at my computer and started writing at about 1:30pm. The next time I looked up, it was 4:37pm...and I'd amassed 6,000 words into two new chapters. I've never done that before. I've never become so lost in my writing I worked for 4 hours straight without even noticing it. (Unless I went through a wormhole in the space-time continuum...but then where did all those words come from...Hmmmm.)

Anyway, I feel great. I've loved spending this time CREATING and having so much to show for it. I'm in the ZONE, I'm feeling GOOD!

Unfortunately all of that will stop on Jan. 5th when I go back to my life. So, this post is really for me though the rest of you can read/comment as you may.

*Spooky Into Music - Howling Moans*

Debra. This is the Ghost of Christmas Past. This is a reminder to finish what you start. On reading those old files of unfinished stories and book ideas you never developed, you realized something. They were good. You liked reading them. You liked writing them the first time, all those years and months of days gone by. Don't forget how much you love this. Don't forget your characters. They need you. They want you to finish their lives. Or they will come after you like in "Six Characters in Search of an Author," only your characters won't find someone else to finish their stories...They will haunt you!!!

AHHHHH!!! [Debra awakens from horrible nightmare.] It was a dream. Just a dream. But, what's that crawling out of my computer. Ah! No! Stop grabbing my fingers! I'll finish you! I'll finish yoooouuuuuu!!!

*Fade to Black*


Okay, you good? Remember, don't loose this feeling when you hate your life and want to quit your job and devote your heart and soul to rewatching VlogBrothers. You do like to write, even when you're tired. So, finish what you start. Or you'll regret it later.