word count wednesday 3 and a story

well, we’ve hit the halfway mark. NaNo sure makes November go by fast!

i’m at 29,519 words, and i’ve hit the climax of my story.. or the build up to the climax.. or the build up to the incident that triggers the climax.. or something. anyway, we’re getting somewhere.

so, today is the one year anniversary of the event that pretty much ended NaNo for me last year.
i came home that night planning to grab some dinner, let my dog out and get over to a write-in going on at a local bookstore. i never made it.
because when i got home that night, my gate was open and my door unlocked. a quick trip through my house - that made me want to throw up in a way i’d never quite felt before - confirmed that strangers had been there, had gone through my very personal items, had stolen my family heirlooms and plenty of other things.
i spent the next three days talking to police, insurance agents and security specialists. i replaced the locks, installed surveillance cameras and woke up terrified in the middle of the night. i did not write a word.

it was weeks before i realized everything that was gone and months before i stopped checking my closets with a huge kitchen knife in hand every single time i came home. i don’t remember when i started writing again, but i know that i wish i’d started sooner.

writing is therapy, escape, distraction and occasionally – revenge. (those chapters of a non-existent book are filed away on my hard drive, never to be seen by the public. they contain way too many curse words, but they sure made me feel a lot better!)
i was writing the first time my power went out after the burglary, and i’m grateful for that because i was so focused on finding a flashlight, pen and paper to finish my thoughts that i forgot to be frightened.

my point is... life can give us a lot of good excuses to not write, but you might find in those tough times that turning to your writing - instead of away from it - can actually help you through something... and that your life experiences (good or bad) can inform your writing in a way that makes it feel richer and more real.

now, as for this year - the only excuse i have for possibly falling behind on NaNo is the fact that the full version of "Angry Birds" was finally released for Android, and i am in a race with Handsome to see who can beat the game first. :p