Disappearing Acts

On the first day of nano, I pulled a disappearing act. I had no idea that I had magical powers, but there you have it. One minute there, the next 'poof' I was gone. I did reappear eventually, but it certainly wasn't across a crowded theatre to loud applause as people wondered how I had managed that.

Perhaps I should explain. I was hanging out online between wordmongering rounds, and one of my friends happened to show up on msn, and so, I started a conversation with him. Yep. You read that right. I was the one who actually started this particular conversation. And I said hi and asked him how he was doing, only to realize that I was about to miss the start of the next round, and I disappeared.

Now, this might not have been so bad, except that, by the time I had gotten to the end of that round, I had completely forgotten that I was talking to him. I was too caught up in my characters, and the fact that a few very minor characters who were supposed to appear in only one scene were trying to force their way into a more prominent position in my novel.

When I finally remembered that I had started a conversation, it had been four hours. Four! I've never felt so bad in my life. I apologized, profusely, and we managed to get over it, but it made me think about all of those people out there who couldn't care less about nano, other than the fact that they lose their loved ones to it everyday.

One of my friends, who's married to a Wrimo, actually calls himself a nano widow. Pathetic, I know. He's just digging for sympathy.

The fact of it is, though, we really do ignore the people in our lives during November. When people ask me to do things, I find myself wondering if I'll be able to hit my word count for the day before we go out, or if I should just be cautious and get some extra words written the day before. And even when we're out, I'm not fully there. My mind is trying to work out the next scene, or chapter.

While I don't expect us all to drop our pencils and start paying attention to people today (hello, we're only 3 days into November! It's never going to happen..) We just need to remember to give our friends and loved ones a little extra attention in December to make up for it. Or maybe just an extra gift under the Christmas tree to show that we appreciate how patient they are. Because without the support of our loved ones, none of us would be able to finish the insanity that is Nano.