Friday 11 November 2011

A NANO CONFESSION

Hi everyone - and Happy Friday!

Today, I have a confession to make. A confession which will already be fairly obvious to anyone who's checked my NaNoWriMo profile and seen my current wordcount.

I fell off the Nano wagon. *Sob*

No, I'm not really that upset, to be honest. After the catalogue of woe I've endured the past week I feel lucky just to be alive. Getting stressed out over Nano would be a bit silly.

As you know, I did try to push on despite the Nanovirus (with the pounding head, achy joints and sore throat) that struck me on November the first. In fact I did so well that I was ahead of target and gave myself Saturday off. But on Sunday I started to feel really ill again, and not the kind of illness that you can write through. I draw the line at taking a notebook into the toilet with me. Ew.

Despite feeling like death warmed over until Tuesday evening, I was still prepared to press on with Nano, adding words to my daily target to try and catch up. I was determined to start bright and early on Wednesday morning, motivated by getting to announce my news about The Katana Trilogy (aka Big Secret Project).

Then, as I was about to get into bed on Tuesday night, I crouched down to pat my dog, caught my foot in his bed, slipped, and felt an explosion of burning pain - like a red hot wire being ripped out of my spine and dragged down my leg. I couldn't sleep all night because of the pain in my back, which kept throbbing no matter how I arranged myself. I was on the phone to the doctor first thing the next morning. Those close to me know this is a last resort; I really hate going to the doctors. But I couldn't sit up, and was in pain even when I was walking. I was scared I'd done something really serious.

Turned out I'd done something medium serious - a prolapsed disc, which is when one of the discs of soft, cushioning tissue between the bones of your vertebrae bulge out and press into the nerves of the spine in a not-good sort of way. Not permanent but definitely very painful until it subsides.

Trying to sit upright in a normal position is agony. I'm typing this lying flat with my knees propped up by a pillow so that I can lean my laptop against them, and that's the position I'm more or less stuck in for a while. The only breaks are to eat (standing up) and take my dog for his walks. The pain is starting to ease off a little, although I'm not sure how much of that is actual progress and how much is due to the strong anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxant and painkilling drugs my doctor prescribed (these drugs make me feel a tiny bit drunk aaaaall the time, so please excuse any mistakes in this post based on that and the fact that it's hard to type in a horizontal position).

Given all that, I was forced to accept that I'm going to have to give up on hitting any kind of meaningful Nano target this year. It's a little frustrating. I'm SO keen to work on the second book of the Katana Trilogy. Everytime I think about all the cool stuff I get to write I want to clap like a seal. But I can't risk making my back worse, because that's just going to add to the delays. So for the moment I'm mainly watching American TV programmes on iTunes (I <3 Castle) and napping, and daydreaming about the feel of a pen in my hand and a notebook on my knees (yes, it's sad, I know).

Anyone who's been following this blog for a while will know that this is only the most recent in a serious of hilarious comedy pratfalls that I've been through (dislocating my toe while walking down the stairs was a good one) and might wonder if I have some heavy Karmic debt that I'm paying off or something. I can only wonder that myself, since I haven't managed to get through a year without some form of injury since I was about twelve. But never mind! My motto is that it could always be worse, so make the best of what you have.

With that in mind, I hope everyone has a great weekend - and I'll read you on Monday when, barring mishaps, I'll hopefully be answering some reader questions about planning and world-building :)

14 comments:

Hannah @ Dragons and Whimsy said...

Ooh dear. *insert clichéd comfort here* *hugs*
My dad actually slipped a disc when he was younger. Every now and then it still hurts him like hell. So glad you didn't quite manage that one!

And don't worry about NaNo, not that you are, haha, least you tried while you could and besides... you've kinda already got a handful of novels written and published so I think we can call that a win, yeah? ;)

Feel better!

Zoë Marriott said...

Hannah: Thank you. I feel a bit wistful about Nano, since I was jazzed about it and really wanted to take part - but I'm a little ahead of my publishing schedule atm so I have some breathing room. And panic never helps anything anyway :)

Alex Mullarky said...

I'm so sorry Zoe, I hope you feel better soon! I hate going to the doctors too, they almost never tell you anything of use ><

Jenni (Juniper's Jungle) said...

Oh no, I knew you'd hurt your back but I didn't realise how bad it was. I know how frustrating things like this are, when all you can do is wait them out. I hope your recovery is good and speedy and your pen and notebook can retake their rightful place soon!

Lynsey Newton said...

Awwww *hugs* sorry to hear this Zoe but I wish you a speedy recovery! I know about back pain and it isn't nice! X

AmieSalmon said...

Ahh no, I hope you feel better soon! But rest up so you have a quicker recovery! :)

Emma Pass said...

Ow ow ow ow ow! I was wincing as I read this. Hope you recover quickly and don't have any more accidents.

Zoë Marriott said...

Thanks everyone! I wish I could thank you all individually, but typing in this position is...not fun :)

Unknown said...

Feel better soon! I'm also behind on NaNo, by about 1000 words, though I've got no excuse outside a full-time job. Then again, a ton of people doing NaNo have that!

Rebecca Lindsay said...

Get well soon *hugs*

Isabel said...

Poor Zoe. :( Feel better soon!

I don't think I've ever broken a bone before in my life, or even fractured so much as a toe. I'm very lucky. Hopefully I can keep it up... :P

batgirl said...

Mark and I have been watching Castle on his laptop. Man, I wish my writing schedule was like his!
I'm going to flunk Nano again this year, and I don't even have the excuse of injury.
-Barbara

Zoë Marriott said...

Hey, B.! Nice to read you :) Where are you with Castle? Just caught up with season four - it's level pegging with Buffy as my favourite show ever. And you know that's saying something!

Raimy from Readaraptor Hatchling said...

Week! I've bee missing from blogs and twitter for the last week so I had no idea you were in so much pain and stuff, I really hope it's sorting itself out now and you're a little better!! Xx

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