A quick update
So, November 2009. About this time last year, I was struggling through my first real Nanowrimo attempt, and struggling through a job where I’d come to realise that due to my mental health problems, I was no longer welcome. I was forced to resign from that job, and face the prospect of starting the New Year unemployed. Also, one night when I was updating my Nanowrimo word count, I was so tired that instead of copying and pasting my text, I cut and pasted it. Then I saved the document without even realising what I’d done. I’d also forgotten to keep a back-up. I lost around 40,000 words. I’m not sure what was worse – losing my job or losing my story. I kept having dreams about my story and seeing the lost text clearly in my mind. Then I’d wake up and I couldn’t remember a word of it. I was also raising money for charity with my Nanowrimo attempt. A lot of the people who sponsored me were colleagues from the job I was leaving, and I knew that none of them would believe me if I tried to explain what happened. As it was I pretty much felt like they all viewed me with contempt, anyway.
So this year, I’m in a temp job, working for the same agency as I have been all year, but still facing the prospect of being unemployed in the New Year. This time, however, I’m backing-up my Nanowrimo story every day, and it’s going well! I still have some of the notes and work from last year’s attempt, too, so I’m thinking I’ll turn this into a short story at some point…
In the meantime I’m struggling on against debt, borderline poverty and bouts of severe depression in an attempt to claw some kind of living for myself from this cold, hard unfeeling world. And also trying to get myself published. One day, I hope to be able to tell people all about that!
Bye for now,
Jez
