NaNoWriMo and Natural Childbirth

November is just around the corner and I am gearing up for the annual National Novel Writing Month competition. This is a communal endeavor to write a 50,000 novel in one month. With the support of an online community and copious amounts of coffee, you get to be one of the few people in the world who can claim that you have written a book, instead of suggesting that you want to…someday.

But as I prepare my outline, shuffle my index cards, grind the coffee beans and block out my schedule, I am reminded of my child birth classes. I determined early that I WAS having natural childbirth and I did everything to prepare myself for my children’s births. I was always puzzled by the women in the doctor’s waiting room who claimed they were going to “try for a natural childbirth.” TRY?

I know myself…if I gave myself any loop holes, I would have signed up for an epidural in the parking lot. I made sure to tell everyone I was NOT having drugs so I’d be too embarrassed to recant later. I prepared as best as I could for natural birth with education, plans and a tremendous coach. I walked into the hospital both times declaring first thing, “I want no drugs.” (Okay, so I was wheeled in one time. His birth broke my tailbone so I couldn’t walk.) I made sure the drugs were never offered. And even though I am a tremendous wimp, I made it through two births with no drugs before or after.

So I am here to declare, I AM finishing NaNoWriMo this month. I have prepared by educating myself on my topic and writing a complete outline. I have budgeted my time and created a complete schedule. I have addressed the roadblocks in my way. And I have even enlisted my six year old daughter as my coach. She has 100 thumbtacks on a cork board and she is going to remove one for every 500 words I write. I can break promises to myself in a heart beat, but I am not likely to break them to my daughter.

I am sure the road will get rough this month and I am sure that my output will not be the Great American Novel that I envision in my head. But there is no TRY in writing a novel. You either do or you don’t. I choose to do.