I love NaNoWriMo! For me, busting out as many words as possible in a short time is a very effective strategy for writing. From 2010-2014, I won four out of five times, writing more than fifty thousand words each November.

I didn’t win this year. Although I was well prepared, early in the month I found out that our landlords accepted an offer on our house and we have to be out in early January. Instead of driving myself to the brink of insanity just to fail anyway, I made the decision to let NaNo slide this year. I wrote 7,731 words total, but the story is going on the shelf until after we’re resettled.

And my re-worked ROW80 goals? To write at least something every week, even if it’s just a bit of random flash? I let that slide this week too, but it has less to do with writing and more to do with a bilateral ear infection I’ve been fighting for more than a week. The antibiotics are finally turning things around, but I’m still feeling pretty darn miserable.

Being self-employed as a writer is a mixed blessing. I work ahead with the publisher of The Cities of Luna, so those stories go on uninterrupted even when I’m sick. Other things, though, must be set aside or postponed. I’d planned a blog tour for this week, and some of the guest posts (that I’d already completed) went on as scheduled. All the others I postponed into December. With new and upcoming releases, I should be doing more promo, but I’m only doing the bare minimum.

I’m very grateful that my writing career affords me the flexibility to ramp up or cut back as my personal schedule dictates. Whether it’s for my health, for my kids, or a life change like a cross-country move, I don’t have to ask an employer for time off. I don’t have to quit my job. I don’t have to go cold turkey. I can do as much work as I’m able when I’m able.

It’s December! Who’s wrapping up their NaNovels? Who’s still plugging even though they didn’t reach 50k by the 30th? Who, like me, just let it all go?