I spent yesterday dancing, laughing, celebrating, and texting gifs of people doing the same. All of this was the catharsis I needed to resolve my memory of election night four years ago. I opened the New York Times app at 2:30 in the morning while nursing my newborn daughter, praying that I could whisper in her ear: “A woman is going to be president.” Horror dawned when I saw the infamous needle swing toward Trump and the confirmation that he’d reached 270.
2020 doesn’t feel like a complete resolution of that– too much has happened, too much damage done, and Joe Biden isn’t Hillary Clinton– but it comes a long way toward lifting the horror. I was able to hold my 4-year-old girl on my lap as we watched Kamala Harris’s speech last night. Tears ran down my face as Harris spoke about all the women’s shoulders she stood on, and how many women would come after her, and I squeezed my little girl tight.
In other news, I’ve had one week of my version of NaNoWriMo, and it went well, despite the huge distraction of the election (I watched more MSNBC and CNN this week than I did the entire rest of the year). Today I’ll post the results of week 1 and my plan for week 2.
Week 1 Results
- Wrote 1 “hermit crab” essay (an essay that hides itself within another form of writing) called “Monopoly: White Supremacy Edition.” I was very pleased with the way this one turned out, and got great feedback from my Art of Flash class. I’ll be revising and submitting it soon.
- Wrote 1 standard essay called “A Short Attempt to Make Sense of Donald J. Trump.” I don’t think this one will make it to publication, but I liked the ideas that came out of it. This is something I love about short essay writing; the essay itself may not be my best creative work, but the ideas can often carry over to another form that works better.
- Read and commented on the work of my fellow Art of Flash classmates (which was outstanding). Participated in the Zoom call we had on Saturday to finish the class.
- Made a list of 10 essay ideas to get me started with next week’s goals.
Week 2 Plans
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: Each day, write a draft of an essay each day, using the ideas I came up with last week. Write quickly and without over-thinking. Aim for 800-1200 words.
- Thursday, Friday: Take one of the three essays generated earlier in the week and spend two days editing it. Consider where to submit (but don’t submit yet).
- Thursday, Friday: Edit one of the essays from the Art of Flash class and prepare for submission.
- Sunday: Write a blog post about my progress.
Other plans: write my newsletter and finish my column for DIY MFA.
How is everyone else doing with their November? Are you doing NaNoWriMo? Are you doing a gratitude challenge? If so, leave me a comment to let me know how it’s going!
Sharing in your joy, for sure!! The turbulent journey has made the arrival to this day that much sweeter!!
Agreed, Lisa! I know there’s still a lot ahead of us, but for this one weekend, I’m celebrating.
Breathing more deeply the past few days, for sure! Since the election, I also realized I hadn’t even thought about the historical precedent of Harris’ election–totally focused on saying goodbye to Trump. Now I’m excited for an entirely different reason!
I am inspired by your NaNoWriMo schedule and plans! I’ve been in a deep funk lately (pandemic fog, yadayada) and my writing ambition has suffered greatly. I’m going to think about what you’ve written here and come up with my own plan. Thank you! 🙂
I’m glad I gave you another reason to be excited, Kathy! I have always been focused on Kamala Harris. I believe in the power of women in power, to lead and to heal. Elizabeth Warren was my choice for president, but I’m happy with how things have worked out. Kamala Harris is just right for this moment, and she’s an amazing leader and speaker. I am excited to see a president and VP working so seamlessly together again, as Biden did with Obama.
It is hard to force ambition, so take care of yourself first! Let your creative drive build organically. Maybe take a class– that really helped spark me in May. The class was called “Writing Through Challenging Times” and it combined self-care with creative work– it truly gave me what I needed to keep my writing going.