Today I am thankful for Saintly Supporters.

Or: The Novel That Almost Wasn’t

As of 1 pm, Friday, November 30, 2007, I have written 50,092 words and am an official NaNoWriMo winnah. It is a brilliant novel cleverly disguised as a terrible novel, as only a novel written at breakneck speed can be.

In due time, when it’s published in its true, award-winning form, the following will be the author’s Acknowledgments:

I would like to thank Kevin, my primary Saintly Supporter,¹ without whom this book would quite literally never have been written.

On the eve of the long Thanksgiving weekend, at precisely 18,202 words, I quit. Gave up. Said goodbye to NaNo and its ridiculous expectations.

This did not sit well with my primary Saintly Supporter. He takes his job extremely seriously and apparently, I was making him look really bad.

An argument ensued. It went on for probably an hour, but in the end, only two things were said. I insisted that doing NaNoWriMo was, for various reasons, “too hard.” Kevin said, “It’s the hard that makes it great.”

Turning point. (Cue moving music.)

For those of you who haven’t seen A League Of Their Own, go rent it. Tom Hanks plays Jimmy Dugan, a former major league baseball coach-turned-alcoholic loser women’s baseball coach. When his players whine, he comes out of his stupor long enough to give them a necessary what-for. His “It’s the hard that makes it great” is the best line in the movie.²

That afternoon, Kevin was doing his best Coach Dugan, minus the chew lip-bulge and Jack Daniels smell.

There may be other parallels than just dialogue. Coach Dugan may want his players to win so they will become famous and support him in the way to which he wishes to become accustomed. He may want them to win so he’ll look good. He may want them to quit whining so he can enjoy his Thanksgiving weekend.

But the truth is, Dugan doesn’t want them to win so much as to do the best they can with what they got. To do what they said they would do, even when the going got tough - to step up to the plate, as it were. Because that’s what winning really is. That’s the hard that makes it great.

My book is dedicated to Kevin, the Saintliest of Supporters and most beloved of sweeties.

I would also like to thank the following players on Team Saintly Supporters:

Michael, MVP, for writing tips and pom poms and unflagging faith in me.

Ribsis, for pre-orders and not giving me any shit for not coming down for Thanksgiving dinner.

Jo, for sage advice and Dad, for the writing genes (even if you are a hard act to follow).

Lachlan, Bayou, and Amaya, for steadfast encouragement, true friendship, and link love.

The bodacious babes of Beautiful_Us, for the healing power of listening and virtual hugs.

Mushell, Kellie, James, Jennifer, and all the righteous Rib Readers, for giving me the best reason in the world to write.

And Kevin, again, for talking-tos, space heaters, turkey sandwiches, inspiration,³ coffee delivery, back rubs, and the freedom to rediscover my love of the game. I love you.

Technorati Tags: writing, National Novel Writing Month

1. Term coined by Chris Baty, NaNoWriMo creator, for those family and friends who support the mad writer as she huddles over her computer, writing like a bat out of hell, shirking all responsibilities, throughout the month of November. [↩]
2. Except for maybe “There’s no crying in baseball” which I also heard a few times this month. [↩]
3. Woodchipper. You’ll see. [↩]

Filed under Kevinsylvania, NaNoWriMo, Writing |