I entered this November with a very particular set of expectations, and came out of it with those expectations shredded, taped back together, then ripped apart again as I tried to squeeze out 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo.
And I did it. I reached 50,000 words, bragged about it (with charts!), and now, on the first day of December, I’m sitting at my desk, thinking about writing, being a writer, and the election.
To start, a quotation that has been with me all year:
Art can’t save you from pain, but the discipline of hard work can drag you through it.
—Molly Crabapple, Drawing Blood
Before November 8, I focused on the part after the comma: “but the discipline of hard work can drag you through it.” This was the phrase that got me to pick up my pen every day and write. I was intent on gaining the discipline I had so sorely lacked as a student. I was intent on getting better at this craft. Whatever “it” was, I dragged myself through by digging my pen into the page and scratching deeply.
After November 8th, I focused on the part before the comma: “Art can’t save you from pain.”
I wrote some in the time immediately after, but I engaged more in all the feverish activity of calling representatives, supporting organizations fighting Trump, and having those conversations of “What now, what now, what now?”
NaNoWriMo slipped away. I had built an early lead of a few thousand words, and as the days after the election passed by that lead got narrower and narrower. When I decided to try and write for NaNoWriMo again, I felt hollowed out and drained from the tears, the anguish, and the uncertainty. It was so hard to bring myself to write the story I set out to write.
I made peace with the possibility that I wouldn’t reach 50,000 words.
And at first, it was fairly easy to give it up. Everything else seemed more important: supporting vulnerable communities, engaging with people, and gearing up for the fight ahead. It was easy to tell myself that winning this year’s NaNo would be minuscule compared to everything else. (If I’m being honest, I still feel this way to a certain degree.)
But then I picked my novel back up. After a few days away from it, I saw its worth again. I saw that though it isn’t the most topically relevant story, it’s still an important story. I reaffirmed my belief that I must finish a draft, even if it’s a terrible, sloppy, incoherent mess of a draft. (Because turning it into something great is what editing is for.)
I got so close to 50,000 that suddenly the idea I wouldn’t make it seemed unconscionable. I needed to make it, more than I had needed it in the past.
Now, I feel like I can see the quotation as a whole.
I reached 50,000 words, but I’m nowhere near done with the draft. I still haven’t decided if I’m going to keep adding words to it in December, or if I’m going to shift gears and edit some short stories from the summer before coming back. But I’ve decided that I can keep fighting the good fight while still caring about the little fictions I eke out in the in-between times.
Art may not save us from the incoming administration, but the intrepid act of making it can drag us through it.
Caroliena Cabada 
After the election was called, my father, despite his own disappointment said, the world won’t end. It still feels like that’s where we’re headed to me.
I know what you mean. I find myself laughing at random just because it feels like the only way to fight against it. Here’s to hoping the world won’t end.
Your article resonates with me. I also found it difficult to start writing again after the election and hated to watch myself fall behind. Writing helped me to focus at least part of my day on something other than the election aftermath and the scramble to find ways to make a difference and stave off even a small part of ruin that is headed our way.
Thanks for commenting, and I know what you mean. Writing has always been an anchor, of sorts, and finishing NaNo was a big part of getting back to it. Let’s keep this going; we have a lot of work to do.
Good post. I too couldn’t write any of my novel for a week following the US election – and I’m a Brit living in the UK! Keep on having the courage of your convictions.
Thanks for commenting! The U.S. election this year has had such an enormous effect everywhere, and I’m glad you were able to pick your novel back up. Let’s keep making good art.
I’ll second that Caroliena! Good luck with your writing.
This also happened to me. In the end I was able to pick up writing again after a few weeks (maybe living away from the U.S. helped). I’ve since come to terms with the idea that my writing can play a role in all of this, however small a role that would be. It’s not comfort, exactly… but it’s motivation.
Hey, every little bit counts. And more motivation is always a good thing; the world always needs more stories.