Top Ten Ways To Get Word Count In During The Holidays

For those of you who are attempting to write 50,000 words during the month of November for NaNoWriMo, you might be wondering how to get your word count in during the busy Thanksgiving Holiday. Well, I'm here to tell you...I don't know. Seriously, I'm so far behind on my word count that I've been wracking my brains, trying to figure it out myself.

After a bit of brainstorming, here are a few ways I've come up with:

1. Get up early and stay up late. Yeah, I don't like this one either. It makes your Cranky Pants beg to come out of the closet. Maybe do one or the other, but still, it's not optimum if you are having family come in. Sometimes these get-togethers are stressful enough without the bad attitude that comes with little sleep.
2. Hole up in your room during the Dallas Cowboys game on Thanksgiving Day. Hubby won't mind...he'll be yelling at the tube with the guys anyway.
3. Have your witty cousin write your story for you while you take a nap and sleep off the turkey "sleep" hormones. What? Not everyone has a creative family member? Awww, that's so sad.
4. Cry "Headache" when the family wants to go see the traditional Thanksgiving Day movie, then whip out a couple of #1k1hr sessions while they are gone.
5. Be strong and say a huge NO to the Black Friday shopping spree. Spend the early morning hours writing, and be thankful you still have your fingers! There are some crazy shoppers out there that will scratch and claw for their bargains.
6. Claim that you are really, really tired from all the cooking and go to bed early, sneaking your laptop into bed with you. The family will want to stay up watching movies and eating, while you get some quiet time to write.
7. If you live in Texas like I do, you can go sit in the piles of leaves in the backyard and write, surrounded by the pretty fall foliage. (Notice I did not say beautiful. Hey, it's Texas...not Boston!)
8. Say you have to run to the store for last minute food items. Sit in the parking lot with your laptop and write for an hour or two. You can claim the supermarket was packed with last minute shoppers!
9. Ditch the traditional huge Thanksgiving meal and have turkey or ham sandwiches. You can buy Little Debbie snacks for dessert...or little fruit turnovers if you are feeling sad about not having pie. A new tradition is set and instead of cooking, you have time to write!!!
10. Just give in, forget NaNo, and enjoy Thanksgiving with the family. It only comes around once a year and NaNo is just a motivational tool anyway. No monetary prize involved. I set the rules, right?

So there you have it, my Top Ten ways to get some word count in during the holidays. What kind of tricks do you have for writing during the Thanksgiving holiday?