Well, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is over for another year. In the beginning, the thought of writing 50,000 words in one month was daunting, as it always is. But I stuck with it and started over several times, keeping the older drafts to keep my numbers up, and I ended up with over 51,000 words by last night. The first time I started over because I could feel my story going off into a ditch I knew I couldn’t get out of. So, I reassessed and changed that position that the story was told and began again. I was barreling along at a pretty good clip and excited about the new direction. I had gotten rid of some story plotlines that didn’t really work once I put them into motion. I brought other characters that had been minor, forward slightly because they wanted to be heard more. Then on Tuesday, I was driving home from an appointment when an idea occurred to me. An idea that meant starting over for the third time. An idea that will probably turn my book idea into a longer short story but it was so exciting it wouldn’t leave my mind. So, even though NaNoWriMo is over for another year, I’m definitely sticking with this story because I think if I work with it more it’s going to turn into something quite magical and different than anything I’ve ever written before, and that for me is the most exciting thing of all.
Tag Archives: NaNoWriMo
Day One
Happy first day of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)! Today I take the hand of my main character and let her guide me through her story. I have a basic idea of where the path will lead but have no clue where it will end up and that is part of the excitement of NaNoWriMo. Taking that first step on a journey of imagination and creation and seeing where it takes me.
Countdown to NaNoWriMo
One week until National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) starts. I’ve been planning and plotting this year’s project for about six months now. It all started when I was sick with bronchitis and had a dream of a girl in a white nightgown floating down a pathway into a deeply wooded area. That floating girl was the planetary core of my new world. Since then the dust of creativity in my brain has coalesced and blown apart numerous times until I have a fairly solid handle on characters, plotline, outline, and overall synopsis. Of course now that image of the levitating girl is only one tiny fraction of the entire story that has created itself but it’s still an essential image in my book. If you have never heard of NaNoWriMo, the concept is as easy as it is hard. Write a 50,000 word novel or beginning of a story during November. It boils down to around 1,667 words a day. It is daunting, nervewracking, but ultimately exciting to see what you can create in a month’s time.