Funny thing about this year’s NaNo? I’m still going.
Last week I wrote about the abrupt stop of the NaNo train. That happened, just as predicted. But I seem to have jumped off, unscathed, and still on my feet. Granted, the first of December wasn’t my best day: I went backwards more than two thousand words, fixing terrible, terrible writing I’d done earlier in November). But since then I’ve kept up a slow but steady forward pace of my own, averaging roughly 500-1000 words a day.
Some of that is due to the fact that, surprisingly, I really like this year’s story. I wasn’t expecting that. I went into this year’s season without much enthusiasm; I didn’t really think my idea or my characters would pan out. But now my gut is telling me I might be wrong. And more importantly, it’s telling me that I owe it to myself and my story to see it through to the end.
I’m making a point to carve out about an hour every day to do nothing but write. And so far that’s working. My hope is to have the zero draft done before December is over. Next will be filling in a few minor plot holes, and then going back and fixing one of my MCs, who’s currently a bit boring, and far from a sympathetic character.
The good news is I’m pretty sure I know how to fix everything that’s wrong so far. I can fix my plot holes. I can present my MC in a different light. And, moving forward, I can’t see any huge issues with the story I still need to write. Those two things, a clear path forward and a clear path backward, are really helping with my motivation.
So, keep your fingers crossed for me! Hopefully in a month or two I’ll have a completed manuscript, and if I’m lucky, one that’s worth pursuing into the future.
Leave a Reply