Since I’d already hit my word count goals for NaNo, I decided that I wanted to finish the novel before November closed for the year. I only had a few scenes left, so its been looking good.
Then I did a quick outline and realized that my climatic explosion isn’t actually my climax; its the Big Push that changes my character.
Um.
Fuck.
I knew a lot of my draft was background stuff that would get scrapped. I knew there were gaps in the story that would need to be told. I knew that some of my characters needed more screen time. That this draft was an incomplete creature was not news to me. But looking at it last night, I realized that the explosion is what reveals to my character that there is an antagonist. Its the shit in the aftermath that really allows Johnny to forge an identity and relationships, where he’s just been running for most of the novel.
In the beginning of November I sat down to write a story about a kid who gets humbled by his new rival and has to learn how to not be a winner.
I’m closing November with a novel about a depressed kid who takes risks because he doesn’t value his life. He’s slowly erasing his identity, until this big explosion forces him to confront the choices he’s made.
Well then.
I’m calling a good month.