The first week of NaNo comes to a close today, which means today is a perfect day to do a "check in" and see how are you fairing. After today you should be at 11,669 words, but that isn't the most important piece of your "check in". A check in is where you take a few minutes and think about where you are in your novel, how you are feeling, what is going well, what sucks, and so forth. I think these check ins are critical because they can allow you the chance to avoid pitfalls as the word count gets higher. It is really easy to start writing yourself into a corner and when you start hitting the 20K word mark and more, you will feel lost and frustrated, and may end up quitting all together.
Here is my check in, condensed, to help show you some methods of checking in with your story:
What is going well? I really like the strength of my supporting characters, and how there are several story arcs occurring at the same time, and instead of it being focused on one person, the story is a mass of people moving toward circumstances out of all of their control, and I can't wait to see how they react.
What is not going well? My speed, and because of that, my flow is suffering. I know that I can routinely hit 2,500 words an hour and often a good bunch above that rate. Last year I hit more than one 3,000+ word hour. This year my best hour has barely exceeded 2,000... I find that is is impacting my rhythm if nothing else, and I am behind my 100K word goal. I know that the primary reason for this is because I am using a narrative style and POV I have never used. I will go into that more in another post, but I am using an Episodic Third Person Cinematic POV focus which isn't something I am truly comfortable with yet, but is is fun, and quite challenging.
What is the biggest surprise? I spent a good deal of time working on an outline, character sheets, and plotting this story before November, and now I have moved off script after my 10th scene. I have a strong idea on how this story is going to move, at least for now, which as a writer keeps it fresh and interesting for me since I am not following my blueprint. The blueprint helped me get to where I am, which means it wasn't a waste, but now I am in uncharted territory.
How do I feel about the novel? I feel nervous about my choice of POV. I like my characters, I think the plot is engaging and keeps me moving through it, but the POV zaps a lot of energy. Once I get into the rhythm I really get some momentum, but it can be hard to get into a groove.
What is the biggest challenge in the near future? It will be a major transition where the protagonist is separated from the rest of the immediate cast that has been in the book so far. So how will I keep up with their story lines when they don't interact with the MC, and how will my introduction of the second MC coming into play a few chapters away. I will only know when I get there.
What will I do differently from here? Going forward, since I am completely off my plot outline, that I will take some time every 8-10K word to create a mini outline. Kind of like taking a road trip and asking for directions somewhere along the way for clarification. I will let you all know how this goes.
You can use some of these questions, or some of your own. And if you feel like sharing some of them, please do in the comment section, I'd love to hear it, and who knows it may help someone else out who is suffering through the same thing.
Now, we'd all better get back to the word grind, it is a long way before we get home.
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