NaNoWriMo, Week 2

Friday started out pretty rough.  I only got 800 words, and since I have been pounding out over 1000 a day typically, I was feeling discouraged.  I sensed a wall coming, one I wouldn’t be able to break through, and then came Saturday and my kiddos.  I was concerned not much writing would get done with them in the house, but I was wrong.  I passed 17k on Saturday, bring me up to 1/3^rd completion.  K made a point of guarding my office so I could write. E offered to get me coffee refills and snacks as needed.  They shushed each other so I could concentrate, and even the boys have been rooting me on.  I was able to pull past 20k on Saturday, and am eternally grateful for their encouragement.

Sunday was more of the same.  With their assistance, I dropped another 4k before hanging it up for the day.  I was nearing the end of Part 1, and I was feeling somewhat deflated, but they kept pushing. 

On Monday I wrote early in the morning, sitting at my computer for two hours trying to get the ending of the first part out. It took some time, but in the end, I topped out at 26k, which is more than halfway to my goal.  And, it was only the 11^th.

I had finished Part 1, and now it was time for Part 2.  Here’s a secret, though: I’m a plantser in the strictest of terms.  (Lingo explanation for the non-writer.  Planner: someone who meticulously plans out their book. Pantser: someone who writes by the seat of their pants.  Plantser: someone who does both.)  I planned and outlined and took notes for the first half, but not the second.  The book started to go somewhere I didn’t expect, so I went with it, and now I have no notes left.  I will be writing the second half completely without a net.

On Tuesday I started the day with a couple thousand words, and finished chapter 10.  The problem I found myself confronted with that afternoon was how to start the next chapter.  So, there was a great deal of debate and contemplation, followed by researching what happens when an electric car runs out of juice (one of the fun parts of writing for me is researching all the weird stuff you need for your book.  That said, someone clear my search history when I die.)  Then I got out another 1200 words before retiring for the day.

Wednesday was a mess.  I had an appointment in the morning so I couldn’t get into my regular groove, and when I came home, I only got a paltry 800 words or so out.  Instead, I polished up a children’s story I wrote some time ago and sent it off to Sahar to test out on her kiddos.  I had hoped it could get the juices flowing, but the afternoon found me sitting on Twitter, procrastinating like it was my job.  After some encouragement from Twitter folk, I got back at it and put out another 1000.  I felt better after that.

Today I am at a loss.  I have discovered some timeline problems and have to go back and read the story so far, making notes about when certain things occur.  I am struggling with my current main character, someone different than the first half of the book.  I shall give small details to illustrate my problem: the first half of the book is narrated by Frankie, the second half by her mother Lila.  I know Frankie, inside and out…I am still discovering Lila.  And since I think all good books are character driven, this is making it hard for me to write at the moment.  It’s my hope that after I finish redoing the timeline, I will be able to get a few thousand words in.  Fingers crossed, but still, I’m not holding my breath.

I managed to get though week two without much of the dreaded slump, and am at 34.000 words.  I would say some days have been better than others, but mostly I am ahead of schedule.  The end is still a ways off, but I am looking forward to completion because I can sense it in the air.  Soon, this book will be written, and the five years of planning and thinking about it will finally mean something.  Of course, I have no idea what to do with it when it’s done, but we will figure that out when the time comes.  In the meantime, I shall write, write, write…and hope for the best.

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