NaNoWriMo woes
Well, ladies and gentleman, it is day 18 of National Novel Writing Month. The word target is 30k. I have, right now, 20909 words.
This is a little scary...
I know I can get back on top of it. Writing 5k a day this weekend wouldn't usually kill me - my story, however, really is. I've never had this much problem during NaNo before. I know what's got to happen in the plot, and most of it I'm happy with - but I don't know the details. Before I write a scene I've usually played it out in my head before, and I've always had the technicalities worked out. Now I've got things happening all over the place that I haven't worked out properly, and the Big Problem: I don't know how it's going to end.
Not just "I'm not sure but I'll keep following the characters until they lead me somewhere", but "I've got to make the good guys win but I have no idea how they're going to do that."
I think it's because the story went through so many changes at planning stage in the summer I never got a chance to work through all the kinks. I don't mind a story deviating from the plan at all - that's great fun - but I'm starting to feel like I don't have enough of a plan to deviate from. And the disadvantage to having ending scenes already planned and written is that I feel kind of trapped in a specific time frame of the story.
I can't not write a happy ending. But maybe I need to claw my way out of the box.
Any tips, anyone? Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, random encouragement?
H
This is a little scary...
I know I can get back on top of it. Writing 5k a day this weekend wouldn't usually kill me - my story, however, really is. I've never had this much problem during NaNo before. I know what's got to happen in the plot, and most of it I'm happy with - but I don't know the details. Before I write a scene I've usually played it out in my head before, and I've always had the technicalities worked out. Now I've got things happening all over the place that I haven't worked out properly, and the Big Problem: I don't know how it's going to end.
Not just "I'm not sure but I'll keep following the characters until they lead me somewhere", but "I've got to make the good guys win but I have no idea how they're going to do that."
I think it's because the story went through so many changes at planning stage in the summer I never got a chance to work through all the kinks. I don't mind a story deviating from the plan at all - that's great fun - but I'm starting to feel like I don't have enough of a plan to deviate from. And the disadvantage to having ending scenes already planned and written is that I feel kind of trapped in a specific time frame of the story.
I can't not write a happy ending. But maybe I need to claw my way out of the box.
Any tips, anyone? Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, random encouragement?
H