NaNoWriMo 2009 Update

Some people say that they don’t write with an outline. I get that. It was great fun letting my characters meet new characters, and watching them evolve. However, I’m learning what I can and cannot do regarding leaving them their own devices.

In short order I’ve managed to get a good bit behind in my writing. However, I have good reason. I needed to go back and do some mapping. It turns out that these characters with lives and personalities still need some guidance. Especially if I’m going to get them to the point of fulfilling my ideas.

Even if it turns out that the story ends up someplace different from my idea, I still need the frame to work in. If a story line more plausible than mine presents itself, then I’ll just be grateful.

Brainstorming

To further my novel before getting hopeless behind, a few days ago, I worked up a frame to give me the structure I needed. It includes things that I’d never thought of before, and possibly over-thought for this. We’ll see.

My brainstorming yielded:

• a time line
• calendar of events
• useful characters to make sense of the plot
• details to flesh out the story

Benefits of brainstorming at this point:

• I see events to develop and characters to make it happen
• Knowing what events and activities may be left out
• Confidence to go forward because I know what forward is

Everything is fluid and therefore negotiable. This novel writing is an interesting experience. At just over 10,000 words now, this is the farthest I’ve ever gone in writing a novel. And even unedited, this is exciting and satisfying.

Still, I thought of things that I want to change and am really fighting not to go back and change them. I’ve made notes of what to change and if I finish early, then I’ll go back to revise. Otherwise, I’ll leave the notes for revision time, starting December 2009.

So, this is my update for now. I still have a few thousand words to write this afternoon. And I’ll likely be writing into the night because family is coming over soon. But, since I’m still having a blast, it’s my pleasure to keep going—to learn what comes next.

Are you having as much fun as me? Learning new things about how novel writing works for you? I invite you to share, leave a comment.

Poets know that poems are songs, but few of us realize that novels are too.

~ from Walter Mosely’s book, This Year You Write Your Novel

Although I don’t hear it quite clearly, I’m definitely going with the flow of something. There are rhythms to the actions of the characters. Even as I try to steer them, they move those individual cadences. So, I have to let them go in hopes of keeping them believable.

Otherwise they are contrived and unbelievable. Contrived characters in stories can be painful to read. Characters that are made to do things contrary to their nature, just to make something else fit, are really annoying. As my story works itself out, I’m on guard to respect the rhythms.

What do you look for as you write a novel? Are there sticking things in books that put you off?

This year I’ve gotten a lot more involved with the activities surrounding NaNoWriMo, and it’s helpful. The opportunities to compete and commiserate are encouraging. It’s a solitary job that doesn’t feel like I’m doing it alone.

I’m excited about my first day’s progress! Having written 3,001 words is a good sign. And although the writing still feels foreign, I’m getting more familiar with the characters. They have traits and quirks that are filling out the frames I thought up for each of them. My new character are interesting, too.

While I managed to think of some ideas before today and started in that direction, the characters have places to take me. I’ll follow them for a bit and see how it plays out. Today they took me to a Deli near their office, and I met two office workers that weren’t on my list and one that was in my head. So, two and a half came through, plus some minor characters showed up to round out the personality of my lead character. What an adventure!

Shortly, I’ll post my poem for today. I looked for a prompt but didn’t see one. So, I’ll just post random poems like usual, increased to one a day, of course.

Tomorrow, work will intrude on my writing, and other life stuff that I must allow. To keep up with the demands of these writing projects, I’ll sacrifice daily updates on my progress. So, watch my progress meters in the sidebar to see my progress. For those of you who are participating, enjoy!