03 November 2006

NaNo – Day 3, Rambling Along

I switched to the second protagonist's POV and wrote his story for a while. There is a great deal in what I wrote that Bob The Editor kept screaming at me to cut. I managed to get him to shut up in shock when I told him I agreed, but cutting would come sometime after November 30th. Even amongst all the drivel, once in a while I get a line or paragraph that impresses me. It says what I want to say with neatness and efficiency, it captures the essence of the character and has proper grammar and spelling. Of course 60 words out of 2500 isn't much, but I'll take it.

My outline is broken down by chapters, but I'm finding that it's easier to treat each day of the month as a chapter and just write to the point of no return. I had two logical stopping points in today's writing, ignored them both and went on. I'm becoming more aware of making little cliffhanger endings for the chapters. I don't need something overt, or action oriented, small psychological turning points make me happy too.

I'm finding I know my female protagonist's motives, but I'm having a hard time showing them on paper in this quick write through. Kadi needs to be needed, and finding a way to show that neediness without having her delve into being pathetic is tough. She's a strong woman, she just doesn't know it yet. I find myself impatient with her character at times. I just hope she'll reveal more of herself as time goes on, and allow me to help her.

The good thing about this style of writing is that I can wave at the plot holes as they pass by, mark them and keep going. But it's real tempting to spend part of the next day's writing going back through what I wrote and tinkering. Just a bit. I'm trying to circumvent that by sticking to the outline and only writing what comes next. I'm not sure how long I can hold out against the overwhelming urge to edit. Bob is very persuasive. But he's also easily distracted by large doses of caffeine.

2 comments:

Diana said...

I was using the 30 days/30 chapters too. So far, so good, but it won't hold. I'm already off the track because Lord Normavel stopped to help an old lady driving an oxcart. And my word count is shot because a poetry robin came in, and I ended up writing a 270-wd, 40-line poem. Hey, can I count that? :)

Constance Brewer said...

If you include the poem in the novel, go for it. :)
We'll see how tonight's writing goes. No oxcarts in my world, so I may be okay!