What I Learned During Nanowrimo Part 2

Back to the things I learned by taking part in Nanowrimo. If you haven't read Part 1 make sure to check it out. And if you have let's see how things went on Week 2.

Week 2: Stay true to your characters

   Week two is usually when things become difficult. Your initial excitement isn’t carrying you and if you haven’t planned, you’re not quite sure where things are going.

   In week two I had three days where I made the progress of about 100 words. It was hard to see that word target getting away from me again. The nice thing about Nanowrimo though, is that it works out how many words a day you need to finish. Thankfully my required daily average wasn’t ridiculous.

   A day or two of dedication got that word count up in leaps and bounds. A lack of a plan meant my characters were guiding themselves. I think my favourite aspect of writing is creating characters. If you make characters that are interesting enough, people will follow them wherever you take them.

   Over the years I’ve learnt about plotting and character development and hopefully my projects are stronger because of that. The main character for my second novel (the one I was halfway through) has a much more satisfying journey than the one in my first.

   If you were to follow the traditional story structure, when the main character is called to help, they must go through an initial refusal. So when it came for David to ask Lara and Biggs for their help, something strange happened. Biggs was excited by the proposal but Lara didn’t want to leave her town.

   My two main characters, two best friends I had thought would go through the entire story together were separated. Biggs left with David and Lara stayed behind.

   Being where I am now with the story I can’t imagine it going any other way. It’s helped to strengthen the balance of the different plots. One side is Biggs and on the other is Lara. One has their adventures and the other has theirs. Also their separation meant I couldn’t just use “Biggs grows in to a giant wolf” as a solution to every problem (He can only do that with Lara's help).

   Over the course of the book, the characters have taken the lead, reacting to each situation in a way I hope to be true to them. So even if you’re the type to plan out every single detail, just let your characters roam free once in a while. You never know what they might find.