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.

Outa Time

  For anyone keeping an eye on my twitter and facebook statuses you may have seen that I reached the 100,000 word count for my book “The Darwin Solution”. The thing is it’s not even finished. There’s still lots to do, like the final act for example. I will finish it and hopefully before the end of this year. It’s been in the making a long time now and progress is slow.

  The trouble is for someone like me I can’t give myself a deadline, a target to reach for because I’d just ignore it. (I’m barely managing to keep up this 500 word a week blog). I have a little time table that determines how many hours of writing I should be doing a day and I pretty much ignore it. I have a full time job to work around and I know it sounds like excuses but it’s amazing how a day free to write soon turns in to something else.

  For example today, a Thursday is prime writing time. I don’t start work until 6pm and from mid-day onwards I’m on my own with no one to distract me. But for me writing depends so much on moods. If I force myself to write when I’m not in the mood I just know it’ll reflect in my writing. And this can be true with a lot of things. Matt Lucas said whilst making the new series “Come Fly with Me” that the character Taaj was so easy for him to perform because he was so clear in his head. However a scene for the final episode where one of the characters wins an award was the hardest for him to do and get right. Even before seeing the making-of documentary I had decided Taaj was my favourite character and that the awards scene was one that just didn’t work.

  Today I was in the mood for writing the only problem was it was to write something else. I had an idea for a new story and I spent a long part of my afternoon researching Grimm fairytales and thinking of new characters. Perhaps the thing I’m most guilty of is starting new projects out of excitement for a new idea and never following through. The reason why I know I’ll finish the Darwin Solution is because it’s one of the only book ideas where I know how it’ll end and where the story will go. At this point in the story my main reason for not writing when I can is because I am yet to work out the finer details. Right now I don’t know whether my character is going to be imprisoned for a while or being taken to this room straight away.

  This blog was another thing getting in the way of book writing but I want to be strict with myself and keep to my own deadlines. It’s good practise after all. The thing is once I’ve finished writing this I’ll only have 2 and a half hours left before work and that just isn’t long enough to do anything.