A Minor Writing Crisis and Its Resolution

I think the best way to do today’s update is in chronological order. It’s been an interesting few days since the last ROW 80 check-in.

Thursday was a busy day, as always – it’s when we attend our weekly homeschool co-op. Afterwards, though, I had the evening free for writing. I came home and BlackLion and I cleaned the house, and then I sat down to write. Later, we made dinner and ate, then we put together the newsletter for our business, Feline Dreamers.

On Friday I got a lot done on the business, and got to a bunch of other little tasks that I’d been meaning to finish. It was a productive day, and I passed the 25,000 mark for my NaNo novel – a day early! So, that was really good.

Except…

I realized that I had to add some kind of major sub-plot or something to the book. You see, the target for NaNoWriMo is 50,000 words in a month. But the target for this book, based on a bit of research into average work counts for the genre, is 95,000 words. And given where I was, about one-quarter of the way through the book, and the quick timeline for my main character until the big midpoint plot twist…well, I didn’t know what to write about in all that big open space.

It was proving to be a problem. I felt like I was blocked, but I didn’t want to freak out. It was a minor writing crisis. Been there, done that.

So, I took Saturday off from writing, and used it for some more plotting and planning. I relaxed and got in a creative space, brainstorming and bouncing some of my ideas off Quester, seeking his advice. I’m lucky to be surrounded by fellow creative story-loving family members. I love them.

Anyway, I came up with a great solution. I decided to include the back-story of my antagonist, telling his life story and weaving it in with the present-moment events of the novel. I can totally make it work, and I’m satisfied with the solution.

But that meant I had to figure out how to weave it into the part of the tale that I’ve already written.

So, starting today and for the next five days after this, I’ll be writing the story of Edmund the Magnificent. Today I went to rehearsal – we’re learning some cool new “bucket drumming” for an upcoming gig – and afterwards I started writing the first of the flashback scenes. I’m pretty pleased with how it’s coming along.

Tonight we went to a fun show – it’s an improv comedy troupe based in Portsmouth, NH, whose shows are centered around role-playing games like D&D. They’re called Dorks in Dungeons, and they’re hilarious! We just got home, and that’s why my update is so late.

I hope you enjoyed my somewhat strange tale. It was an unusual weekend, but everything turned out well. This week my intentions are to stay on track with NaNo, practice my drumming every day, promote the hard copies of Cultivating Self-Love, and catch up on the Conquer Summit videos and homework. Among other things. May the rest of your month be productive and fun!