We’re getting closer to the finish line!
Another week down and the end of NaNo is within sight.
If you’ve missed the recap of previous weeks or how I prepared for NaNo, be sure to check out my blog for more.
Let’s see how the week went!
Day 13
- Rest day
Day 14
- Today didn’t go as expected.
- The flow wasn’t really there, and it was tough to get into my usual writing rhythm.
- Story fragments were unusually slow coming in, but I got some pretty good energy towards the end of my writing session.
- My characters (finally) shared the heart of the story with me (in bits and pieces of course, lol).
- Spent 70 minutes writing
Day 15
- Wrote little today.
- It must have been one of those days. Life wanted to happen. Life won.
- Tried playing on my piano for a few minutes and squeezed out some creative juice.
- Spent 30 minutes writing.
Day 16
- Had a strong session today and was able to get into a good flow, thankfully.
- One particular story fragment came to me clear as day and I even got to meet a character from a short story I’d written a while back.
- He’s quite the character and loved the fact that he made a cameo. It was a pleasant surprise.
- Listening to rain and thunderstorms worked its magic on my creative juice.
- I felt the bond with my characters grow stronger.
- Spent 65 minutes writing
Day 17
- A pretty short writing session and, unfortunately, I felt empty.
- The characters were pretty quiet, plus I honestly “wasn’t feeling it.”
- I guess it was just another one of those days. It happens, I suppose.
- Maybe my characters were taking a rest day of their own.
- Few story fragments were coming to me today, so rather than painfully force something out, I called it a day.
- Sometimes the creative juices just don’t want to come out to play (lol).
- I’ve made quite a lot of progress up to this point and I’m sure my characters will have much more to say soon enough.
- Spent 30 minutes writing.
Day 18
- Rest day
Day 19
- A solid writing session overall with my creative juices really flowing.
- I’m deep into the heart of the story now.
- The story is getting pretty dark (in a good way) with several horror elements sprinkled throughout. Maybe it’ll end up being dark fantasy?
- I found this odd since I rarely read dark fantasy.
- Was expecting the characters to take things in a “happier” more “action-adventurey” direction (as cheesy as it might sound, lol).
- I can feel the end approaching slowly. It’s still a tiny dot, but I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
- I think my characters have reached a critical point in the story where they need to make tough decisions that could alter where they all end up.
- (The suspense is killing me, lol.)
- Spent 135 minutes writing.
Recap
Writing time this week:
330 minutes
Total writing time (so far):
870 minutes
What’s working:
Music, music, and more music. Anything that involves creativity, such as playing the piano or switching up the music to match the tone of the scene (or story fragment) helps me get into a flow state. Giving my characters complete freedom over the direction of the story helps me make the most progress by far.
What’s NOT working:
Anytime I try to force the story to go in a specific direction, it backfires. And leaves me questioning what I just wrote and turns on my inner editor. This all leads to a downward spiral (and becoming frustrated slowing my progress even further).
Overall:
I hit a couple of bumps in the road this week, but I guess it was bound to happen, eventually. I think I can safely say I’m in the “marathon of the middle.”
I don’t know what my total word count is at this point and I feel like not knowing is actually helping me put more words onto the page than I normally would. Yup, I’m weird like that 😉
“Transition time” and music are still key elements of my creative process.
Where I’ll be focusing next week:
Going to muster up “finishing” energy as we head into the last week and a half or so of NaNo. My eyes, ears, and heart are all going to be completely open to my characters. We’ll see where the story ends up.
Hopefully, you are enjoying the journey as much as I am.
See you next week and happy writing!
Jeff Aybar is a writer, writing & creativity coach, Sci-Fi/Fantasy nerd, INFJ, veteran, and all-around creative. You can get a free copy of his guide for writers and artists on starting the creative journey by signing up to his newsletter HERE.