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Touchdown!

Okay, so maybe y’all have had enough of the football analogies, but I can’t help it. I love the sport! It’s dirty and gritty–full of conflict and heartbreak.

Just like any good story!

As most of you know, I’ve spent the month of November participating in NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. Those of us insane enough to make it official signed up on their website and pledged to write at least 50,000 words over the thirty days in November.

Over the past month I’ve wrestled with my characters as I tried to meet my goal. I’ve fumbled the plot a few times, watching in horror as my characters spun across the page searching for their purpose. I’ve had to change my game plan, tackle a few opponents (like exhaustion and Black Friday shopping) but with time running out on the clock I drove down that gridiron for the go ahead score!

I reached 50,000 words last night at approximately 10:30 p.m.  I’m not the only one celebrating the achievement. My husband can’t wait to see the dining room table again (I kept my Thesaurus, idea notes, word count sheets and lap top set up there for easier access!) My kids will be happy that they won’t have to wait for me to come to the end of a scene before I’ll talk to them.

No, I haven’t completed the entire novel yet. I anticipate another 30,000 words will be needed to wrap the loose ends and fill in the blanks I left in the plot as I hopscotched to scenes I had fully realized in my head. But I’m excited to have achieved my goal. Thanks to all of you who commented either here or on FaceBook, I couldn’t have succeeded without your encouragement (and nagging!)

And now, I’m sorry to say, I have to leave you. I may have scored a touchdown, but my characters are still waiting to see who’ll win the game! I’m off to finish their story, just at a little less frantic pace!

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A Character in Search of a Home

Okay, this blog may be a bit weird if you’re not a writer, but here goes. I’m presently working on a YA (young adult) fantasy novel.  I breezed through the first 220 pages. The story flew from my imagination, to my fingertips, to the computer screen. And then….

nothing.

For weeks now.

Nothing!!!!!

I kept coming back to this one scene in a tavern and I couldn’t get my main character out of there. And then I realized there was someone else in the background. Someone I didn’t know yet, but he lurked in the corner and kept drawing me back to the scene. Everytime I tried to leave without introducing him, my writing stopped.

What to do? I hadn’t planned on adding a new character. He wasn’t in my plot outline. I didn’t even know who he was! So I sat down today and interviewed him. It sounds bizarre, but it worked. I asked him who he was, what his history was and what his intentions were for my story. You’d think, seeing as he’d come from my head in the first place,  I’d have already known the answers, but I didn’t.

But now I do! And I can’t wait to sit down and add him to my cast of characters and see where he takes me and my protagonist. I think it’s going to be a wild ride!

I thought about how many times I do that in real life. How many times do I leave a “scene”–a meeting or a party, and don’t take time to notice the person in the corner. Whether it’s my own insecurities or my self-absorption, I bet I’ve missed out on a lot of opportunities to bring a new “character,” a new friend into my life. It’s sad to think about but it makes me determined to try harder to live outside my comfort zone and allow new people into my story!