It's Been One Week

The view from here.

One week and 15,299 words later, I have made it through the first bit of NaNoWriMo. There have been good days, better days, and one truly awful one. But no matter how I feel, no matter what I think I'd rather be doing, I have been sitting down and writing.

As I've mentioned before, this project (and the process) is considerably different than any other writing I have done. That is both quite satisfying and quite terrifying. One of the things that's really different is that I'm not writing the story chronologically. That's always been my process in the past. But this time, I have such a richer understanding of the characters, their motivations, and the plot points I'm trying to reach, that I can write the story in a much different way.

While jumping around can get a little tricky, especially when you're nearly 50 pages into a project, this has been a good challenge for me as I think about my Story, the story I'm trying to tell and how I'm telling it.

And all this plotting has in no way taken the joy I got from writing as a pantser. No matter how well I think I know the overall story arc, there is plenty left to discover as I travel from point to point. The Story has to be translated from ideas into actual type-able words. That's where the real joy comes from.

One of the things I love about NaNoWriMo is that my birthday falls exactly a week into it. I get to take the day off for writing (and other fun adventures) and I get to enjoy hearing kind words from friends and from family...and this year, I got some words that were especially meaningful and quite timely...for that I am more grateful than I can say.

In only two days I will retreat to the Oregon coast and wrap myself up in November and create as much of this story as I possibly can, knowing that when I return to reality, there will be a great many other demands on my time and my attention.

I'm very much looking forward to the time away.

Whispers of a Plot

When writing is good, when the story starts to stitch together, there is nothing better.  Last Sunday, I got to have one of those writing sessions that make it all worth it.

I've been trying to take a completely different approach to this year's NaNoWriMo. I want to be prepared. There is much discussion in the writing community about pantsers vs plotters. To date, I have been pretty much a pantser. And I love it. I really do love the thrill of writing to see what happens next, that moment when the story reveals itself in interesting and fascinating new ways.

NaNoWriMo taught me how to sit in the chair. And that was an absolutely priceless lesson.

But...

Over the past year I've been studying ideas of Story and Plot and I've read a book (Story Engineering by Larry Brooks) that is very much against the idea of pantsing. And I can definitely see his point.

You can do it anyway you like, but if you completely pants it, in the end, you end up with a lot more work and A LOT more editing...which is where I'm at with my last two NaNoWriMo projects. Every writer has to find their own process, their own unique way of working. There is no right way...there are easier ways, and more challenging ways. Ultimately, what I think I'll end up with, for myself, is a balance between the two. I will plot a skeleton and then pants the hell out of it.

For this year, I'd already come up with the general idea, the "story question" I want to answer. I started sketching out some of the main characters and exploring some of the main ideas a few months ago. And I've continued my reading about writing.

Recently there have been a lot of blog posts from agents, writers, and other assorted members of the literary community about NaNoWriMo and I've been enjoying their ideas and their insights. Through one of them, I stumbled upon one that referenced a book called The Plot Whisperer by Martha Alderson. When I checked it out (and purchased it) I also came across a companion book called The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts: Easy Exercises to Get You Writing.

I purchased that one as well and last Sunday I did the first prompt and came up with nearly 1700 words that gave me so many brilliant little insights into what November's story is actually going to be about. That one exercise, that single prompt to have my protagonist make a decision started so many thoughts and ideas that I spent the whole day thinking and plotting.

This year's project will be, by far, my most ambition and challenging project to day...and I don't think I've ever been more ready.

Research

Running Away From Home and Learning What College Didn't Teach Me

Earlier this week I ran away. With a full tank of gas, some coffee, books, a journal, and no commitments until Tuesday, I ran.

There has been a great deal of stress in my life over the past month, and not always the good kind. I've been coping fairly well, but I really needed some time off work and when it finally came I felt a desperate need to get out of town and the magnetic pull of one of my favorite places in the world was too much to resist.

I wasn't exactly planning on staying, despite the last minute thought to throw my pre-packed toiletry bag in with the rest of my stuff. If I had known I wasn't coming home right away, I definitely would have packed my laptop.

But instead of working with a computer, I worked with my hand, a fountain pen, and a blank page. I had a book on writing I wanted to dig into as well. I don't read very much non-fiction. I never have, outside of assigned classroom reading. They don't tend to whisper invitations to me the same way that novels do. I'm also not a big fan of reading books about writing, though lately I've found them to be extremely important to the work I'm attempting to create and improve.

When I was in college, I took every single writing class I could from Introductory to Creative Writing Classes, to Advanced Creative Non-Fiction, to independent studies on writing. I wrote A LOT and I got an "A" in every single class and nothing but positive feedback.

But the thing is? Other than just practicing writing? I didn't really learn that much about the craft. I was not prepared to write a novel. I didn't learn about Story with a capital "S."

So that's what I've been struggling with. That's what I've been focusing on before I begin the task of officially finishing my manuscript. There are two books that have been really helpful in this process.  Wired for Story by Lisa Cron and Story Engineering by Larry Brooks. Notice how they both have the word "story" in the title? It's no coincidence.

The time away has been good. I was able to breathe in deep, full breaths. I was able to walk with sand between my toes and listen to the ocean crest and crash. I thought about my characters, I thought about writing and most surprising to me, I mapped out the basics of a plot for my 2013 NaNoWriMo novel. (It's a very different take on the first novel I ever started, back in 2002, about a woman lighthouse keeper.)

I spent a great deal of time sitting and thinking and a few character truths were revealed to me in a way that helps me finish my story, that one I've been working on for nearly 3 years. I feel like the pieces are coming together in a way that is meaningful and a way that is true.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

This morning's clouds are scattered with blue and lit with a brightness that just might contain some sunshine. There is a busy day ahead of me (as it's the last non-working day before my road trip) so I'm really enjoying this quiet time in the library with a cup of coffee and the steady tick of a clock. Time does not feel rushed...yet.

This past week has been full. The majority of my time not spent at work has been about pre-trip errands and graduation stuff. And when it hasn't been that it's been about reading books (I have two assignments to finish by the end of the month) and rewrites.

Tuesday I spent an hour on the phone discussing and brainstorming with my critique partner. There is one last problem (and it's a significant one) I have to work out. It won't change the heart of the story, but it provides a very important context for the reader. We brainstormed several ideas/solutions and in the end I thought of something that just might work. We hung up and I went outside to see what Zelda was up to and the idea began to put down some roots started to grow. Partly because of time and partly because of choice, I haven't worked on my revisions since then. But what I have been working on has been really promising. I'm making some smart choices and I've really been able to get the characters back to where they should be.

This whole process has taught me so much about writing and about reading. One very important lesson that I've learned is that you will never fool a smart reader.

The past few weeks (and I'm pretty sure I wrote about it once before) there has been great discussion about Story. It's a theme that's been recurring in my life over the past month. Story is king. Story rules all. You can have the best characters, the best dialogue, the most clever sentences and brilliant prose, but if you don't have story, you don't have anything. Readers (and writers) need story.

There's been something passed around the internet this week that was absolutely perfect for all this Story talk. Before I had a chance to pass it to my critique partner, she sent it to me. It's the 22 Rules of Storytelling According to Pixar and it's got 22 useful things for any writer/storyteller to consider.

Soon I will be traveling and I imagine my characters will tag along on this journey. It's been too long since I took to the road and I'm really looking forward to the time in the car listening to good music, watching the world pass by, and letting my thoughts wander. Until then, I've got a few things to check of my To Do list...