One of the things that I am learning, both through NaNoWriMo and joining in chats on forums and boards for writers is that for me, consistency is a key element to my process, but not the most important. I need to make time to write, yes, but it doesn’t have to be a certain time and place. I find that the words flow best for me in a rather odd place at a time I’ve never tried before last month. I don’t write at my desk or on my futon; rather, I sit on the floor, propped against my dresser with three pillows at my back, legs stretched out in front of me. No, seriously, that is how I’m writing this book, lounging on the floor in my bedroom. Still, I have moments of clarity on particularly sticky parts on my lunch break, in the car, while working at the day job—everywhere. As long as I have blocked off some time to write and have either my computer or a pen and paper, I can get at least a few hundred words in.
At this very moment, I am just over 41k into Delivering Justice. I’m still trying to find the best line to target. It’s a romantic suspense story. It is a little too racy for Love Inspired suspense (and no mention of faith), and I don’t know if I can make it long enough for Harlequin Romantic Suspense. I think there’s a little too much subplot and secondary characters for Intrigue. What’s a girl to do? Stop thinking about where it fits and finish my first draft, of course!
I am making myself take this one step at a time and have fun with the characters and the story. I think that’s the most important thing that I can do for the story at this point. I do read everything I write in the afternoon, and I do a little fact checking here and there if I need to. I am aware that I am not strictly adhering to the rules of NaNoWriMo anymore than I’m adhering to what I usually do to write a story, and I think this break from the norm for me is really helping me to get close to a finished first draft.
Once I’m done with this first draft, I’m AM going to adhere to a good piece of advice and focus my attention elsewhere. I want to get back to tweaking Pleasure’s Payne, and try to excavate my class reunion story, but I am going to just take a week to bask in being finished with Delivering Justice (and celebrating my anniversary with the boyfriend on December 5th!). I’ll catch up on reviews for Harlequin Junkie, reading all the best upcoming books before I give DJ a good once over and send it out. Then I’ll get into the next project. I’ll try and forget I sent it in and put a calendar date out there for March to remind myself to follow up if I haven’t heard anything, all the while writing better and better books.
How’s NaNoWriMo going for you all? Is anyone else excited about the story they’re creating this month? Would anyone be interested in seeing a snippet of Delivering Justice?
Related articles
- Dear NaNoWriMo: Day 18 (lisenminetti.wordpress.com)
- 5 Things I Learned From Failing NaNoWriMo (daratmathis.wordpress.com)
- NaNoWriMo Tip #14: Read a Chapter of Your Favorite Author’s Book (mediabistro.com)
- Quiting NaNoWriMo & main novel progress (talesofelin.com)
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