The Words: 5402 written today.
I was done with work earlier than normal today (around 4pm), so I had a little extra time to write. However, because that doesn’t happen often, I also just wanted to do nothing productive. So I compromised with myself. I decided that if I wrote 1000 words, I could do whatever else I felt like until supper time.
Then during my normal evening writing time, I was really into the writing, so I got through quite a bit of it. When I validated my words and saw that I had passed 40k, and there’s still quite a bit of story left, I realized that I could pretty easily hit 100k this year.
The Story: First, that thousand words I wrote in the afternoon were on my Neo. For some reason, I have relegated the writing of Vin’s letters to the pastor to the Neo, and when I’m at the laptop using @NaNoWordSprints and Scrivener, I write about Penny, Rogan, and the others.
Though Vin’s letters are going to be spread throughout the novel, I have barely touched them. I think I’m still intimidated by Vin and his dark nature. I did do some on days 2 and 3, but I didn’t like how they came out. They were unnatural, like I was trying too hard (well, I was). The thing is, I had multiple conversations with Vin during NaNoPrep time. I’m not afraid to say it anymore. The plot for this story was difficult to pin down, especially when it came to Vin’s motivations. So every time I got stuck, I would go to my Neo and have a chat with Vin. I’ve never worked this way before, but it worked like a charm!
So in a way, I had to cancel out the first letters I wrote from his perspective (not delete them, because they still count, but just decide they weren’t going to be used) and tell him to talk to the pastor the same way he’s been talking to me, telling me what he’s been up to. So I wrote 3 letters from him today, and they came out so much better.
The evening writing continued with yesterday’s conversation between Penny and Cathy, where Cathy told Penny she had an idea to help them with the super-powerful man that they are trying to find. Cathy abruptly leaves, saying she can’t explain yet, but to not let Nathan confront Vin if he does track him down.
Then Penny is left alone, knowing that she couldn’t fight off Vin if he came after her. So she goes in search of allies. She goes to find Ari, and comes across Rogan instead. Then the two of them enlist the aid of someone who I had not planned to include in this story at all. He’s a secondary character in “Pithea,” and someone I do have other long-term plans for, but I’m pretty sure that at the time of this story, he’s just doing nothing (nothing crucial to another story arc, that is–just living life). And in fact, bringing him into this story will probably end up working nicely as the springboard into those long-term plans, so this has turned out perfectly.
I brought him in because I was searching my mind for characters that were already in my story that can use the Power in a way that would get Penny to safety if Vin attacked. This guy’s name popped into my mind, and thus popped into Penny’s mouth. I kinda love how organic writing the first draft can be! Yes, I have an outline (very vague, and stops soon in the story), but even as a planner, the plot and characters usually take on a mind of their own during the first draft.
Anyway, right at the end of my writing today, Nathan came back, with some very interesting news about what he discovered in that locked room, but he didn’t get a chance to share it, because I was done for the night.
Total word count: 40,363
Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already: 2017 – November 9th
A Journey of Words 