A progress Report

NANOWRIMO (the National Novel Writing Month) is in full swing and about to come to an end. Those of us involved have until Tuesday evening (November 30^th) to attain our 50,000 word goal. Most of us know by this point whether we are going to make it or not. Some are already past 50,000 word. Some are plugging away, and some have given up. I have not attained 50,000 words yet but I am well on my way and expect to make it by Monday or so.

I did have an issue though. My story went through its arc, reached its climax, and came to a conclusion before reaching 50,000 words. A novella then, rather than a novel. So, what to do? I am writing a short story to make up the difference. I could include the short story into the novel if I can make it fit. I could have one of the characters tell the story. Sort of a sitting around the campfire thing (not an actual campfire because they are on a planet with a methane atmosphere, and inside their base, well fire would probably not be a good thing. A metaphorical campfire then). So, I think that writing a short story as part of this is fair. Whether I include it or do not is a decision to come later. You don’t worry about editing when you are doing NANOWRIMO. You just write. Editing is for December (or later, or never, if it turns out you decided that you have written total crap).

The point though, is that a story needs to end when it needs to end. Dragging it out to reach an artificial goal is not good for the story. The story will tell you when it is time to wrap up. You will feel it. I am speaking as a ‘pantser’ here, one who writes without an outline (by the seat of your pants). People who carefully preplan their novel may not have this issue. But I plan as I go, thinking ahead just a bit as to what the next event or crisis will be, and how to logically get there based on what has come before. I listen to what my characters tell me, not in a hearing voices kind of way. More in an action/consequenses kind of way. If character ‘X’ does A, then he could do B or C but would not do D, E, or F. Of course, there are an infinity of variations of routes a characters can go at the beginning of the story. Those options get narrowed down with each choice along the way.

Endings are hard. Endings require finesse. What I have decided is that I do not want to try to work out the details of an ending during NANOWRIMO. Because it requires careful thought. It requires introspection and these are not things to try and do when you are just crunching out words as fast as you can. So for the last couple of NANO’s, I have decided that when I get to the end, I will just slap an ending on, and sometime in December I can carefully pick my way through and craft an ending that is appropriate to the story.

Novella complete. Short story complete. Now on to something else to finish out this 50,000 word marathon.

Star Liner

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