For a portion of the world, today kicks off National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo, by its remarkably un-succinct nickname). I suppose for people who feel like they have a novel in them and need to pull it out, it’s a nice (albeit grueling) kick in the pants, and I hope it turns out some awesome first drafts from some of its participants.
While I do have a second novel in me (only a fraction of which is actually committed to a document) and could probably use some kind of pressure to advance it, I’m instead going to use the impetus of everyone-write-their-asses-off-November to set some goals for myself on the current project.
Per the recent email from Agent L that has totally re-centered me, I have some clear-cut goals about who my characters should be, what their relationships should be like, and what needs to change about my plots. While I’m confident in the development of my main character (calling him a “protagonist” would be a stretch, trust me), I do think his reflections need some reorganization, and that some of the supporting characters need a little bit better establishment. A conversation with my editor/spiritualguider put it well: the surface details about them are there, but delicately and intentionally placing depth into those frameworks is what’s going to make them memorable. Next up are improving the emotional relationships between them, which are lacking and in some spots a bit unbelievable. I’ll be having a conversation with Agent L about them to which I’m really looking forward; the holes she’s pointed out have been so dead on that I know she’ll open my eyes up even further.
Plot and pacing are the other big issues I’m hoping to address this month. I’m realizing how quickly the story goes by in some spots (which leaves my characters’ relationships a bit underdeveloped, go figure) - some chapters are too short and don’t accomplish as much as they could, and there are gaps in chronological time that make no sense. I’ve been turn on to some specific questions that I hope to address this month. Among them is my ending, which is big, rushed mess, and from a logistics standpoint, difficulty choreographed and a little implausible. Again, I think the framework is there, but there’s a big opportunity to slow it down, make it more prolific, and do it in a way that is logistically air-tight. I’ve already been told that the ending has “devastated” a reader, and I’ve seen another reader cry as she closed the book, so I know the basis is good. I’m so excited to see how much harder it has the potential to hit.
It’s funny - I was at a point where I couldn’t conceive of what was missing. Now that I see where my opportunities are, I know I’m going to look back after they’re in there and say to myself, “I can’t believe these didn’t used to be a part of the story.” While I don’t expect it all to happen in a month, I’m determined to light a spark under myself with some of the Writing Month energy, but mostly with the natural excitement that a world of concrete goals and strengthening possibilities in front of me creates. YES.
M
