Tomorrow is April 1st and that means . . . the beginning of Camp NaNoWriMo! My official plan is to write 25,000 words in 30 days. Maybe more.
My actual plan is to complete the messy first draft of of my current novel-in-progress.
I’m poised on the brink of the last act, the final descent into mayhem and madness. But there are so many balls in the air that I feel somewhat paralysed. I so desperately want to catch them all the first time round, although I know it doesn’t really matter if I drop one . . . I can always pick it up later.
It doesn’t feel a natural way for me to write, this acceptance of mess and holes and careless writing. But I do think it’s working. It’s forcing me to keep moving forward to find the story, to get it down on the page rather than agonising over every little thing including scenes that will ultimately be deleted or altered beyond recognition.
I’ve read a few posts recently about how important it is to block out that inner editor — to allow the subconscious mind to do its thing. And my subconscious mind has been coming to the party. I love the little gems that sometimes drop out spontaneously when I shut down my left brain. Although I allow my left brain to plan and scheme and roughly outline, I try to switch it off for the wordslinging so my right brain can run wild.
Sometimes (often) I doubt my ability to realise my vision of this novel. I have so many notes about things to work on in the revision that this messy first draft seems little more than a skeleton. Little more than a jumble of bones that I’m still digging out of the ground.
But I love the revision process — love layering up the story and characters and setting and dialogue like a papier mache model. That’s when the story starts to sing. So I’m excited by the thought of completing the first draft in April and moving on to that next phase.
I think 25K words should just about do it!
Fellow writers: How do you feel as you hurtle towards the end of a novel — fear, exhilaration, or a mixture of both? Do you look forward to revision as much as I do?
E V Gregory 
I feel like I am exactly where you are ~ coming into the home stretch, fighting my editor, the doubt creeping in more often than not. Just to hear you say those words gives me hope and encouragement to power through, so thank you 🙂
I am also excited for the next phase of building up the story. I think that will be fun and hard and frustrating and rewarding, so looking forward to that.
Good luck on NaNo! You can do it and I’ll be pulling for you!
LikeLike
Sounds like we can power through together, Kim! It’s funny how sharing our doubts and fears can really help. Thank you for the pom pom waving ~ and good luck with your home stretch too. 🙂
LikeLike
Good luck with Camp NaNo! I wish I were able to join in but I would have had to stop progression on the current WIP to prep the next story for it. You should send your inner editor on a nice vacation for the month of April so she’ll be well rested for the revision phase. 🙂
LikeLike
I can only work on one thing at a time too, so I totally get it. Spent the first day figuring out what needs to be done, but I’m good to go now. Hope I can knock that inner editor on the head real good!
LikeLike
happy “wordslinging” and Good Luck!
LikeLike
Thanks, Suzanne ~ I’m going to need it!
LikeLike