(photo by Sergio Rola on lifeofpix.com)
NanoWrimo was a bust for me this year. I didn’t even hit the low number from my first attempt.
On the one hand, my coffee making skills have reached a new level. I mean I’m roasting my own beans now. And with that came a whole new gamut of understanding as to what it is about coffee that I actually like.
Whoa… Off topic much? Well, this month, yes.
The ending of the story has always been known to me. I didn’t know where things started or where it went, but I knew how it finished. So this should be easy then, right? Apparently not.
The amount of information a person needs to remember to keep the continuity going becomes staggering. I thought I had all my little ducks in a row, but I found out within the first week that I needed more rows. And more ducks were involved than I had initially remembered.
My writing slowed down. But then I was taken with this random idea and wrote heavily that day. I either had two ideas or one that would merge together into something completely different than the initial ones. Aah the freedom of a new idea(s).
I ended up fleshing out other story ideas that had popped up in my head during my trip. Writing was fun! But this book sat there like an accusing finger, waiting for me to get back to it. So I muddled through it some more.
In a fit of a need for word count, I blasted through the ending and even finished an epilogue. I knew I needed more of a structure than I had needed previously. I went all out and wrote down every idea I had concerning the story and created an outline for how the beginning gets to the ending. The holes in it were huge and I knew I needed to go through the previous books to figure out what was missing, but now was not the time to read. I wandered back to where I had stopped and muddled through. My word count dried up, but still I wrote every day.
Well… until the weekend of my birthday. I became more distracted. Other requirements piled up and book four slid back a little further each day. I made some headway this week, but I finally decided I would need to start over.
Kind of heart breaking, but that is what’s needed to complete this one out. Most likely I will use what I have written just not where it’s currently at.
I will complete it and rewrite it until it is done. A story needs a finish as much as it needs a beginning.
Perseverance is the key… as always.
Jon Gray Lang.com 
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