My first week into this year’s Nanowrimo is very important to me for one gigantic, solid reason. I am GOING to FINISH the first draft of Waltzing Matilda.
Last year was a struggle when I tried to write it. And by struggle I mean, nigh impossible. I thought I was prepared as I could be and I was super wrong (check out Writing My Fourth Novel Pt. 2).
But all that work from that attempt (building the timeline, character motivations, et al.) will… wait, I mean WILL pay off. I have all the information I need… as far as I know at this moment.
Earlier this I did try working on book four but it was an even more frustrating experience than last year. While I had written more in 2017, it was all disjointed and my brain could not make the connections work. So I did something, I stepped away from it for many months.
This was probably the best plan, to be honest. I got to work on a few other things, try and lock down this whole business experience, actually hang out with people and not feel like a mole man. I had enough time to go on a trip to Ireland and actually got to get some reading done. You see, I hadn’t read a book by someone else for a year and it was good to take my mind off of the veritable nail balanced on the table.
But as November drew nigh, I knew I needed to get back to it. I grabbed book three and ripped through it and it was a fun experience. I had forgotten so much that each page was almost like a new story (well except that déjà vu feeling in the back of the mind that I’d been there before). I eagerly jumped into the notes and timeline for book four and it all made sense. It was a tiny bit sparse here and there, but I’ve worked with literally nothing before.
I grabbed what I had written already and… it was disjointed. Yet, I could see what sort of corrections were needed to make it click. And that was Day 1 and Day 2 of Nanowrimo.
Here it is into the final day of week 1 and I have made progress into the middle! Funnily enough, a lot of time is remembering character names and quirks. It isn’t the fastest I’ve written but I don’t think it’s the slowest either.
And anyway, I have the WILL to GO and FINISH the story!
(Disclaimer: cheers and other celebrations to be set once it is completed)
Jon Gray Lang.com 