NaNo 2008 Day 23: Help me, Obi Wan Plotdevice – you’re my only hope
My NaNo story is going, but I don’t know where. It’s not at all the story I had planned to write, and the one I planned to write had a beginning, a middle and an end, although the end was kind of nebulous. I guess I figured I’d decide what the ending was when I got there.
However, the one I’m writing now was unplanned, unscheduled, and unscripted. I’ve gone off the marked trail and I’m wandering in completely unknown territory. For a while, I could see what was coming ahead and was getting there fairly quickly and easily. Except, now that I’m there, I don’t know where to go. I’ve been puttering around this one event in the story all week (the big date between my two main characters [1]), and now that I’m there, I don’t know where to send them.
To top it off, it’s been a very busy week at work and this coming week is a nightmare of meetings, schedules and deadlines. I’m leading two book clubs at work, and I’m not finished either book [2] which is causing me no end of anxiety. The staff party is next weekend, and I desperately need to get my hair cut at some point. Plus, I’m just managing to not fall any further behind with the word count instead of getting ahead. While I honestly feel that I can do this, and that it’s entirely possible for me to win again this year, I’m wondering how the hell I’m going to manage it. [3]
[1] It’s a breakfast date on a Saturday morning, and I came up with a dozen different jokes revolving around someone saying to one or the other of my main characters, “Shouldn’t a great date end with breakfast?” Ha ha. I know. Funny stuff.
[2] I’ve read both books before, but not in the past three years.
[3] A lot of suggestions I’ve read on various forums on various web sites recommend writing smut when you get stuck. Let me tell you, I’ve tried on more than one occasion and it never pans out – I just can’t bring myself to do it. So my characters end up holding hands or kissing, and I end up rolling my eyes at the silliness of it all.
I remember doing NaNoWriMo years ago. I didn’t have too long because I had karate 2 night a week and had a week less due to a vacation out of the country.
My story progressed well, but by the last bit I just wanted to finish it. The ending was weak, and I’ve been meaning to revisit it because I think it’s a neat concept.