The month is almost at its end. Twenty-six days of writing so far. I set the goal of spending time writing every day of November without the pressure of a word count. I’ll admit that the first week or so I would feel bad if I didn’t get a “decent” word count. However, as time and the story have progressed I’ve stopped looking at that number as anything of significance. Yes, I record it into the NaNo site because it’s the only measurement they use, but my focus is on spending time writing every day and I have stuck to that goal. Even on Thanksgiving Day when I didn’t think about writing while spending time cooking and playing games with family, I managed to squeeze in some writing before bed. And on days when I had no idea what to write, I still worked.
Admittedly, there were days that felt very slow. And other days when I struggled or spent more time researching than actually writing. But it was all time spent with my characters. So I count it as a win.
At the moment my characters are finally starting to work together on their quest. It took awhile. They were stubbornly independent and cautious about trusting one another. But after spending some time together away from the quest table, they’ve become more comfortable. Does that mean that everything will be sunshine and roses between them? Not at all. I anticipate there will still be squabbles and misunderstandings and hurt feelings. But at least now they are progressing in their quest instead of arguing every step.
However, that brings in the next struggle. Deciding what obstacles to put in their way. I’ve played DnD once with my family. I’ve listened to some Critical Role episodes. I’ve even watched the The Legend of Vox Machina, which is based on a DnD Campaign by Critical Role. So I understand the basic concept of RPG, but I’m having to look up how certain mechanics work and adapt them for my purposes. I’ve made sure not to call it DnD because I don’t want anyone coming along and telling me I’m not following the rules. Instead, they are playing Quest Therapy. I’ve developed some of my own modifiers and instances when they are needed, but I also want enough to be familiar that it doesn’t sound completely out there.
I know that this is definitely a sh*tty first draft because I don’t even have the connective tissue in conversations. I just write them like a script with the character name followed by what they say. For one thing, it makes it easier to keep pushing forward if I’m not bogged down with the whole “he said”/”she said” stuff. But also, I think it will force me to make more time for revising once I get to that point.
Not that I’m anywhere close to that! I don’t think I’m even halfway through the story yet. It’s very early in the characters’ development and I know there’s still a long way to go. Besides the fact that the quest is supposed to take place over five days and they are just finishing up day one! Granted, they’ve been meeting for five weeks and I suspect they are scheduled for twelve. I’ve been alternating between what happens in the quest and the character development outside of the quest.
Two characters in particular are becoming friends. I’m not sure if it will progress beyond that, but I have had flashes of tension between them on down the line due to mental illness struggles. But I’m letting the characters direct the story, so we shall see what comes to pass.
Interestingly, when I’ve described the story to a couple of different people, they’ve both assumed my characters are young teenagers. Admittedly, that is what I’ve written in the past. However, this story has all adult characters of varying ages. Maybe it’s because I’ve read more adult fiction the last few years and back when I did NaNo in 2020 I had just quit my job as an elementary librarian, so most of what I read was for young readers.
Whatever the reason, it’s what feels right. Though a story about young people dealing with anxiety would probably be a good one as well. Just not sure if it’s my story to tell. Right now, this is the one that is speaking to me.
Four more days and I will have written all 30 days of November. Wonder if I can go for 61 and write all the way through the end of the year.
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