As of this morning, I am 19,649 words into my NaNoWriMo Novel. I am not where I should or want to be, but I am getting close. Things have slowed at work, so I’m only working eight-and-a-half hour days now. Tonight will be pizza night so I don’t have to take the time to prepare dinner for the kiddo’s. The only thing I’ll have to prepare is coffee! I don’t have any other pressing engagements tonight or tomorrow night – so I can dedicate a lot of time to the writing over the next two nights.
I am behind where I was at this time last year, but the story is definitely flowing much better this time around. It’s just a matter of stealing blocks of time to write. Like last year, this story is going to be way more than 50,000 words, but unlike last year, I don’t think it’ll take until late early February to finish it. Plus, I like this story much better.
In the past, I always fancied myself the type of writer that didn’t need to outline, that the story would just come to me as I wrote it. However, that approach to writing has not worked for me…outlining has.
I don’t create extensively detailed outlines. I write down the general idea of the story, the setting and the characters. I sketch the flow of the story and then imagine series of challenges, setbacks and obstacles for the characters to overcome, for both the protagonist and the antagonist, and add them to the flow of the story. No one in my story has an easy ride – ever.
I often write the story in a linear manner, but sometimes I just want to get down to working on some of the grittier parts. I put on some hard rock from my playlist and get to work writing out the action scene. Writing out action scenes beforehand frequently helps me go back in the story and build a better sense of tension leading up to that scene.
Posted by WFMeyer 
