Barely wrote today. Not the triumph I was hoping for.
On one hand, it’s because I met up with a good friend, saw a movie. Afterward, he found out he was potentially getting stood up for a date and I just . . . refused to shrug and say, “Whelp, I gotta go write! Sorry! Good luck being sad, bro!”
So, we had dinner, chatted. I didn’t look at the time.
When I finally did, it was while I was waited for a train. Intent on writing something, I grabbed a seat, pulled out my notebook.
And found myself in the kind of weird, transitional scene I often don’t plot.
And these . . . can be a problem for me. Sometimes, the transition is essential, but I take the most boring angle possible with it. Sometimes, the transition is essential and I find an awesome way to do it. Sometimes, the transition is totally non-essential, but I do it anyway.
Usually, I write a transition blind, stick with it for a few thousand words, then decide I hate it and scrap it.
So, the moment I started writing this one, I got wary. My reflex was to use it as a way to drop a bit of lore, and that feels right . . . but I’m immediately not sure.
So, tomorrow, before work, it’s a stop at the library with every scrap of outlining and worldbuilding I’ve ever done for this story. I have flash cards for nearly the entire plot on the wall in my room, and I thought that would be enough, but a quick check through a random notebook earlier today reminded me that I have a detailed outline somewhere (from the days when I rolled with those).
I figure it’ll at least help me decide if I actually want to go in the direction I took earlier. Before I drop another few hundred words going that way.
Words for the Day: 289
NaNoWriMo Total: 1837
House of Error 
I found myself in a similar position today. A sequel scene gluing some major revelations with a (hopefully) awesome cliffhanger. Very few plotted details so I decided to put the characters in a room and one tell a story, a bit like Tolkein would do at rest points in LTTR. Only in my case the tale my character told was shit and just felt like filler. I’m going to leave it in and move on. I hope that at the editing stage I can come up with something better. As much as I dare give you advice, I’d urge you to keep writing and cranking out those words. You’ll have plenty of time to revisit your draft after Nanowrimo and rewrite if necessary.
Thanks, man. : ) Actually, today was worse for me writing-wise (I didn’t get any words at all), but I did absolutely appreciate this comment. Because I get discouraged by this kind of moment pretty easily; I wind up jumping into the editing loop, getting lost on the first few chapters. So, really, thank you, sir. I will absolutely keep trucking.
Also, the important thing with the story your character told . . . is that you know it feels like filler. It’s always a weird thing to be grateful for, but it’s always the one thing to fall back on, emotionally, as a writer. “At least I immediately know that this thing I wrote needs work.” Such a weird luxury to enjoy, but it’s so much better than immediately thinking a thing you wrote is perfect.