Today’s writing session went extremely well. I was able to figure out the scene that’d given me grief yesterday, bringing me well within range of finishing the second chapter tomorrow. Which is awesome. Especially because it turns out there’ll be a fight scene between Sydney and someone else at the end of the chapter. I am excitedly cracking my knuckles. Fight scenes are my jam, and although this one will be very short, writing it is still going to be really comforting and familiar.
Also comforting and familiar–although maybe it wouldn’t seem awesome at first: spotting clear room for improvement.
At this point in my writing career, visible room for improvement is amazing. Because the alternative, flaws that you totally can’t see, is far, far worse.
As I wrote today, here were some of the mental notes I made:
- Review Sydney’s motivations. Because they’re super important and need to work beautifully.
- Add more descriptions for Greenfield. Make it feel like a place, not a background.
- Find the perfect level of “Modis’ friends,” which currently feels a bit too far on the “He has friends?” side of the scale.
- And, of course, as always… review names! From “Greenfield” all the way down to “Modis,” with its awkward possessive apostrophe situation.
There are, of course, other tweaks I’ll have to make, but they’ll all come easily as I write the book.
Whether they come easily or not though, it’s nice to see that whole part of the process in the distance.
And it’s amazing to be really excited for finishing this novel and reaching to the point where I get to edit it.
Because feeling any of this means I’ve come full circle again. Before NaNo 2016, I’d been so worried about editing other things, slowly burning out on how much I could improve. Struggling with important edits that I knew needed doing. Now, with something new to work on, I’m in love with the process all over again.
And I’m hopeful, which is something I definitely wasn’t when 30 Days 2 started. I’m hopeful that I can make everything work.
Tomorrow’s the last day of this journey. It’ll be a long few months to get the novel done.
But, no matter how long it takes, I’m going to complete another novel. One that I get to edit until it’s mind-blowing. Until it’s as epic as I imagined it being when I was 15, but as meaningful and emotionally powerful as I imagined it being ages later, when I redesigned it (without the killer clown doll).
And, that said, I’m gonna get to bed. Because I’m extremely tired…
… and I can’t wait to get to Day 30.
Words for the Day: 991
NaNoWriMo Total: 13,030
House of Error 