My third novel is almost writing itself–as Chris Baty of NaNoWriMo put it, my imagination is the power. Even when my fingers stutter and stall on the keyboard, I don’t stop writing. I just need to keep trying, and sometimes, the words will gush out, like an old-fashioned car engine suddenly catching and revving to life.
Procrastination in updating Fictionary outline tripped me up. I had memories of how onerous it was last year when I did it long after I’d finished the first draft.
I used NaNo2.0 on Bluesky word sprints to kick my butt, and I discovered, it’s a lot easier and quicker when you’ve done the heavy lifting before drafting!
Fictionary Woes
Normally, I write one scene per chapter. Last year, when I used Fictionary to check the structure for The Soul’s Reckoning, I ended up dividing a few chapters into scenes. With that experience under my belt, I’m expanding my writing capacity by breaking up several chapters into scenes instead of trying to squeeze it into one chapter folder.
Note: Folders in Scrivener aren’t separate files but separate “folders” in a virtual binder. Scenes are filed inside the chapter folder. It’s taken me years to master this aspect of Scrivener. I think I finally have!
I’ve written a chapter every morning. A couple of mornings, I just didn’t wanna! The Breakthrough & Blocks 7-Day Writing Sprint plus a sweet and spicy pumpkin spice latte broke my resistance, and I got back on track.
Most mornings, my imagination has churned out more details during my walks, which I slot in when I get home. My third novel is exciting me!
Unbelievably, I continue to write long-for-me chapters of more than 2,000 words each. I’ve reached the NaNoWriMo halfway mark of 25,000 words in only 7 days!!!
But I’m not halfway through my third novel. I’ve written up to and including chapter 8 plus the final chapter. The most challenging part, aside from covering the character growth and plot according to my outline, is imagining the tech based on my climate change research and plausible physics.
