NaNoWriMo 2009 Recap

NaNoWriMo this year went surprisingly well!

I picked up where I left off on last year's story, which I can only assume helped make the process easier. Last year was about introducing everything from setting to characters, tone and the beginnings of the plot.

When I picked up this year all I had to do was keep moving forward, and the fact that I was jumping around wildly from scene to scene at whim, depending on what mood I was in had to help make it less like work.

However, during my progress it became abundantly clear that not a lot happens in the book. It's really all about one man and his memory problems which worsen over time - this is a very internal thing and isn't a very dramatic.

Memory issues were probably done as interestingly and dramatically as is humanly possible in the film Memento - the fact that some very corrupt people were carefully manipulating the poor man to some twisted, evil results made the movie amazing.

My character is surrounded by people who care about him, and only want to help (for the most part) which makes it a lot more slow. I admit, there is a ton of exposition in the book which may well be due to the word count pressure of NaNoWriMo.

(Some would use this as an argument against NaNoWriMo, but they can fuck right off.) If I trimmed all but the most entertaining exposition, it would likely end up a third of the length and twice as good.

My favorite thing about the way the book is going is that all the characters are doing their damnedest to go about their lives as normal despite all the memory issues the main character is having. It's always odd to me in most stories when all the characters drop everything else to focus on what's happening to one person. In my book, this leads to some extraneous scenes, but I feel it makes the whole story more like something that is really happening.

This will likely produce a book that's somewhat ponderous - one of those slow reads that you probably wouldn't stick with to the finish unless you really enjoy the writer's style, or are one of those folks who simply 'have to know' the solution to the mystery. I introduce several possibilities and the characters pursue them as well as they can, being average laymen - if you think your corporation is out to get you, what can really be done unless you have proof or millions of dollars?

I'm taking today off, but I will be writing every day until the book is finished. I've been debating the number of words that can easily fit into my day - something I could accomplish in about an hour. I'm leaning towards 600-800 words for this daily progress - getting done quickly isn't a priority, but making constant progress is.

I'm going to continue to post short blurbs on the blog about my daily progress, which I recommend to my writing buddies as well!