its only day 11 and I am avoiding my main character

I have been reluctant to write today and it is not flagging energy or interest for this year’s Nanowrimo challenge. The truth of the matter is that my main character is starting to FREAK me out.

OK she’s been nattering away at me for the last couple of days – which has been great. I managed to get up to speed with my word count goals and get back on track. The problem is she is taking me to places where I don’t want to go. The potential risk I face with my story this year is that it turns from fiction to autobiographical.

I am sure that every writer faces that dilemma from time to time – a spark in the story and suddenly the characters turn on you and it is all about you! I have been a little surprised that I am latching on to some emotional bank accounts that I really thought had been spent. But there they lie deep in my psyche and are threatening “the novel”.

This leads me to my visual image for the day. Longs showers are known to cure the following: “lack of ideas”, “emotional distress”, and “aching muscles” but are also known to cause “water shortages” and “wrinkly skin”. The word count goal for today is 18,700 and I am at the time of writing about 1,000 words of the pace. Perhaps under the cover of darkness I will be brave enough to face my emotions and just get on with the story!

remember to do the shopping

Last year I became so wrapped up in Nanowrimo, the rest of the world did not exist for those 30 days of pure writing pleasure – I was seduced by the first time experience, the comaraderie between fellow writers, the ambition of writing a novel!
This year I promised my family that I would approach Nano with “more balance”, that I would remember to do the shopping for groceries, that I would not spend my entire time slaving over the keyboard.
I’m not sure if the approach has dampened my spirits a little or not, but I am certainly calmer about Nano this year. The writing may not be as emotionally pumped or caffeine injected. I am less careful about my spelling and grammar, and less inclined to slave over the “right phrasing”.
Jordie – my main character – is still talking to me – which I take as a good sign as I cross over the 17K mark – but she did get the shock of her life today.
I hit the target today – so I am going to simply walk away …. that’s it get up … walk away …. you can stop typing now …. OK … see you tomorrow ….