I am sitting here tonight, proud that I've been keeping up with my A to Z blogging challenge, but wondering what's wrong with me when it comes to my Camp NaNoWriMo project. True, I didn't plan the story before April started out, but that's never been such a problem before. It's day three of April, I should be at least 5,000 words into my novel. I should be getting to know my characters and I should be journeying to a new and fictional world with them.
Only that's not the case.
I'm lost. I'm wandering around in my own reality desperately on a quest for the story I want to tell. It's so silly, because the problem is that I have so many stories I want to tell that they are in competition in my brain.
I know what I have to do. I have to write. I can't allow myself to stop. I have to just keep going, get the words out there and, in this case, the loudest characters win. Whoever screams the loudest and fights their way to the page wins.
This is what I have to do, but I keep fearing that I will make the wrong choice and waste time on a character that doesn't want to be heard yet. It's a silly thing to worry about. It's my insecurity not allowing me to go forward.
That's why I'm saying the timing is perfect, because today is the day that I found out about The Insecure Writer's Support Group and this is my first post in joining the group.
Hi Everyone. My name is Nicole Rivera and I am an insecure writer.
I know what it is like to get stuck in trying to do things in a way that seems counter to what my brain says I should. Sometimes new methods work; sometimes they don't. It's always possible to be a rebel and create your own path. So long as you are writing every day, you are still in the spirit. Spend one day planning out paths, and then when you write, you can just patch it in where it belongs. Even if the "wrong" character fights hardest, it is not wasted words. I'm sure you could re-purpose things later.
ReplyDeleteI hope your new supportive friends help keep you on the writing path.
I know what it's like when all your story ideas are shouting "pick me!" That happens to me all the time. So I pick one idea and tell myself I'd spend a certain amount of time focusing on that one story, and nothing else. I do get sidetracked from time to time, so I really have to be tough about reminding myself to stay focused.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely doing that tonight. The issue was, I think, that one character was screaming a bit louder than the one I've been working with. Stubborn as hell... some characters just can't be held quietly!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. Last night I stepped away from my computer, opened a notebook and let all the characters have their say. I think I know who needs to be exposed now and who can go into a temporary hibernation! ;)
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