National Novel Writing: Halfway?

Halfway through national novel writing month! See: http://therealzsmith.com/2022/10/27/national-novel-writing-month/
http://therealzsmith.com/2022/11/04/national-novel-month-update-week-1/

Today is November 15th! The goal by now is to have written 25,000 words in pursuit of a 50,000 word, first draft novel. How am I doing?

Right now, my story is sitting at 30k words. I like using the word count to pace myself, but I’ve decided to do everything I can to break through many more than 50k words by the end of the month. Why? The story demands it!

My goal was to be halfway through the story by the end of today. Sadly, that won’t happen. I have a few more scenes before I’m there, and they won’t be easy ones.

I’ve found myself battering through some scenes, thinking ‘I’ll surely have to rewrite this.’ But it’s hard to be upset with myself; getting something down that I can work with is part of the process. It doesn’t come out beautifully the first time around.

I’m excited to edit! As the story has developed, it’s become clear that I’ll need to go back and beef up the beginning a bit more, sprinkle in more info, and trim the fat.

I like my characters, a lot! And I like the arcs they’re on. I was hoping the story would be ready for beta readers as soon as the month is over, but I think I’ll want to draft it myself once before I send it out. Then I’ll draft some more. Then I’ll think about publishing!

It is WILD to scroll through the longest thing I’ve ever written (I passed the Saga sometime last week). In my preferred format (size 10, narrow margins, single spaced) my novel is currently 37 pages long. (Just googled, an average reader would get through 30k words in 1.7 hours. Neat!) Early on I made the decision to write this using Ultimate lingo. It’s in the perspective of players, and hell, I’m writing it for players, so I’m using specific language. So I’ve thought a lot about how I will educate a reader who may have never seen the game on, essentially, all the various intricacies. Big to small: from pull to IO break flick. I came up with a good plan *I think,* but I haven’t worked on that at all yet. I might have a name though- not to be released at the moment.

I have gained an unreal appreciation for how long it takes to write a book. I’ve already gotten better, faster (stronger). I’m writing so much more every day, and while it doesn’t always come easily, I’m getting through it.

Still having fun! Still so stoked to share this story!