It's National Novel Writing Month! #NaNoWriMo

Since it is National Novel Writing Month, I want to take the time to reflect on my personal writing goals and process to push myself to finish my novel within the next year. Yes, I know: NaNoWriMo is all the rage during November, and I could use it to get a huge head start! Yet, I don't particularly buy into the whole 50,000 words in a month hype. Of course, I can write 50,000 words quickly if I sit and write daily, and it's a wonderful practice to keep my creativity flowing. However, would I produce quality, thoughtful work? I doubt it. Don't get me wrong: I have confidence in my writing! I just know how my muse works, and it doesn't take kindly to strict schedules. It likes to stroll down the cobblestone street, taking in all the sights, sounds, and smells until the characters reach out and yank it down a dark, mysterious alley that forever alters its course and view of the world. You won't see #NaNoWriMo on my Twitter, or here, for that reason.

I'm looking at this month in a different light because I'm finally in a solid place where I can focus time on my novel. Back in March, I quit my 9 to 5 that was everything but and started my freelance writing career. It took time for me to settle in and get my routine down pat because I am a professional procrastinator and worry wart. It's been a frightening but necessary step to finally transition to a path that focuses on my love of writing. I mean, you have to learn all about self-employment taxes and make sure you save and pay your state and federal taxes quarterly! You have to develop your own contract, build a client base, make professional connections, and find a way to get over that fear of someone stiffing you and shorting your income for the month. There's no one to keep up with your expenses, and you're in charge of budgeting for your own "vacation," "sick days," and healthcare. Freelancing is intimidating at first, so it's exciting that I'm finally at a place where I am not so anxious about it. On that note, National Novel Writing Month signals the perfect time to jump back into writing for me and not just to make a living.

To get back into the groove, my focus has been on research. Sure, it'd be great if I would knock out the next few chapters to Dead Highway, but I've found that taking a break really drove my ideas to new heights. I always wanted this book to be different. These aren't your typical zombies, it's not your usual apocalypse, and you won't easily guess where I'm going. For one, I'm going to actually have an origin story that tells how it happened based on loose science. Sometimes reality can be scarier than even the most skin-crawling fiction. When do zombie apocalypse novels give you a reason for why these horrible things happened? I'm a fan of The Walking Dead, but the problem I have with it and other similar works are that you get few answers about what happened before everything came crashing down. Is there a purpose or is it just a natural occurrence? Was it divine? Was it a man-made accident or intentional? Was it aliens or space germs? Give me something! A good origin is something I feel is missing from many undead works, and I want to get it right.

As a rule, I only loosely plan anything I write. I have pit stops. I have an overall plot. I have a few big moments in mind. One the other hand, I simply cannot write creatively through an outline. (Academically? Yeah, not that either. It's much more likely that you'd find me writing my outline after I wrote my term paper.) The fact that my characters speak to me, direct me, really adds more to anything I type on the screen than any planning ever did. Even writing something as large as this work, which I hope to expand to a trilogy, has yet to change that. One thing I do plan to do, however, is to draft a working timeline. When I recently reviewed StoryMill, I inserted my current chapters into the software's timeline feature, and it gave me a solid idea of where I should be and how the time frame will start influencing the action in the novel. There's no doubt I'm stuck in my ways, but I've realized that my writing process is evolving and that I need to embrace it to get to where I want to be one year from now.

This year, #NaNoWriMo marks the rekindling of my relationship with the working title Dead Highway. I've been wooed with the promise of grotesque decomposition and flesh-tingling danger. What lady can say no to that?

Late Night Research and Distractions

BEWARE: Random thoughts on my writing process ahead! I haven't updated about my novel in a long time, but you'll be disappointed if you're looking for juicy details....

It's been slow going for my novel. As soon as I finished my master's degree and set to continue writing, I took a promotion that set my goals into a tailspin. Barely having time for my own life, I set aside my novel for a year. Now that I have a routine with my fresh freelance writing career, the urge to write is strong. Of course, when I touched my fingers to the keys of my laptop, I realized that I am at the point where getting the details fleshed out is vital to the future of what I intend to be a trilogy. My novel's plot has changed, and while I'm so excited about this direction, I have a lot of work ahead. Something simple quickly became massively complicated, but it's a good thing: this isn't your stereotypical zombie apocalypse novel!

Up until now simple details haven't been important to get to where I am, but now that my characters are about to really be on the move toward the ultimate overreaching arch, I need even the smallest ironed out. The DNA of the infection has to have specific elements to work for the plot, and I'm not the type to take shortcuts and not have my ideas at least somewhat grounded in science. Plus, my villain's motives make his background equally important and that, too, needs to be grounded in historical facts. Where am I going with this? The fun of research distracts me so!

I'm not sure if it's the idea of the numerous possibilities or how interesting I find the content. When I'm researching, I find myself getting lost in the ideas and going off in another direction. It's great because it's helped me rule out ideas and come up with others, but it gets me distracted and off track at times. I've always had a thirst for knowledge and I think, in some ways at least, it hinders the pace of my research. How do I avoid distractions? I'm slowly learning to keep focus.

On a different note, I love both writing notes and utilizing computer documents. I have to find an organized way to find a meeting place with the two. Right now I'm all about the scribbling and then copying/pasting information when it's too long. Although it works, it's not exactly the best manner to keep my ideas straight. I'm looking for ways to keep everything organized that works for me, and it's a process. In other words, I'll be trying out various tips, software, and apps to help organize my thoughts and research. Be looking for some tips and reviews! 

Check out the story that spawned my novel idea.

Read an excerpt from my novel as you contemplate the importance of place and setting.

I last checked in on chapter five.

Completion and Continuation

I'm done! Late nights spent with busy fingers and a sleep deprived brain produced a July 1st conferral and, more importantly, eight chapters and a complete outline of the novel growing in my mind. Next challenge? Finish it! When I set to outline the rest of Dead Highway (working title), I quickly found that it would have to be a Stephen King novel type length or split into a series. Chapter by chapter, each brief summary moved my characters forward, but in the end I was left with an undeniable truth: my characters were far from finished.

The biggest challenge I will face is not what I will write but that I will keep writing. I've spent the last two weeks enjoying my freedom and making up for lost time by reading book after book after book. The more I read, the more I feel it: an urge to let loose my characters and see where they take me next. I set goals at the end of my thesis and I will to stick to them.

1. I will write when the urge strikes.
2. I will write when I think I can't.
3. I will write when it's the last thing I want to do.
4. I will take risks.
5. I will "kill the neighbor's dog" and I will own it.
6. I will never settle for easy.
7. I will always let my characters lead and surprise even me.
8. I will set goals, by chapter or by word, and I will meet them.
9. I will finish my novel in the next year.
10. I will finish the series.

Some of these seem very simple. Yet, it can be very easy to fall into the trap where you write what you think will be successful rather than what will be challenging and more rewarding. Do we always measure reward by books sold? I'd like to think that as writers our reward comes from staying true to ourselves, true to our work, and true to the muse that motivates us. Everyone wants to be loved. Successful. A gigantic hit! But how do you measure success if you lose part of yourself to obtain it?


Me? My characters lead. They surprise me. If I can read my own work and be gripped through action or emotion despite knowing what's to come, I know I'm heading in the right direction.