NaNoWriMo Update

49: Halfway to the Finish Line

Welcome back to The FLARE, my call out across the void to each of you. Thank you to the new subscribers who’ve signed up since the last newsletter. I’m happy you’re here.

I’d like to extend a special thank you to my first founding member for their trust. It is truly an honor and I’m already cooking some things up. 😏

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When I set out to write 50,000 words, I didn’t know how much it would test my commitment to discipline and creative stamina. You voted for “Life for Rent”¹ in a previous newsletter poll and I was excited to explore how renting your life could go wrong. I hoped to explore the perils of escapism and stoney reality that we must face. In truth, there is no real escape.

The first task for any of my longer form work is to create an outline. The biggest advantages are keeping the storyline in order, being able to easily go back to correct discordant details, and flexibility to jump from section to section when I’ve lost inspiration or become listless working through a section. The bullets of the outline are by letter with a brief synopsis of the proposed scene or scenes at the top. This is usually the most painless part of the process since I’m creating the stepping stones I’ll eventually leap across over a river of distractions, boredom, lack of direction, and fear.

Manuscript outline and the first lines of the novel

Along the way, I create character sketches. Who are these people and what are their stories? Developing the individual at the outset could drive their decision-making or allow me to veer off so we get to know that character. I try to keep in mind that readers care what happens to people, not necessarily what happens. I add details that are never put into the story mainly because who we are comes from the parts most don’t see or the stories they never hear.

Places fit in next to help me map the major transit points through the story. I will still need to fill in setting details in each scene, but I at least have ideas of where the characters frequent. Places get sketches composed too and can become characters in the story. A facet of setting is also time. I’m paying attention to timeline for structure and pace in “Life for Rent” since it occurs (for now) over a year. Marking the time moves the story forward and gives the reader landmarks for where they’ve been.

Once the outline and sketches are done, I might mull over the plot and do some research. While it’s not necessary for our imaginations to have real world tethering, having a basis in fact provides those little touches I enjoy writing and reading. I’ve often put down a book to Google a fact and been pleasantly surprised. The best I’ve seen so far has been the neurological testing results given to a drugged out detective in A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick. I also hear Cormac McCarthy did extensive research for his novels so I’m eager to read what is added with his efforts.

There is only so much prep to do. At some point, you have to just go. And without too much more fiddling with details, I go.

I started at midnight on November 1st and beat my goal the first day in. From there, it was helpful to employ a running metaphor since 30 days straight is a long time for someone to stick to the same story without pause. I resolved to keep pace, day after day, doing what I could to advance the story.

I made it to over 19,000 words when I started hitting a wall. I was fatigued and didn’t have room for anything else, as of each new “words needed today” panel on the stats page was a prompt for a new password. Add to that, I was supposed to release recordings of my short story “No Way Home”, but that ambitious venture got put on hold for NaNo prep and eventually, writing “Life for Rent” itself. It still nagged at me and was probably to blame for a bit of my stall.

We are just over the halfway mark, but I’m still just over 20,000. Every day, though, I am putting down something, the smallest bit being 201 words. Even crawling, I am moving and that’s what I need during this challenge. Even though I love writing dialogue, I am on a break to add scene descriptions so that conversations don’t take place in blank space.

So, what’s this story about?

We meet Camille, a chief scientist who is beginning to unravel with the pace of her work. While confident, intelligent, and resourceful, she begins to suffer a breakdown after a major disaster. She decides to employ Dwyer Staffing Services, a company that promises to take care of what needs doing while the client can recover.

Sure, we can talk about the action and suspense, but the interesting bits will need much more work. Camille manages advanced neurological research that she expects to have a variety of future applications. Overall, it’s not shallow water to wade through, even if I throw in a bit of my pathology profession to keep a grasp on the familiar. This novel will not end with NaNo at 50,000, that much I know. What I have so far demands it.

I was not used to penning so much for one project day after day at this pace and needed a break. Two weeks ago, I took a detour to the Poetry and Process Substack written by

Brian Funke

to read a poem called “On Vicinity”. It resonated with me, especially with this line:

What you know you must do instead
and what is already surrounding you

I decided on a response poem to highlight my own struggles. Within a day, I had this next piece.

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Gloaming descends quickly
On a growing mound
Shirt by shirt
Towels too
Beside the dented spot on the couch
Where I give up
Maybe tomorrow, I say
The burden is heavy

I put my feet up on the ottoman
Next to a tray of spent glasses
And cookie crumbs
Crisp paperbacks pepper the rest
Two horror, one comedy, one memoir
One book of poetry I found abandoned in the lobby
It’s an impressive haul of potential
Maybe tomorrow, I say
The reviews were just okay anyway

A broad leaf pokes my outstretched arm
It bobs with the breeze of a fan
Tapping and insisting I rise
It is the only thing changing
In this landscape
I go over and check the soil
There’s time until the next drink

There’s hope still
One by one the books will be read
The clothes folded
And the dent sit empty
When I stretch in preparation to walk

Maybe tomorrow
For now
I grab a book and turn
To the first page

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That’s my update on NaNoWriMo, but you can catch more on Notes. I’m still here, still working through this marathon with hope, guts, and a sufficient carb load. I skitter my little mile and rest while some days I’ve covered a lot of ground. This is the journey and I’m hoping my first novel will represent what I’m capable of. I hope.

What’s next?

• Paid subscriber post

• A new tab

• A tribute

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1. Taking the Plunge