Week 1 Rewind- The Up's and Downs of Nanowrimo and Writing

The first week of nanowrimo has come and gone. In October it seems to take forever to come, and then November seems to fly by!

My first nano week was surprisingly productive. I wrote just under 20,000 words, which is just under the halfway point. In all honesty I have to thank my turkey and dog for my word count! It's a long story that I'll probably blog about within the next couple days, but here's the short version- In October I tore my stomach muscles in a roller skating accident, and I ended up re-tearing them while wrestling my thanksgiving turkey from my dog's mouth. This left me bedridden for the first few days of nanowrimo- the only thing I could do was write!

The book I'm working on this time around is a detective series for kids. Everything I've ever written in the children's genre has always been set in made-up fantasy worlds or dystopian worlds, so writing a modern day story has been quite tricky.

I slogged through the first chapter. It felt like swimming through molasses. I really loved my idea, but it wasn't coming along well, and chapters two and three were even worse. My story was shaping up to win the prize for most boring children's book ever written. I started second guessing myself. I wasn't sure how I would face the next three weeks of nanowrimo. 

Torture- not the word you want to come to mind while writing a children's book.

I told myself if I kept going, I would find my voice.

Two more chapters. My voice? Flat. Boring. Awful. Torture. Ugh.

I decided to write just one more chapter because I had nothing else to do except hold ice packs to my stomach and stare at my ceiling. Suddenly it clicked. A quote came to me, and something as simple as a backpack finally linked my story together, gave it life, and defined my MC.

So, if you are feeling bummed about your story, keep going. It sounds simple, but sometimes it is hard to keep writing something that isn't working out like you thought it would. I have never had something come out so bad before and I was really thinking that the beginning of my writing career that I didn't have was over.

Once it came together it became really fun to watch my story unfold!

There is nothing more exciting then that breakthrough moment when everything finally comes together like it's supposed to (unless your wrestling a turkey and a dog- that could qualify for the more exciting part). The good thing about the downs, whether it be during the writing process, facing rejections, or going through other things in life, is that it makes those ups so much sweeter!