Halfway there = Time for a detour

I was all prepared this year to actually suffer through a Camp NaNoWriMo. I had a great idea, even if it was just in its infancy.  I thought I had set my standards sufficiently low enough: just get to 10,000 words and call it good - just in time to finish college finals.  No one said it was a good idea, but it was mine, and I'll be the first to admit it failed.  I managed a little of 2000 words and then got lost.

I've discussed before how I feel that the obsession with "writing every day" is the best philosophy.  Trust me, I completely understand how the stress of life can eat at you from just about every direction.  However, I will say that the concept of editing a crappy page is easier than a blank one works wonders on research papers...

Anyway, I digress.  The fact of the matter is here it is May.  Finals are over.  Camp NaNoWriMo is over.  I didn't succeed, and somewhere in-between trying to start a new idea that I love and standing (or sitting) where I am now, I got lost on a detour of unfinished stories.

I've never been able to determine why some ideas stick with me like a nagging toothache - to where I can't put them aside until they are finished.  Then there are those that woke me in the middle of the night, forced me to pour out over 5000 words in a single sitting, and then sat in a corner waiting...and waiting.  With an entire summer break ahead of me, I had a plan, I was prepared to plot my way through the more completed ideas running amok in my head (even my characters are on summer break, apparently), but if there is one thing I've learned about writing, it is simply to never plan anything.  My characters all have minds of their own, and the sooner I realize that, the happier we will all be.  One can hope.  Let's hope this plan works out better than the last.

Anyone out there with a similar tale?  How many unfinished stories do you have haunting the cobwebs of your mind?  I think I'll count and get back to you.

-L.E.

A Mind of Their Own

So I know that last time I did promise a tale of why Smart Cars are not meant for off-roading.  Trust me, I haven't forgotten, but in the theme of my title, I feel compelled to share a few observations about writing.  To help summarize what I'll be covering in personal experience, fellow writers, please enjoy the following:

One of my favorite authors of all time, Elizabeth Peters, remarked on how a character she had meant for one book became a 20+ book series.  Love her or hate her, there was no denying that Amelia Peabody had a mind of her own.  Anyone who has ever put characters to paper knows just how opinionated they can become.  My own experience with such a character was in a novella I was working on.  I managed to get so far as the 3/4 mark and then I hit a wall.  I am not a typical sufferer of writer's block, but on that particular story, I just could not get the story going again.  Then, the very opinionated, very proper mother-in-law shared with me that if I would stop trying to make her the wicked witch in the story, I could finish it.  Low and behold (is that how you spell that?) the story was finished in less than a day after Matilda and I came to terms.  And to this day, when I think of Elizabeth Peter's comments about Amelia, I am reminded of Matilda.

Anyway, fast forward to NaNoWriMo 2015.  I have dedicated an entire series to be written only during November, and I'll admit to some trepidation this year as my main characters were twin boys, not exactly a subject I have a ton of expertise in.  However, they were the characters I had created, and they were where the story was headed.  I couldn't avoid that.  

This has been one of the trickier stories I've written in awhile, though, for while the tale centers on the twins, I had not realized how very different they were until I started.  And, having completed the first five chapters, it occurred to me that while the flippant twin, Patrick, and I got along just fine, I hadn't taken the time to truly get to know Peter.  I struggled for a few days trying to figure out how to get all the pieces to line up, but then the idea occurred to me that they were two different characters and it was time I treated them as such.  And so, yesterday, I wrote what was easy.  I wrote the chapters that were Patrick's, and Pat's alone.  Today, I dedicated my time and energy to getting to know Peter better.  The problem is that Pete's a bit shy, and harder to get out of his shell, but deep down, he's as much a part of me as his brother.  Maybe the true talent here will be in showing the world through this story my own insecurities.  Maybe that's what Pete has been trying to tell me all along, but I've been too afraid to notice. 

My advice to all writers out there, based on my own experience, is to give your characters that chance to tell you what you've been missing.  I can promise you you won't regret it. And those that take the most time to get to know are often the ones most worth knowing because they will change the story in ways you never saw coming.  And please, I would love to hear from fellow writers and/or NaNoWriMo participants.  Writers are not necessarily the most gregarious of people, but sometimes it can be wonderful to connect with another soul who understands and doesn't just think I'm crazy.

Next time, I promise, tales of Smart Cars.

P.S. I just realized that all of yesterday, when I was working on the separate chapters of my outgoing twin, I was super competitive about NaNoWriMo word sprints...oddly enough, when I separated the story completely to focus on my introvert, I haven't competed in one...I promise I'm not crazy, I'm just a writer.