National Novel Writing Month makes November special for me. It gives me license to write madly with no or few doubts about what I’m writing. It’s often the beginning of a new novel. This year is hopefully ending two novels.
Most of my novels began as NaNo drafts. Sometime in September or October the shadow of an idea occurs. It’s at the edge of my mind, teasing me, eluding me for a time.
One day this little idea grows up into characters and plot. The new novel waits for me to write it down.
Planning For November
This year I didn’t go looking for an idea for a new novel. I have three sitting around waiting for my attention. One is a disaster in need of a total rethinking and rewriting.
The other two are unfinished. It’s not that I don’t know or have a good idea what that ending is. I do. I just haven’t written the endings down yet.
So I decided to spend NaNo ending two novels.
The goal is 50,000 words, a novella. Both of my novels are three quarters done. Neither needs another 50,000 words. Together I should have the word total.
NaNo asks the potential writer to say what novel is being worked on. I thought about it and decided to go with “The Carduan Chronicles”.
In between “The Chemistry Project” investigations and puzzles and the “Dent County Flora” pictures, memories of Cardua surfaced. I remembered names, events, where the novel left off.
November Begins
November 1 dawned. I sat down at my computer. And opened my flood/isolation novel instead.
It’s a good thing I’m ending two novels this November. I’m 16,000 words into Mindy’s story and building to the climax. About 10,000 more words will end this draft.
That won’t end work on this novel. I have lots of research to do, people to interview, rewriting to do. But it will finish the rough draft.
And it will leave me about 25,000 words to use about Cardua.
Maybe I won’t have a new novel this December. But ending two novels is reason to celebrate.