NaNoWriMo Day 1

Well, National Novel Writing Month has gone charging off for another year. I tell you, it feels really good to be a part of it. Especially since I had to skip it last year. My story got off to a pretty strong start and the online midnight write in. There are a lot of gaps in the plot that I have yet to figure out. But I'm sure it will all sort itself out when I get around to that part of the story. Or I will just leave the holes there and wait for the editing process to figure out what to do with them.

My characters are coming out a little bit different than I had planned for them to be when I first started outlining. The male MC is a bit more jovial than I wanted him to be. I was looking for him to be more distant and detached due to emotional injury. Basically, I wanted him dark, broody and broken. Right now he isn't quite reading that way. He comes across pretty normal actually. And he sounds younger than I want him to be. I wasn't quite aiming for fresh faced youth. I wanted to write someone a little more life weary. I am wondering if the coldness and unavailability I'm looking for will present itself in other ways as the story progresses. If not, then it kind of throws a wrench into the whole thing.

A plethora of minor characters came flooding in without my permission. Most of which I had not planned for. For instance, sisters of my female MC. The original plan was for her to be an only child. So yeah, these minor/secondary characters just sort of happened while I was typing. I don't know how many of them will actually stay, since muddying a story with too many characters is something that I want to avoid. But for now, I like most of them. However, giving them names is a pain.

So far, so good with keep up with the word count. Hopefully I can keep ahead like this for most of the month and get some cushion for the holidays. I think this is the first time that I have started with a lead this early in the month. But also, the other years I did this, I had a lot of things on my plate that I was juggling. Now, not so much.

That is about it so far. My word count is ahead. I like where my story is headed so far and I have gotten to talk with several local WriMos. Things have started off really well.