One full week early, I surpassed my 50k word goal for Bunless Ovens. The first draft of my eighth novel is now complete at 57k words. This is my third NaNoWriMo challenge, and I'm three for three. Completing my goal early is exhilarating.
Looking back is eye-opening.
In 2020, I joined NaNoWriMo for the first time and wrote Second-Hand Harmony. It was a personal work to explore the division in my family and write through a painful broken relationship. I'm not sure I would ever edit and release this one, but it's on the shelf.
In 2021, I decided to expound on a shortlisted romance short story I wrote about a woman finding out her new man has a wacky interest. This story, titled Three Scoops of Integrity, is a rom/com with literary elements. I do want to go back and edit it, maybe pitch it to agents next year. I haven't looked at it since last year, so I'm curious to see how it flows now.
And here I am, in 2022, with another completed novel under my belt. NaNoWriMo has truly helped me push myself and discover how much I can commit to writing in a short period of time. The answer surpassed my expectations. I look forward to the challenge each year and already wonder what I will come up with next November.
But for me, the most important aspect of NaNo is how I connected with the characters and conveyed the message I originally planned. As far as Penn's story goes, I believe I went above and beyond. This was also my first novel venture into writing in First-Person Limited (Present) POV.
Penn started out bitter and stubborn, clinging to her independence and the hand life dealt her. Though her reasons are justified, and I believe I made her relatable, I do want to go back and soften her rough edges. The subject matter alone leaves her story with a narrow target audience. The last thing I want is to ostracize readers with her no-kids-mid-thirties journey.
Unpredictable reader reactions aside, I do believe Penn has a solid story to tell. Her character grew and shifted in ways I didn't foresee. Before I began the challenge, I created a rough outline of loose building tension and stakes. I stuck to many major plot points, but the details that emerged organically were what surprised me the most.
My favorite details are these:
- Penn restores and resells old toys for a living. This was a fun ride through my childhood favorites, and I even remembered a treasured flying doll called a Sky Dancer.
- Penn's love interest, Gage, connects with her enthusiasm of 80's cartoons
- I came up with a truth/dare type game involving counting chocolate chips in edible cookie dough
- I worked through some of my own guilt/bitterness from past broken relationships and learned how to channel it in a healthier way right along with Penn
Learning alongside my characters is one of my favorite parts of writing. If I do end up publishing my stories, I hope people enjoy them as much as I do.
Keep on smilin'!
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