November 28th, y'all. Where has the time gone! NaNoWriMo is drawing to a close, and hopefully your word count is right on par.
The last stretch is usually either one of two things: a) Super awesome smooth sailing, or b) basically writing with the same feeling as when you're trying to drag yourself out of bed during the winter. Which is horrible and exhausting, lol! But the last stretch is where it counts. You just have a little bit farther to go... just a bit more to write before you can end NaNoWriMo with a grand celebration.
And that's the thing I want to focus on: the celebration. Because whether you wrote 500 words or 50,000 words or 350,000 words the point is, YOU WROTE. And that is absolutely fantastic! You told yourself you were going to tackle this thing, you gave it what you had, and you tried. You had the courage (or craziness) to attempt a goal along with hundreds of other people. I can't even begin to tell you all how proud I am of you writers. ;) So, whatever your word count ended up being, take some time to celebrate. Grab some cake or ice cream, throw a bit of confetti, or snuggle up with a new book and a cup of tea.
Let's also take some time to think over your story. After NaNoWriMo is over is the best time to set your book aside and take a break from it for a little while, as it clears your head and you can get a fresh perspective once you get back to it. But let's go a step further and actually ask ourselves some questions about your book. (This is also really encouraging as you're finishing up NaNoWriMo, too!)
1. What is one of your favorite lines that you wrote? "Do not pull the child away from a good piece of cake, sir," Mr. Pemberton grunted. He looked seriously alarmed. "Cake is necessary to the happiness of the soul!" --The Needlemaker
2. Why?
I just love Mr. Pemberton and his sage advice to eat more cake. Because... cake. :P
3. Who is your favorite main character?
So hard. Maybe Nan Winkworth from "The Needlemaker". I also love Kier Malloy from "Further Courage" although he hasn't been in the book much yet.
4. Favorite side character?
I really was surprised by how attached I grew to Tabitha Hamilton, the MC's sister in "Further Courage". Timothy Devere from the same book has always had a special place in my heart too--I wish he was my brother, lol!
5. Favorite scene to write?
From Needlemaker: Shady detective Miles Creep snooping about the docks and attempting to catch a certain someone... (details removed so I don't spoil it!) I don't know why but I just enjoyed doing this one. I also really enjoyed some dialogue between Nan Winkworth + her sister in law, Nan Winkworth + Kit Lawler, and Kit Lawler + said sister in law of Nan's. #hilarious :P
6. What would you say the best thing about your book is so far?
Needlemaker: I got a surprise when I realized that one of the themes was turning out to be "we can't rely on our own goodness". I was shocked because I THOUGHT the theme was "Stick to what is right even when no one else does"... and while that's still in it, I never expected the other. I was super excited to see how the book developed/is developing so well right under my nose! The characters, the themes, and the plot line just is coming along great. *Of course, I need to do some major editing, but let's focus on the positive!*
Further Courage: I was already very familiar with this cast of characters and the plot line so it has been fun to work on. I think the best thing about this book so far is that the characters are far from perfect and I'm so looking forward to watching them grow and learn throughout the book.
7. What's one thing you know you'll have to fix/work on later?
While still being optimistic about things, lol, there's a couple things that come to mind. For "Needlemaker" I really want to go back and add more internal conflict for the main character, Kit, as well as work the theme in better throughout it. For "Further Courage" I'm thinking about actually changing the POV entirely, or something, to get rid of the stiffness. The MC is naturally a very private person so I want people to be able to really step into her shoes better.
That's all for now... Let's go out there and cross the NaNoWriMo finish line with great epic-ness! :)
Y'all have a lovely day!
<3
Victoria
The last stretch is usually either one of two things: a) Super awesome smooth sailing, or b) basically writing with the same feeling as when you're trying to drag yourself out of bed during the winter. Which is horrible and exhausting, lol! But the last stretch is where it counts. You just have a little bit farther to go... just a bit more to write before you can end NaNoWriMo with a grand celebration.
And that's the thing I want to focus on: the celebration. Because whether you wrote 500 words or 50,000 words or 350,000 words the point is, YOU WROTE. And that is absolutely fantastic! You told yourself you were going to tackle this thing, you gave it what you had, and you tried. You had the courage (or craziness) to attempt a goal along with hundreds of other people. I can't even begin to tell you all how proud I am of you writers. ;) So, whatever your word count ended up being, take some time to celebrate. Grab some cake or ice cream, throw a bit of confetti, or snuggle up with a new book and a cup of tea.
Let's also take some time to think over your story. After NaNoWriMo is over is the best time to set your book aside and take a break from it for a little while, as it clears your head and you can get a fresh perspective once you get back to it. But let's go a step further and actually ask ourselves some questions about your book. (This is also really encouraging as you're finishing up NaNoWriMo, too!)
1. What is one of your favorite lines that you wrote? "Do not pull the child away from a good piece of cake, sir," Mr. Pemberton grunted. He looked seriously alarmed. "Cake is necessary to the happiness of the soul!" --The Needlemaker
2. Why?
I just love Mr. Pemberton and his sage advice to eat more cake. Because... cake. :P
3. Who is your favorite main character?
So hard. Maybe Nan Winkworth from "The Needlemaker". I also love Kier Malloy from "Further Courage" although he hasn't been in the book much yet.
4. Favorite side character?
I really was surprised by how attached I grew to Tabitha Hamilton, the MC's sister in "Further Courage". Timothy Devere from the same book has always had a special place in my heart too--I wish he was my brother, lol!
5. Favorite scene to write?
From Needlemaker: Shady detective Miles Creep snooping about the docks and attempting to catch a certain someone... (details removed so I don't spoil it!) I don't know why but I just enjoyed doing this one. I also really enjoyed some dialogue between Nan Winkworth + her sister in law, Nan Winkworth + Kit Lawler, and Kit Lawler + said sister in law of Nan's. #hilarious :P
6. What would you say the best thing about your book is so far?
Needlemaker: I got a surprise when I realized that one of the themes was turning out to be "we can't rely on our own goodness". I was shocked because I THOUGHT the theme was "Stick to what is right even when no one else does"... and while that's still in it, I never expected the other. I was super excited to see how the book developed/is developing so well right under my nose! The characters, the themes, and the plot line just is coming along great. *Of course, I need to do some major editing, but let's focus on the positive!*
Further Courage: I was already very familiar with this cast of characters and the plot line so it has been fun to work on. I think the best thing about this book so far is that the characters are far from perfect and I'm so looking forward to watching them grow and learn throughout the book.
7. What's one thing you know you'll have to fix/work on later?
While still being optimistic about things, lol, there's a couple things that come to mind. For "Needlemaker" I really want to go back and add more internal conflict for the main character, Kit, as well as work the theme in better throughout it. For "Further Courage" I'm thinking about actually changing the POV entirely, or something, to get rid of the stiffness. The MC is naturally a very private person so I want people to be able to really step into her shoes better.
That's all for now... Let's go out there and cross the NaNoWriMo finish line with great epic-ness! :)
Y'all have a lovely day!
<3
Victoria
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