30-Day Novel Challenge: Half-way Update

Phew! We're now 15-days into our 30-day novel challenge, and the results are something of a mixed bag.

On the positive side, I've managed to write way more in two weeks than I frankly thought possible, with a current word-count of 15,296. In addition, I've gotten a lot of practice establishing scenes, playing with dialogue, and fleshing out the primary arc of the story. As I've mentioned before, getting to the middle and end of stories has long been a difficulty for me, so having made progress on that front is a real step forward.

On the negative side, to reach the 50,000-word goal of the challenge, I should be at 25,000 words at this, the half-way point. Clearly I've fallen behind, missing some days, and/or averaging less than the 1,667 words required to reach the goal.

After some reflection, I don't really mind the miss. Sure, it doesn't feel great to be so far behind, but there are worse outcomes to such an experiment. And it could be that the next 15-days are much more productive than the previous ones. I doubt this will happen to an appreciable extent, but it might. One thing I've learned about 30-day writing challenges is that which 30-day stretch you pick can matter a great deal. I happened to pick one right in the middle of the World Cup, a house-sitting gig, and a major holiday. While not excuses, these other interests/commitments do make voluminous writing more challenging.

I also keep running up against my own desire to edit and rework material--a big no-no if this project will ever reach the end. Despite lapses, I've managed to control this urge with some success, plowing on despite misgivings or second-thoughts about characters, what they just said, and the like. There are going to be a lot of duds this go-around, and if anything, the more that find their way into this draft, the better the next draft will be. I've heard it said that first-draft are your chance to try crazy things--to push ideas to their extreme, to the point of absurdity if needs be. We go at a first-draft like a kid goes at a stack of birthday presents, ripping and tearing with only the barest regard for the end goal--getting at the goodies inside. As one of those kids who took pains not to tear wrapping paper growing up, I'm not a natural at this unbounded form of enthusiasm. But I believe a less-restrained approach could help matters in the second half of this challenge, setting aside our qualms and going at the story with some real energy. And while I may or may not reach the 50,000-word goal, the final result may prove surprising.

Onward we go!