Comment: Can't Talk. Busy Writing.

I'm 16,000 words into my second annual NaNoWriMo effort, and what a different experience it is this time around.

Last year, I had a clear story in mind, and I just wrote and wrote and wrote, with a very obvious throughline. I loosely based it on my life, so it was easy to follow the plot (most of the time) and by the time I had hit 50,000 words, I had barely finished doing justice to my college years. I think maybe there's a second novel in there.

But this year, I decided to just start writing. I had no goal in mind whatsoever, And it's taking me in directions I'd never thought I'd go.

I don't immediately relate to or sympathize with all of my characters. I barely know most of them! They're revealing themselves to me gradually. I sit down, pick one, and then start writing from their point of view and see where it goes. I'm sure this won't work forever, because there's the whole plot thing, but for now, it feels more like intertwining monologues that need to come out. And a story is gradually emerging. It's just not one I knew ahead of time. It's like watching those old Polaroids develop.

I'm basically walking the tightrope with no net.

And it's pretty cool.