Felt like the story was starting to drag, mostly because I didn’t know where it was going. Reread Rachel Bach’s excellent post on how to write faster (hint: know what you’re trying to write!). Took some time to figure out a little structure (like what was the point of the scene I was writing besides fulfilling word count). Worked out a few key characteristics for Maddy (what is so special about her?) and the Captain (why is he so non-communicative? what are his goals?). So with that and a couple beats to hit in the scene, I wrote 2084 words in 85 minutes. Still feeling like I need more structure, but it has to be somewhat loose since 1) my Muse often takes issue (i.e. stops talking to me) if the story is completely mapped out ahead of time, and 2) it leaves room for serendipity (i.e. Muse starts chattering away at me).
Writing sessions today:
25″ – 719 words
20″ – 544 words
25″ – 478 words
10″ – 243 words
5″ – 100 words
Total novel writing time so far: 460 minutes (7 hours 40 minutes)*
Total novel word count so far: 10582 words (broke the 10,000 mark! Hurrah!)
*Apparently when I’m writing a novel, numbers won’t add correctly. I’ll correct Day 5’s numbers accordingly. Gak.