One week down, three more to go! How are you?
I’m pretty good, thanks. How are you?
Word count so far:
It’s the start of Day Five and I’m on 14,765 words.
When/Where have you been writing?
Mostly at my desk in my bedroom during the evenings and over the weekend. I’ve also managed to get the odd sentence in here and there during downtime at work.
In your introductory blog you told us about the novel you’re working on – The Divine Spark, a supernatural adventure for young adults. How’s the process of revisiting a novel you sketched out when you were a teenager?
It’s a bit like revisiting a childhood home and trying to live in it as a grown-up. I’m travelling through familiar set pieces, and then changing them. When I write dialogue, I keep finding myself going, “No, that’s what they used to sound like. Now [character] sounds like this-” Also, ‘Teenage Me’ liked a good twisty-turny plot, so trying to pin that down in a plausible manner has been quite the challenge!
How are your main characters Nova and Sam?
Right now they’re being hunted by a shadowy monster in a darkened shopping centre, so they’re feeling pretty scared.
Nova is braver than I thought she would be. She still needs to toughen up a bit and start speaking her mind some more; the world will move for her when she does. She’s been brought up to doubt her own thoughts and feelings, so it’s going to take some pretty big revelations to make her change. She’s going to be so angry when she finds out what daddy’s done.
Sam’s been caught out on his lies a couple of times already. He’s started mixing in a little bit of truth to make them sound more plausible. Trouble is, telling the truth is addictive and it’s beginning to reveal the gaps in his assumptions about the world. Nova will ask him if he’s a superhero; when he thinks about everything he’s done so far he’ll be forced to admit he’s not – far from it.
This week’s biggest challenge:
Getting enough written so I can enjoy a couple of days off guilt-free.
I’m at a friend’s wedding this weekend and I’m not sure if I can bring a laptop to the service.
Hopes for next week:
That the story will catch up with the word count.
I’m nearly a third of the way through and I’m only on chapter four! What’s that about???
NaNo in a nutshell (week one):
Intense, but in a good way. I feel like a tap fully open, thundering hot water into a steadily filling bath tub.
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