🔥 Alchemy of Creation

NaNoWriMo is going alright! I thought I might flame out by 5k words, but I’m over 11k and ready to pick it up tomorrow! Which means I’m about a day behind the cumulative word count. Since I deliberately didn’t write on Saturday I’m feeling positive about this. Spending more time writing twice a week still looks like a good strategy for flex and keeping up over the month.

Since about day 3 I’ve felt like I must be half way through this story, but that’s down the level of detail in my outline. I started with a much better idea of an opening, and I have some idea of where it will end up. Having built up some notes in October has been useful, but not day to day. Ending each scene or writing session thinking what needs to happen next, and cross-referencing it with the original ideas has been enough to get me to start typing again. Everytime I’m thinking there’s no way I can write more than 200 words based on this 1-3 sentence description, yet somehow a scene unfolds. I may be 50% through my planning while still being 20% through the story. Scene for scene, I have much less idea what I’m writing this coming week. Let’s find out!

💎 Rethinking

I’m exploring the idea of a narrative non-sequitur, and meaning making through contrast. We watched the 1993 version of The Secret Garden, and the arc could be divided up like this:

1. Mary comes to terms with new surroundings

2. Mary finds out about the family and garden

3. Colin learns to take control of their own wellbeing

4. The garden doesn’t need to be a secret anymore

Mary’s character development begins by exposition, but it continues by interaction. The wilful young thing catalyses change in the household, and through that change is transformed herself.

📍 A Point on the Timeline

• Caught up with some old friends for an overdue group chat
• Cyberpunk: Decided tricking rather than kidnapping someone from the heavy cyberwear gang was a better idea

📯 From the World

It happened again.