Battling My Weaknesses - Preptober

It is October. I love this month because the leaves change, and the world feels more vibrant. However, it is also my least favorite month because the weather in upstate New York has a manic episode: one day, it is winter-flavored, and the next, it is summer-stenched. It tends to destroy my sinuses. On top of that, it is the second month of school, and there has only been one day off to process the over-stimulation and hard grind that teaching can be. However, November is nearly here, like really. It is two days away. In the writer's world, that’s a big deal.

November has long been a month when writers challenge themselves collectively to put words on the page. This year, controversy has centered on an organization that we have long orbited regarding this challenge. However, writing habits are always key, and most writers I know are loathe to give it up because of the bad actors. Most of us are stepping away from the organization but keeping the challenge. I am among those.

This year, it will be a particularly steep challenge for me. Apparently, I like to torture myself with overzealous expectations. My list of obstacles includes; my health (low-key sucking), my family’s health (everybody needs to stop having serious medical stuff, please), and school (the grind + a bunch of extra tutoring because I can’t say “no” when they say “help”). Then there is the month of November itself, which has been picked for this challenge because of its length, but throw Thanksgiving in there, and you have fewer days than what the challenge intends unless I can finally learn how to write in a car. Then, I plan to write what hits the title of this post.

This November, I will challenge several of my writing weaknesses. The only way to grow is to prod a weakness into becoming a strength. I may make something hideous that I will never allow to endure the light of day, but I’m doing this.

My first weakness is that I wrote a short story. Short stories can be my bane because plot arcs and satisfying conclusions are difficult for me in such a finite space. So, on this story, like many of my other short stories, I flopped the ending. I did pretty well with the other elements, which led to positive feedback. I was flattered. However, along with the various compliments on my technique came the comment, “but where’s the rest of the book?” Eep. Essentially, I set up a premise for a novel instead of having a satisfying, open ending. I could just change the end of the short story and be happy with it. However, I agree that there is more story to tell there. So, I am going to do justice to the readers who wanted what came next by having the goal of getting down 50k in November on this project.

Weakness two is that to accomplish 50k in a month, you need a solid plan. The recommended path to success is plotting. When I was younger, I loathed plotting because I treated outlines as a list of rules. If it was in the outline, it had to happen. This killed several stories for me because I got to a place where the outline didn’t make sense anymore, and I would get stuck because what was on the outline had to come next, but it couldn’t come next. I have loosened up a bit since then and learned to live and let live. My first test of that was in August of last year, where I did a 50k in a month personal challenge, but when I didn’t have school in the mix.

I passed the test on applying the outline and achieving the 50k words. However, I still struggle with making outlines. I have always been a write-into-the-dark/discovery writer/pantser. So, creating an outline is my staring at a white page. My stories are character-driven, and I learn my characters as I dance through the story with them. So, sitting down and deciding how they will be before I get to know them is about the same as pointing at a random person in a room and declaring they will be my best friend because of our shared interests, yet we haven’t said, “boo” to each other before. I could never! But you get my point. In August of last year, I learned my next step in outlining. Don’t sweat the details. I always thought I had to know every inch of the story to create an outline. I was successful in August, though, and what worked for me was outlining the major plot points but skipping the ending. The end is the hardest part for me to pre-plan because my characters' choices can vastly change the outcome. Letting myself skip the plan for the ending defeated my outline paralysis demon. Hopefully, It will work this time, too.

Weakness three, because life likes the symmetry of threes, is sticking to one project. I have around five novels kicking around in my brain. Depending on the day, one story speaks louder than another, and choosing a quieter project is a visceral battle. I have long swung between trying to finish one project over the others and picking through the daises. So, though it is challenging for me to fully table all projects but one, I feel it is an important skill to learn.

So, here is my plan for November. I will need to write 2,723 each of the 22 days I know I can write. That is insane. I usually get between 500 and 1000 words daily while school is in session. So, either I need to pick up some of my planned non-writing days, kill it every day at the keyboard, or not meet the 50k goal. I’m aiming to “kill it,” but I will be satisfied with whatever my best is. I will write a fantasy suspense novel, single PoV, with a D&D vibe. I have outlined the novel with the expedition of the end to give myself a roadmap. I have some parts written from a picking through the daises moment, but I have changed my mind about significant elements, so I have 5k in the bank, but I don’t know how much of it is usable.

It is going to be a fun and challenging month! I will update as I hit milestones, and I hope you have your own goals for this month, writing or otherwise. I would love to hear about your goals and how you are progressing through them! Best of luck. May we win the month of November!