Word count update
Day 24: 0
Day 25: 1692
Day 26: 1828

My word count is great, despite skipping a day this week. I should reach 50,000 on November 30, possibly earlier.

My book is another story. As I have been complaining all week, it’s a struggle right now to know what to write. I don’t know where this book is headed. My headlights have died. I’m crawling in the dark, feeling the floor ahead with my hands, and hoping I’ll recognize any major obstacles before it’s too late.

Wren was captured by bandits and wound up dueling with their leader. She won, of course. She is after all 1) a princess, 2) the heroine, and 3) student of the 11th greatest swordsmen in the Twelve Kingdoms. The bandits have asked her to be their new leader. She quite cheerfully said “yes” leaving her friends and her author to wonder if she’s lost her mind and what the heck she is up to now.

I think she may have secret hopes of reforming the bandits in some way, but I have no idea what that might be. I know for sure she is looking to have a good time while she still can. While she believes whole-heartedly in the prophecy and knows it is both her destiny and duty to marry Roderick, she doesn’t see any reason to rush. I may have to find a way to explain it to her.

Tomorrow I need to check in with Roderick and find out where he’s got to. Somehow I have to get all my characters to the same location so things can come to a climax, ideally before the end of the month. Since everyone is currently all over the place and none of them shows any signs of cooperating, I’ve realized I may have to keep writing into December. While my main reason for tackling NaNoWriMo this year was to have fun, I also want to have a complete draft when I stop. So I will keep writing until this story is finished, even if it means carrying on after I planned on being done.

Last night, I picked up the latest issue of Poets & Writers and I found a reassuring passage in which an author talked about the chaos inherent in creation. She has a mental illness that she claims makes it easier for her to wrestle with the unknown and the uncertain. I was just grateful to be reminded that I am not the only writer who has to inch along in the dark, hoping somewhere along the way to stumble into something good without breaking a leg.