I suppose there's other stuff going on in my life that isn't NaNoWriMo related, but it's difficult to be sure. I had my first full day back at work today after a week away (I work in a school) so there was always a chance that my word count, on which I've been managing to keep slightly ahead of, would drop quite dramatically. Luckily, however, I managed to hack out a bit in my morning break, and in the lunch break, and I'm still reasonably ahead. If I can serve up another 500 words by the time I fall asleep tonight, then I'll feel like I'm on the right track.
Having said all that, the story's not quite working yet. I'm not too sure why all the major events are happening, why my main character is being thrust into the midst of it all. Obviously, I'm aware that I'm not going to be producing great literature here ('Bring Up The Bodies' this ain't), but I still want there to be a believable, logical narrative. I've got certain restrictions on my plot, such as the fact that my lead character can't leave the town, and somehow she's getting away with murder without the police getting involved. When I set out, these things weren't such a big deal, and maybe in a story that was done and dusted in, say, twenty thousand words, it wouldn't be a problem. You might not even question the logic until long after you've put the book down, by which time of course, it's too late - the job is done, the story has been told. But with an actual novel, you have time to get to know the characters, the opportunity to question their motives. Mostly, things can't simply 'happen' to them. Well, alright, that's not strictly true - in fact my 'in' on this story was just that, that things were happening to my main character, and she was surviving by simply reacting - think Harrison Ford in The Fugitive, Cary Grant in North By Northwest, Jodie Foster in ... uh, pretty much Amy Jodie Foster film. But, it made my main character slightly too passive, and that doesn't quite work for the plot. Which, as I've mentioned, has a contrivance meaning that she can't leave the town, and the police aren't getting involved in her clearly illegal activies. Obviously, I could just 'fix' those problems by not writing them in the first place - if it's awkward to have my main character restricted to one city, then seemingly the obvious thing would be to let her go wherever the hell she wants. But, that means an entirely different story, and risks spiralling out to something a bit rambling. And .. well, here's the thing. Whenever I've worked on a story, and there's been some narrative problem I can't quite get my head around, I've always -emphasis on always - found that the problem is its own solution. Therefore, she can't leave town because she's following orders. And that in turn, begins to indicate why the police are turning a blind eye. But suddenly, my entirely innocent woman in jeopardy has to get all Liam Neeson on everyone's ass, and 'aquire a certain set of skills', indicating she's a professional .... something. I didn't know that when I started writing this. Hell, I didn't know that this morning. It's good, though, because it's beginning to give her a history and background which she didn't have previously. However, it might just mean I may have to start doing some research, which I had been intending to strenuously avoid. Damn.
As I said, there's gotta be other stuff going on that isn't NaNoWriMo.
Uh.
I'll get back to you.
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