Camp NaNoWriMo Diaries: Day One – People, Plot Plathways, and Panic

Dear Diary,

Yesterday was the first day of camp.  I like all my bunkmates this time, and I’m pretty sure they’re all going to actually participate and speak to me.  That should be a plus.  All of them are my friends, you see, so this camp is going to rock!

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All but two of us were able to meet up last night, and we made some good progress.  Almost all of us reached our daily word quota.  I’ve tried something different this camp.  I tried to not be quite so ambitious.  Sure, I’ve met the 50k word goal the last two Novembers, but it appears one month of writing 50k is all my brain can handle.

I haven’t met my word count goal the past three camps I’ve attempted.

So this year, my goal is only 20,000.  That’s only something like 650 words a day!  Easy, right?  Well, yesterday I only wrote 514.  But I’ll take it.

Because I have another confession.  My diverging plot pathways are driving me bonkers.  I’ve agonized for MONTHS over which way the story should go, since both paths feel right up to a certain point.  And every time I think one is better than the other as far as advancing the story, I re-read the other one and change my mind again.

Last night at camp, surrounded by my bunkmates, all dutifully discussing what we should go about eating (and good thing too, because otherwise I would have likely starved), I just decided to hell with it!  I would use both plot pathways, and mush them together, and that was that!

I re-arranged my scenes and chapters (for at least the MILLIONTH time in the last three months) in Scrivener for what I hope will be the last time.

Food was gotten, then eaten, and we set about doing a 30 minute sprint, which we have found to be the most productive way of getting words into physical … er … digitial? … form.

Headphones were put on, epic music blasted, chapter and scene opened, and then …

PANIC.

I was continuing from a scene I had previously discarded and then decided to use, after all.  A scene I hadn’t touched since January of this year.  That’s SIX MONTHS AGO!  Not only did I have no idea where I had INTENDED to go with it, but I had no clue where I SHOULD go with it, now.

I stared at the thing like it was a rabid creature, about to bite.  Fingers hovered above keyboard, hesitant to touch anything for fear I break it.

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But time was ticking!  I had only 20 minutes left of our sprint!  And then I had to return to real life and non-writing-time!

So I gingerly put fingers to keys.  I went tip-toeing back into the character’s head and looked around.  It was familiar, but dusty.  I dove in, anyway.

What would he say in reply to the last line of dialogue I’d so idiotically left hanging when I previously abandoned this scene?

OH.  YES.  That’s it!

And so we went.  And the 514 words happened.

For now, the panic has been soothed.

I think I’m back in it, now, after almost three months completely away.

Feels good to be back!  Back at CAMP!

Happy writing, all!  🙂   <3, JRF