Keep on plugging
Friday, November 11, 2011 at 4:13PM 
Word count: 307 Reading time: 2 mins.
The NaNoWriMo week-2-slump is right in front of me. I can feel it. It’s like when I’m hiking and I think I’ve bagged the worst part of the hill only to turn a corner and find a bigger, uncharted rise in front of me. This happened to me recently and if I’d been alone I would have gone around it. I believe in the path of least resistance.
On that hike my three friends were navigating the fallen timber and thick bush like it was a walk in the park. Super-fit people really irritate me, especially when they’re fifty feet ahead on a steep hill. Still, sometimes the hard way is the only way to get there.
Next week is the NaNoWriMo sharp rise. So far I’ve been walking small undulations. The first 21,000 words have flown off my fingers. Only now one character has had a stroke. What do I know about strokes? Not much. Her daughter is shop-lifting to supplement the family income. More research needed.
I decided to send myself a greeting card for encouragement. I found an $8 one, wrapped in a cellophane envelope. Printed on heavy stock paper was this quote: With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable. (Thomas Foxwell Buxton) I didn’t buy the card because I could remember what it said. Is that a form of shop-lifting? Hmm maybe that was a research trip after all.
So I’ll take those words to heart and keep pushing along. When I’ve reached my daily goal today I think I’ll take a walk, somewhere long and flat.
How do you keep the story moving forward when faced with the side of a mountain? Do you start up the side of it or do you work around it, on the parts that are less challenging?
Photo: Aidan Cassie
Reader Comments (4)
I think when you’re faced with this type of challenge, you don’t necessarily need to head straight up the mountain or work on the less challenging parts. I think you work on the scene that is itching to get out. Personally, that’s when I feel I write at my best (not that my best is anywhere near yours). Composting, festering, it’s sort of the same. Let it ooze when the time comes.
You are too kind!
When there is a scene revealing itself I can hit a pace and get on with it. The worst times, the mountains in my writing day, are when I really don’t know what is coming next. I have to sit down and play with the characters, the settings – anything – that will move the story along again. It’s grinding work but usually some small spark of life is unearthed and I’m over the top of that hill.
You are no ordinary talent, Mrs Bolitho!
Ms. Brugman you are too kind!