NaNoWriMo 2020: Halfway point! (intermission)

Since we will be reaching the halfway point of the story later today (will be working on it soon!) I though it would be nice to a) provide a bit of catching up for anyone who just dropped in, which can be found here. And b) give you some idea of the behind-the-scenes workings of this idiot project of mine.

How does it work again?

I write a new episode every day. Yep: every day. I cannot work ahead, or skip a day, because every day the readers (such as they are) are presented with a choice that determines the continuation of the story the next day. So I must wait, every day, until 4 o’clock when the poll ends, and based on the results I will write another 1,667 words, on average, after which a new poll is presented. I hope to create a story this way that has a beginning, middle and end – and that is not too unpleasant to read.

So what is it like?

It is stressful! Ha! I work during the day and I have two minions to spend attention on, so I end up writing every day between nine and ten in the evening, churning out somewhere around 1,700 words before posting about it on Twitter, sometimes Facebook, and adjusting my total wordcount on NaNoWriMo.org (and the little widget on this blog).

And how is it going?

So far, so… good? But I cannot deny that it is quite a bit of work and anxiety. As much as I enjoy doing it, every damn day I fear that I will not be able to come up with a satisfying continuation of the storyline, that my characters will be dull as muck, and that I will spend the next evening staring at the well-known Blank Screen of Death until I burst into tears.

Uh oh…

But I don’t. I sit down and write – and write badly with unimaginative language and shallow characters and worn-out plot lines and everything wrong but that is okay because, as Terry Pratchett himself once said:

Thank you sir, I couldn’t have put it better myself. So that is what I am doing: I am telling a story that I am making up as I go along, asking my friends for input at regular intervals (and being immensely grateful to them!), and hoping like hell that it will all come to some kind of conclusion. For one thing, I would like to know what is happening with the kittens…