Nano 2017 Day 2 Report

So it started earlier than usual. That smooth voice in the back of my head, reassuringly told me to “take the day off”.

I’m off today from both day job of mine (yes, you read that right… TWO day jobs on top of Nano.) It started only a minute after I opened my eyes this time. In the past, it waited a few hours. Today I started my day.

“You’ve already done so much work…”, “All you have to do is post an updated number count from one more pre revised chapter”

The nerve of that voice. Then it brought out the big guns:

“Just take the day off and play Elder Scrolls Online for JUST AND HOUR.”

Full disclosure, I am a MASSIVE gamer. If video games were a religion, I would worship at the house of Bethesda. You name it – DOOM, Skyrim, Fallout- those are my crack cocaine. This voice knew exactly what it was doing and gave the perfect escape route.

Begrudginly, I weakly responded, “but I cant play any games until I work on the novel…”

Luckily, that voice vanished into the void it came from – likley to regroup and attack another day.

So today I gave myself the reality check I needed to begin in the form of pointing out to myself allllllllll the weak chapters and loose ends in the second half of my book. Guys, this is self loathing level reality check. I do not recomend it for the weak minded.

Shot of revisions before Act 2 before the midpoint of novel:

Annnnnnnnndddddd after midpoint…:

yeah. sobering. Luckily I was conforted by my trusty sidekick Loki:

So, I pulled up my master beat sheet (click HERE for where I found this gem and a treasure trove of other beat sheets):

Made a visual with post its:
Added previously settled on revisions ( fuchia), and new to this revision attempts (baby blue):

With all of this I still noticed that my final boss fight is still up in the air. I do have the previous version of this written, which will be slightly similar, but a LOT of new angles seasoned in, so I am calling today a win.

Todays lesson has been to:

Not give up first thing in the morning, even when it sounds so good to do so.
its okay not to have all the puzzle peices in the very begining. you will get there eventually.
trust in yourself as a storyteller.
Even with a laudry list of things to do, it IS in fact possible to make time for your story, and even a blog. ( I am writing this at the kitchen prep counter as I am cooking dinner. if it MEANS something to you, you have to MAKE TIME for it in your life.

Anyone else deal with the same obstacles today? If not, please weigh in on what obstacles you may or not be facing in the comments below! I ALWAYS respond BTW…. ::inserts guilt trip::

Also be sure to catch up with my Nano prep series:

So what did I cover?

Author R.A. Gasparac

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