We're into the last week of November and that means I have a week left of writing for NaNoWriMo. Things are going well and I'm happy with my progress so far.

Before I started NaNoWriMo this year, I thought maybe I'd try something different with my process. Sigh. I always do this. I keep thinking the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. That I'll write better or faster if I just try the Snowflake Method or if I try never hitting backspace or if I just write dialogue.

This year I was going to try the last option. I was going to barrel through and finish the whole book just writing the dialogue and very few scene descriptions, which I would add in later.

Guess how long that idea lasted? I didn't even make it one day. Lol.

But I am doing something a little different this time! I have been completely pantsing this book which is how I wrote all of my books before SUMMER HAIKUS. After the first two days, I haven't stopped once to outline. Sparse outlining HAD been my thing for the last two years. I would outline a few scenes, write them, outline, write, outline, write, and on and on until I hit the end.

And I kinda wondered if this was holding me back. I used to force myself to stop and assess instead of capitalizing on my forward momentum and just keep going. At this point, I understand story structure really well and can hold a basic outline in my head without having to write it down. I don't necessarily need an outline until the end when I'm ready to sit down and revise.

So with that in mind, I haven't stopped once to outline and I've just kept writing. I've been aware of where I am in the story the whole time, and I daydream ahead by a scene or two so that each day I can sit down and write. Right now, I'm in the Second Act Slog. My characters are on their journey, running into obstacles left and right, and I'm approaching the mid-point (around 40-45k mark) when Yumi will have to decide on a possible life or death path (figuratively speaking).

Without an outline, I'm still writing! And I'm having fun which is a huge difference from how I felt writing THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE RETURNS A FAVOR. I forced myself to outline that book. I don't think I'll do that again!

Anyway, the good news is that I'm right on track. Today I plan to cross the 40k mark and I'd like to cross 50k before November 30. I've gotta get in as much as possible before December 1 because I'll be finishing up last revisions and copy editing of THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE RETURNS A FAVOR in December.

I'm off to get my words in for the day with Dragon! Have a great weekend everyone!