20,000 Milestone!

So I just made it to 20,ooo word in my nano-novel. I thought I’d share what that looks like!

So here it is…

5,000 more words till I’m halfway there

I think that 20,000 words is a good time to relect on my experience so far this month. I have been a pantster, which is strange and new to me because I usually a pretty good planner. But then again, I havent written fiction in a while and this is my first nano.

One observation I have made while being a pantster is that my characters have been developing on their own. I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing and I know other writers out there have this same experience. For instance, I was getting a little bit stumped with where my plot was going. I was working through some scene description when my character discovered something about herself while investigating her new surroundings. We were both very surprised at this discovery. So surprised, that she isnt even convinced she was able to do what she did and she brushes it off. That discovery that my character and I made together has opened up a whole new path for my novel to continue on. I could have never planned this new ability of hers, even in my skeletal outline that was floating around my head – never exisitng on paper – I wouldn’t have thought she was going to develop this skill.

I also find myself drawing on contemporary issues – which makes sense but it wasn’t intentional. The environment and sustainability seems to pop up here and there in this novel and that is an issue I feel strongly about. I never thought that this novel could be a platform for those issues – in a creative way.

What discoveries has everyone else made about their writing? Are your characters acting on their free will yet?