Home Stretch! How's Everybody's Mental State?

We are closing in on the end of National Novel Writing Month 2020 everybody.

Like, almost down to the seconds now.

The completion of a manuscript is always exciting, whether it’s during NaNo or not. 

If you’re looking for some extra wind to push you through the last week, let’s bring our focus back to our characters once again.

On the home stretch of the journey, how are they feeling? 

How might they feel by the time this is all over?

Will they reach their goal, or are the rest of us going to have to wait until a book two?

Your characters are probably just as tired as you, and it’s been a long journey for all of us.

Check in with their mental state — perhaps even your own — and then get write on in to your daily session.

See you tomorrow!

My Response

Vaeda

I am tired and weary from this journey, but for me, it is over. There were so many times when I wondered if I would be successful or not. Times I wanted to quit and never give another thought. Anytime things got difficult, I worried about the probability of my success. All I had to do was think of the people I did this for, and that kept me going.

There are times when that brings on a pressure on its own. It isn’t as though I chose to be a leader; it was a role assigned to be at birth. I suppose there are times I would shed that role, if I could. There’s no point in sitting here and wondering what things may have been like, for they’re not any different than they are in the present. No amount of wishing I could be somebody else would make that matter a reality.

I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything, though. All of the ups and downs it came with have proved worth it, in the end. Now, there is happiness and peace. Everything I strove for when I started this mission has seen its way all the way to the end. All of these experiences now exist as nothing more than a memory — and one I hope I don’t forget.

Check in With Your Character's Mental State with This #WritingPrompt

If you’re entering into the last week of National Novel Writing Month 2020, you might be feeling like your fingers are about to fall off.

Same statement could be true if you’re writing a book in any type of sprint fashion.

Whether your story is coming to a close or not, we’re going to kick off the final week of NaNo by revisiting the first prompt:

Character journals.

The first journal had us checking in with the character at the beginning of the story. 

Potentially before they even knew anything that was about to happen to them.

So check in again with them now.

Write out a journal entry in their perspective to see how they’re feeling.

How has this journey changed or shaped them?

Is there anything they would change, if they could?

Do they have any predictions as to what might happen to them before the end?

Spend some time as inside of your character’s mind as possible, then get write on in to your daily session.

See you tomorrow!

My Response

From Vaeda

Everything has been… crazy, to say the least. There’s so many thoughts and memories flooding through my head, but I seem unable to focus on any of them. Even the memories I do remember seem blurred and confusing. I know there’s a power and a strength in me, and I’m grateful that it’s coming more full circle. I know I am standing on the edge of success in my journey.

As hard as it’s been, there’s so much about it that I appreciate, in a weird way. This challenge has forced me to look inward. It has made me realize there is more to myself than even I knew, and I cannot be angry about that. Anytime I doubted myself, I faced myself. Anytime I faced myself, I found that I came out the other side even stronger than I’d expected.

The end is near, but I do not know what that means. Although part of me welcomes to the idea of death, another part urges me to keep fighting forward. I know I must at least find succession saving the others. Their lives are worth more than mine, and I can’t forget about that. The moment they’re free, this whole fight becomes worth it.