Who Was Your Character at the Beginning? At the End? How Much Are They Like You?

All right, y’all.

3 days left of National Novel Writing Month 2020.

Anybody else feel like this is the month that will never end?

Whether you’re in NaNo or not, let’s take one final opportunity to look at our characters.

Here at the end of the journey — whether you’ve finished your manuscript or just your 50,000 words — how has your character changed?

Did anything happen with them that you weren’t expecting?

Did they follow everything you had planned down to a T?

Are you two still friends at the end of this journey?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, our characters are the only ones who understand our novel writing journey just as much as us.

So spend one last section of time with them during this NaNo to reflect on everything you two have been through together, then get write on in to finishing up that manuscript!

See you tomorrow.

My Response

Vaeda has had me guessing from the start about who he is and how he works. There’s been so many ups and downs on this journey with him, but now that I’m moving toward a week out from finishing, I’m appreciative of him. He taught me much about myself on this journey, especially in regard to self-awareness and inner truth. I felt him during the writing process, and I feel his absence now that it’s done. I look forward to returning to him in an editing manner one day.

For once, I think I’d actually say we wrote this story together. So often, I feel at odds with my characters over who’s in charge of the story. Being a stubborn person myself, I tend to attract stubborn characters who think they’re just as right as I am. Vaeda has always felt differently because Vaeda has had me analyzing him instead of showing himself to me. There’s also the whole lack of sight thing that adds to his lack of physical characterization, and I don’t think that was unintentional on his part.

Although this story was constructed and oftentimes forced, I’m happy with what it’s turned out to be, as well as what it might become. Vaeda and I are certainly still friends at the end of this journey. I’m almost scared to introduce him to any of my other characters out of fear they’ll notice our closeness. I got some jealous characters in there, and they’re going to want to keep Vaeda quiet for a while. But Vaeda, just like the rest of them, will come back to me when he’s ready to finish off the remainder of his story.

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.