Dispensing Disaster

I’ve added another story to my writing day, alongside my NaNovel – fanfiction; no, you can’t read it; I publish it on AO3 under an alias, as one does – and my mind is all stories, all the time. Well, I take brief breaks to goggle at the state of world politics, but mostly, it’s writing, reading, and video games. (Video games, oh reader, count as *story*. Depending on the game, of course.)

I have been fortunate enough up here in Volcanoesville not to have felt the earthquake that so damaged Kaikoura, Wellington, and nearby areas. I also live high on a hill, so while I am near to the ocean I do not fear tsunamis. We didn’t hear the sirens here. I have seen video, with the sirens calling; it’s eerie. Especially at two in the morning. Earthquake things eclipsed US politics in my mind this week. But mostly it has been stories.

My novel is going well. I am still a couple of days of words behind, but I have reached 25,000 and am halfway there. It is an accomplishment, and I am pleased, but by the same token I have another 25k still to write, and fewer days to do it in. I wrote the first 25k in 17 days, but I must write the last 25 in 13. This, I know from experience, is possible. With the dreaded Week Two with its doubts and problems slowly receding, and the plot-related promise of Week Three settling in, I hope things will go as cheerfully as they have in years past.

I have been keeping a “writer’s journal”, in my midori alongside my writing notebook. The idea, or so I gather, is to note at the end of the day how writing has progressed, what characters have been introduced, what plot points are on the horizon, and so on. Lately, things have begun to bore me, though new characters have arrived to give the story a little more depth. Really the focus is on my main character, with others like little satellites off in the distance; they have their own stories, and cross her path, but not as often as some. I like the idea that someone might take those side characters and imagine their lives. But there has been a lull, a time of relaxation on my MC’s part as she ignores the Looming Problem and distracts herself with music and wine. That lull is ending. And that… scares me, a little. She is very much in my head at present, and putting her through stress and fear will not be easy. An old MC of mine, Eulalie, started in the pit that was her Problem. She clawed herself out slowly, over time. I got to push her in the direction of joy and fulfilment. This MC, my Grim, is floating along denying to herself the coming fear. She will be dragged down. I feel strangely guilty about this.

One must be unkind to one’s mind-babies if one is to have a story. I know this. Yet a part of me resists it.

Sorry, love. It’s trauma time.

 

 

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