One thing I’ve realized while drafting my last three middle grade novels is that writing the first 30 pages is “easy.” I’ve heard other novelists say the same thing. And then, you run smack dab into a DEAD END. You realize that, at its deepest level, you don’t know what your story is about. You don’t know what you’re trying to “say” to the reader, and you have absolutely no idea how to advance the plot.

True confession: I did have 30 typewritten pages, or 6839 words, of “The Tale of Nettie Rabbit” in hand before I signed up for National Novel Writing Month. On July 24, 2018, I’d shared this draft with my writing group, looking for a sign: STOP? or GO! My colleagues agreed that my early draft had a strong storyteller’s voice and “potential.” Even so, I gave up (again.) Fast forward to Day #4 of NaNoWriMo … I was grateful for the additional hour of sleep this morning. Starting at 6 am and writing until 9 am, I wrote 1,734 words! Four days down, twenty-six to go.
#NaNoWriMo