NaNoWriMo 2020 is officially underway! I haven’t had a fantastic start as I was busy yesterday and unable to write much, but I had a positive first day so I’m 2653 words in. I’m very pleased with the opening chapter which was a lot of fun to write (a demon hunter makes for some fun scenes!)
A little more information about the project:
The novel is called the Ballad of Benedict, which is another story in The Light and Shadow Chronicles. A Chronicle of Chaos featured two protagonists (Chaos and Anathema) and told the story from both points of view. This novel is the same – featuring both Benedict Thialdor (A Children of Light diplomat) and Favian (An orphaned demon hunter).
Benedict’s story is already 45,000 words in but I’ve been on a break from it for a while to work on The Sins of Silas. So my NaNoWriMo project is to write Favian’s side of the story. The Sins of Silas has been getting me down lately, so being able to create something new, and just write to my heart’s content has been like bliss to me.
Whether or not I’ll hit the 50,000 words mark (probably not), I’m having a great time and it’s very good for my soul.
For the past year, I have been slogging away at The Sins of Silas, taking feedback from my completely amazing beta readers and occasionally just wanting to burn the damn thing. I think it has potential, but it is causing me so many issues! Since I began writing it, I have completed courses, and read plenty of books on writing craft. So my style has matured and I learned many things that I just wasn’t doing before. So this book needs a HUGE amount of editing and rewriting. After hacking away at the thing for a year, I am still only on Chapter 13… of 34…
Though I love the story and the characters (especially Silas – he’s a lot of fun to write) I am suffering some major burnout on the book now. It’s time I put it aside and focused on something else, just for a short time, to clear my head, and my nerves.
Which brings me nicely to…
For the month of November, I shall be casting aside The Sins of Silas, and continuing with another work-in-progress, The Ballad of Benedict. This novel has two point of view characters and one of them is halfway completed. The other, I haven’t even begun yet. That storyline shall be my NaNoWriMo project.
For those of you who don’t know what NaNoWriMo is, it stands for National Novel Writing Month. Writers pledge to write a 50,000 book in just one month.
Terrifying. Insurmountable, some might say.
They’re probably right.
But I managed a 25,000 word camp NaNo project a few years ago (which became my novella Genesis of Light) and I have a lot more free time now between teaching my online students. So I’m just going for it.
A Little About My NaNoWriMo Project
I shall be writing the secondary plot arc of a character named Favian – a demon hunter with a peculiar weapon, and an even more peculiar mentor…
Book: The Ballad of Benedict – a novel in the Light and Shadow Chronicles. Temporary Blurb: In the forests of Thos, Benedict Thialdor – an ambassador with the Children of Light – must uncover myths of old to reclaim a legendary weapon believed to hold the key to defeating Hell’s most dangerous demons.
For the other writers out there, are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? If so, I’d love to hear from you. Support from other authors is the way we all get through this!
Here are some helpful resources for NaNoWriMo and getting that novel finished!
Immersive fantasy fiction 