NaNoWriMo :: Day 16

Day 16 Wordcount: 27,252
Day 16 Morale: Good

The story is chugging along nicely.  We had a clever flirting scene last night with my new love interest.  So happy that he's in the picture.  He's funny and hot, too.  Can't wait for he and Maggie to see each other again.

We're getting to the point where Maggie is going to make a lot of discoveries very quickly.  I'm anxious to see how all of this plays out.  I've been reading the NaNoWriMo feed on Twitter, and it seems like others are writing about zombies or elves or magical kingdoms in which loads of things are happening.  Bombs, arrows, battles, deathcount, etc.  I'm starting to wonder if there are enough things happening in my book.

If I were to diagram the scenes thus far, you would see that Maggie and her cohorts spend A LOT of time talking to each other. Dialogue must be my story spine - the way in which the story plays out the first time around.  Sort of a question/answer session that reveals deeper motivations and character elements.  But, I'm questioning whether they talk too much.

The book is certainly peppered with description and exposition, but these aren't nearly as rich as the dialogue.  And things are happeneing.  They just seem to happen a lot more slowly than I'd like right now.  Kevin keeps saying to me, "Isn't that up to you.  You're the one writing it.  Aren't you the one in charge?"  Good questions, all.  And yes, I am in charge, to a point.  But, these characters have kinks of their own that they need to work out right now.  When I try to wrap up a scene that I feel like might be dragging, I oftentimes feel like I'm interrupting these people.

But they do have a lot to say that is guiding the story right now.  So, I'm just biting my lip and listening very carefully.