The Snowflake Chronicles

November Fantasy 2013 Newsletter Letter

Am I following the plot outline?

Encountering the unexpected.


I always have a basic plot outline, but I like to leave some things to be decided while I write. - J. K. Rowling

Once a novel gets going and I know it is viable, I don't then worry about plot or themes. These things will come in almost automatically because the characters are now pulling the story. - Chinua Achebe


You are two, three, or four days into National Novel Writing Month and typing away on your story. Perhaps you are participating in a sprint exercise of fifteen or thirty minutes, when your realize that one of the characters just said something or did something unexpected. You cannot stop typing because that would put you behind in your word count or it would slow the sprint exercise down, so you continue until the end of the chapter or the exercise.

After you save your work, you go back and read the paragraphs or dialogue you have just written. As you read, you realize that the story is going in a new direction or a new complication was added to the plot. What do you do about it? Since it is NaNoWriMo and rewriting could mean you would not reach the 50,000 word goal, you do the only thing you can do. You continue writing the story knowing that the scene you have just written was not in the plot outline or even in your mind when you started the novel a few days ago.

I have encountered this phenomenon in the last two chapters I have completed. I also encountered it in 2012, but not as much or as early in November. I will not consider rejecting these complications until I begin the rewrite in December. I like, at least, one of the complications enough that I may keep it depending on how this addition works out in later chapters. I am wondering how other NaNoWriMo authors deal with their characters or plots suddenly taking off in unexpected directions or saying things that cause more complications to the plot. Please let me know in your response to this newsletter.