I was stuck in the writing of my NaNoWriMo novel, stuck at that part where it just doesn’t feel very good to me at all. And then last night, a funny thing happened.

I was surfing around, and came across this quote by Stephen King. It sounds like it’s from On Writing, though I’m not sure.

“Read four hours a day and write four hours a day. If you cannot find the time for that, you can’t expect to become a good writer.” – Stephen King

I love On Writing – it’s one of the most motivating writing books around. So I have that on my desk to re-read. Earlier this month I started up my book review blog, and I have been loving it. Not only that, I’ve been reading steadily. Four hours a day? Sounds good to me. And I can get that other four hours of writing in, too. Just have to figure out when to squish in the paying work, that’s all.

And then, after reading this quote, I found Jolie at Cuppa Jolie. In her I Made It! 5000 Words Today … post talked about something her blog friend Holly had told her that really helped:

First, Holly mentioned (somewhere along the line) about being at a macro level instead of micro. Keeping this in mind helped me bunches. It’s the big picture story I’m working on. I can go back later, when I’m more in tune with the story and the characters, and add the details that will make all the difference. Right now, I need to make the character walk and talk and doing that helped me get to 5000 words.

That last bit especially – “Right now, I need to make the character walk and talk …”

That’s all I needed to do. Just make my characters walk and talk and move them forward. And when I started to think that way, I knew I would be able to start writing more of the novel again.

So last night, I went to bed feeling motivated again. Then, this morning, lying there in that stage between awake and asleep, a new plot piece came to me. It’s a wonderful plot piece – it makes the villain more villainy, adds more drama, and ties up some loose ends!

I’m off to write now! I don’t think I’ll get 5000 words in today, but at least I actually feel like I have something to write now.

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NaNoWriMo, Writing