NaNoWriMo 2014 - What has surprised you?

meowzbark

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 22, 2012
Messages
1,188
Reaction score
142
Location
Arizona
My male lead character is a bit more reserved than I thought. He's all bark and very little bite.

On a side note, I still have no clear villain. I'm fairly certain this will fix itself in editing. I have a general idea of a plot, but I haven't figured out which one of two characters is going to set off the climax.
 

AshleyEpidemic

Did you see my bag?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 17, 2012
Messages
1,561
Reaction score
119
Location
Austin
Website
www.soipondered.wordpress.com
Okay, so remember how I said I had a lot of J names: Jamar, Jamie, Jimmy, Jrevan. And I had some A names: Amaree and Ava. I just realized I have a decent chunk of E names: Ephraim, Evelyn, Elsa. I'm starting to wonder what is wrong with me.
 

KateSmash

this was a triumph
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Messages
2,330
Reaction score
410
People are definitely going to ship my teenaged protagonist and the canonically gay mentor character. I'm going to blame the surprise cuddle-or-freeze-to-death scene. And the hugs. And how fangirlish they are for each other.

It's a shame mentors always die. :(
 

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,368
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
Ace went to all this trouble to steal blood from the superheroes' League so his dad (Dr. E) can make an anti-serum, but I was having a little trouble with the timing of giving him this blood and Dr. E making the anti-serum. And I realized tonight that obviously Evie stole a sample of the serum and gave it to Dr. E during the handy 3-week jump I added for pacing purposes. I had actually considered doing that at one point because I was playing with the idea of making my short story that inspired the whole anti-serum aspect of this novel canon, but couldn't justify skipping the vital process of getting Dr. E the serum to make the anti-serum. Now that part totally works.

Unfortunately, at the point that I decided I couldn't keep the short as a separate work, I started cannibalizing it, so now I could legitimately save it, but I have to revise out those parts, which are now kinda important.
 

mfarraday

Time Traveler
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2012
Messages
868
Reaction score
52
Location
Connecticut
The thing that has most surprised me about NaNoWriMo this time is that, compared to 2012, the last time I participated, my novel is almost finished, and I still have a clear handle on how the characters' storylines will play out, and I feel like the novel, whatever is unclear or 'broke' can be FIXED. In 2012, I did finish/win, but I was only a 1/3 of the way through the plot, I didn't have any clear ideas about where it was going/how it would end, and I simply stopped writing after Nov. 30th. This time I feel inspired to continue, and I don't feel confused about the storyline, and I feel like I am well able to see clearly what should stay and what should go, after I start editing. I'm much happier with my result. And I am so glad! Because I've been tossing around my ideas with regards to this storyline for almost 2 years. :D
 

meowzbark

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 22, 2012
Messages
1,188
Reaction score
142
Location
Arizona
I have figured out the specific events that will lead to the climatic scene. I don't know who the 'spy' is. I thought I did, but then that person confession cleared them of suspicion.
 

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,368
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
This is probably the first time I ever considered a dramatic betrayal/plot twist that I had the perfect opportunity to pull off, and then I decided to go in a different (nicer) direction.

I don't know, I'm kinda still considering it, though I suspect that if I keep going, I'll use this character in a way that will make me feel like I need her on the same side as him. I'm not sure if it's more important for him to feel like he's getting everything he wants before he falls at the end, or to have one of the first friends he ever made betray him a little before that. I'm past the point where that would have happened, at least during NaNo, so I'm just going to keep moving forward.
 

Mark Moore

Banned
Joined
Dec 22, 2011
Messages
1,041
Reaction score
39
Age
45
Location
Florida
I'm just surprised that I was able to bang out a 50,000-word novel in a month. That's insane for me. It usually takes me around half of a year to write a 3,000-5,000-word short story (of course, that involves lots of procrastination as well as lots of revising while I'm writing).

Another thing that has surprised me is how often that my characters have sex. Easy way to fill up the word count, I guess.

Now comes the hard part - revising it and making it presentable.
 

Becky Black

Writing my way off the B Ark
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 15, 2010
Messages
2,163
Reaction score
176
Location
UK
Website
beckyblack.wordpress.com
How take-charge Gabe turned out.
The sexy blonde lawyer who showed up in the last quarter of the book and was last seen heading off to get coffee and waffles with one of the supporting characters.
That time the villain groped one of the lead characters in a casino bathroom (where the hell did that come from?)