NaNoWriMo – Days 20-23

My novel is at 41,347 words now. I’m averaging about 1800 words per day, on pace to hit 50K words on November 28. I recently decided to tackle the most challenging part, which was to figure out the Q factor and how I’m going to end the story in Act 3. I opted to just start writing to see what came through even though I didn’t have a good idea when I started. What is the Q factor? The Q factor is a reference to the Q character in James Bond. It’s when Bond is given some gadget early in the story that he can use to escape a difficult trap later on, like a pen that houses a laser beam that can cut through bars. Q is the character who gives him those gadgets. A Q factor in a story is a callback to something earlier that the main character can use to solve a major problem later on. An example is when Obi-wan reminds Luke to “use the force” while attacking the Death Star in Star Wars. I’ll have to toss out most of what I wrote for this part, but it led me to see a better way to frame the story so I can bring it to a strong and compelling close. I’d been considering a certain change for a while but wasn’t sure if I should do it, but now I think it’s the right way to go. I basically have to change up which character I define as the protagonist. There are two main characters who are in almost every scene together, so the previous scenes I wrote still work regardless of which character I intend to be the protagonist. But I’m only seeing a g...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Lifestyle Source Type: blogs