Writing update! (help i'm behind in nano prep)

 So ummmmmm I fell majorly behind on NaNoWriMo prep? And I'm going on a 4-day vacation the day this post goes up? Fun times, fun times.

So here's the rundown: You know how I've been editing Robbing Centaurs and Other Bad Ideas(aka RCOBI), for like 9 months now? Yeah. That's partially because editing is a thing and a time-consuming thing at that, and partly because I, yes I, the total perfectionist and screwer up of things, majorly screwed up the plot structure. It's probably due for even more edits after NaNoWriMo is over, but I'm trying not to think about that.

Because all the plot structure stuff has been so tricky and such a pain in the rear end, I'm super determined to do the plot structure right this time around. I want to get it right, so that the editing on this one will require less work. And it still might require a ton of work. I dunno. But I want to minimize my pain later on if I can.

Thus my huge amounts of plot work I've been doing. But here's the problem: I knew I was going to do a more focused, more in-depth job of pre-plotting, and I didn't provide myself extra time to do it.

At the beginning of October, you know, I thought I had all the time in the world. I wasted whole days just working on little things and then taking the rest of the day off and whatever. Sure, the character profiles were a little more challenging, but I thought I had plenty of time for plotting.

PSYCH.

Obviously, I did not have enough time. I started plotting my novel using K.M. Weiland's Creating Character Arcs book(very in depth, super helpful, highly recommend), and also some of Abby Emmon's videos on the 3 act structure. All this has armed me with knew and helpful knowledge, but also new struggles! How fun! I've spent more than a few days since I started plotting last Thursday on just trying to figure out what can happen at this plot point that fits the criteria. I've gotten stuck multiple times. 

But the good news is I'm in the home stretch! I might not have made it past the 3rd plot point yet, and I might not have worked on anything for NaNoWriMo other than the plot structure, the chapters might not have names yet, but we're doing pretty good! Hopefully when I get back from vacation I'll still feel this confident!

Anyway there's my writing update. How's nano prep going for you? If you're not doing nano, how's other writing? Are the holidays approaching faster than is comfortable for you too? Twinsies! See ya on Tuesday for another post.