My stories duked it out this week.

I hit 32k words on the NaNo project before finally caving in and giving up on it. I still think there’s a fine novel in there waiting to be told, but it takes trial and error to get there. NaNo is great for that, but by the time I reached 32k, I realized I was exhausted and didn’t want to fight with the story anymore. Moreover, I didn’t know how to fix it (a week later, with some distance and clarity, I have an idea of how to approach it on the next try, but that’s another post).

So I took the easy way out and worked on another project, one I’ve toyed with every now and then but never really pursued.

I am liking it.

The decision to stop on a project is a very personal one; every writer will approach it differently. Some will stick it out with the thing they’re working on until the bitter end. I’ve done this before, and it’s just…it’s exhausting. I’ve got other things to do, and didn’t feel like wrangling with a story that wasn’t working. Hence the switch.

I still consider it a win-win situation. I learned something about one WIP and gained a lot of ground on another. Can’t beat that.

As for this new project, it’s been a great deal of fun thus far. Won’t say anything else…