NANOWRIMO Tips and Tricks (Day Twenty One)

The Darkest Night

Today is the day where the hero must realize that there is nothing worse than what he is experiencing. The hero is now in the throes of the most uncomfortable time in his life. The hero has almost nothing left to live for and must battle through this moment with anything that remains in his body and his soul. This is a vital scene and one that suggests to the audience that he is done. It can’t get any worse.

The hero has to reach inside himself and come up with one last best idea that will save him and everyone that he is with. It is the time when he does his best thinking. It must not be contrived and it must not be something that the audience has seen coming either. He must do everything he can to think quickly as well, because he and his team of allies are almost done for. At this moment, that idea does not exist.

The audience must identify with the struggles of the character and then make a point to back him up int heir minds. They should be able to see exactly what he is going through and feel it as if they are right there with him. The hero must literally and figuratively give up. This is when he or she can do nothing at all to save themselves; they are almost giving in to fate. This proverbial giving in is what must be done to ensure that the audience sees the humanity and also the humility that the hero is experiencing. They must be able to see exactly what is going on with that character and they must also not be able to understand anything else that is happening.

The hero must be beaten and know it to actually get the lesson that they deserve. They may even have a divine answer. They must get the solution.

Take your hero to the depths. Take them to the worst possible place and let them have it. Let them get to the place where we can’t even identify them anymore. Take them to the worst moment in their lives.

By the end of today, we should be at 35,000 words and should be ready to move into the third part of our story. We will not yet get there, but we are definitely very close to moving that way. Keep up the good writing and have fun with it. You are the best!