I'm participating in my first NaNoWriMo -- National Novel Writing Month. During the month of November, writers take the challenge to pound out 50,000 words on a new manuscript. Things got off to a strong start -- my character bios were completed, the setting was coming to life and the plot points were bubbling. Then, it happened.

I got ahead of myself plot-wise and had to backtrack and create scenes to bridge the growing gap between the start and the middle. Not an insurmountable task, but as I moved chapters around and added scenes, the sequence of events became tangled in my brain. And, when that happens, there's only one solution: I must print out the pages. For some reason, that's the only way I can get the plot straight in my head again. While I'm not exactly 'wasting' paper -- because this is a must-do thing -- it still feels wasteful. But, it's unavoidable if I'm going to get the story on track and make it to my goal of 50,000 words.

At this point, there's no way to tell how much of what I write during November will be useable, but, so far, it's been a great exercise in stretching my comfort zone and keeping the momentum going.