This is weird. Keep in mind that this is my first "official" attempt at a novel. Or rather, one that I actually plan on finishing and have it plotted out almost to the end. So, with that in mind, maybe you'll understand my dilemma. I'm finding that I have NO clue how to switch from chapter to chapter. Where do I cut it off and where does the next one begin?

I guess it might be time to cut my losses for the evening since I'm REALLY tired and do a little bit of research. Maybe pull out a few of my books and see how different authors use chapter breaks. What's weird is that, from what I can recall, most chapters "appear" when there needs to be a big jump in sequence or a move to another character's point of view that just can't easily be explained. My story, maybe it's because I'm a short story writer at heart, would appear to flow relatively smooth from section to section. At least it seems to right now. Keep in mind that I'm tired. I could be completely off my rocker. LOL

Okay, this is seriously NOT important. I realize that now. However, I'm still stopping for the evening even though I'm short of my personal goal for the day. I "only" got 1788 words. Still, good enough for a NaNo goal. I'm coming up on the part of the story that sparked my imagination for this entire novel so I want to "be careful" with it. I at least want to be awake enough to picture it clearly in my mind. That's very important to me.

That does it. I'm tired. I'm heading to bed. Night!
 

Well, I did just what I threatened to do. I meandered off and took a nap this afternoon. I'm still a little groggy with a slight headache, but I'm more awake than I was earlier! I think I'll be able to sit down and focus on my book before too long. Whoo hoo! I have been checking up on my writing buddies out at the NaNo site and they're doing great! I need to send a message to a few of them and cheer them on some more. Sort of makes me a little sad as I fell behind not working on anything more yesterday. Oh, well. Hubby's working all night tonight. As long as I can get my kiddos to bed at a decent hour, I should be able to get quite a bit done before I go to bed. Key note: Go to bed at a decent hour. There is no taking naps tomorrow.

With that, I'm outta here! Wish me luck in continuing my journey to a finished rough draft of my first novel ever.
 

I can't believe how tired I am. It has nothing to do with my staying up late to work on my NaNo Novel. Nope. It had everything to do with my being stupid enough to pick up one of my favorite Sharon Shinn books. Oops. You know, reading during NaNo is a BAD idea. I'm almost finished with it though, does that count for anything? Unfortunately, I didn't get to bed until almost 4 or something this morning. Then, I had to get up at 8 to take hubby to work. He has a 24 hour shift and we figured I should have the car. Why oh why didn't I get to bed sooner? By now, you'd think that I could figure that out. If you have to get up early in the morning, get to bed at a decent hour. I tried, you know. However, when bedtime rolled around, I wasn't tired. At that point, I should have picked up my pen, or sat at my keyboard, and worked on my book. It just holds absolutely no interest for me anymore. I don't know what happened! All of a sudden, the idea I've worked so hard for, planning it out and getting the little plot points into place, just isn't interesting. I left my poor MC 'stranded' at the lodge. That's probably the problem. Well, maybe. I never could settle on a picture of the lodge. I never could figure out what I thought it should look like. So now, I'm struggling with trying to explain it through my character's eyes. I guess I should just flub my way through it and call it good. Though she will be interacting with it quite a bit later on. Dang it!

Maybe it's time to pull out my "free write" notebook and just write for 15 minutes. Not on anything important. Just as a way to organize my thoughts and maybe open up the gates to wherever my story is currently hiding. I think my biggest problem is that I'm exhausted. Maybe I should go take a little nap. If I could just wake up a little bit, I think that would help a lot.

Well, I'm going to head off for now. I like reading when I'm tired. I don't have to think... The author does it for me.