9,072

This is my second night really focusing on my novel, The Arctic Heart, for NaNoWriMo. On a goal of 50,000 words by the end of the month, I'm doing well, although it's going slower than I expected. Almost like because I know what the story is, I'm taking my time with it rather than writing whatever churns into my head.

I find it unfolding before me, still, going in directions I didn't expect, yet still ending up, at the end of a beat, where I intended and leading into the next. It's really great.

One of my main characters is Jonathan, a husband, father, farmer, former lawyer and first mate of a privateering ship during the Revolutionary War. Since I see this as a movie, I wanted to cast the parts so I could imagine the actions and dialogue as being assigned to an actor and not just a faceless presence in my mind. I mean, sure, the character would take form in my mind, but I wanted to do it this way.

As the picture above implies, Jonathan is played by James MacAvoy. Just wait till you see who plays the leading lady.

Excerpt:

The two friends are soon separated by the expanse between life and death, then life and undeath, then the quickly multiplying yards between them as Jonathan runs down the passageway until reaching the door, which he firmly shuts behind him. Soon his breath catches even with the normal rhythm of up and down in his chest and he realizes he is now the only man on deck and the only true man remaining on the ship. The storm crawls closer and the wind billows up in the sail. The wheel turns independent of any conscious handling, steering absently but necessarily away from home.