Past Characters

I said yesterday that I would elaborate further on the reasons why I love and hate writing with characters I've written with in the past, so this is my attempt.

Reasons why I love it:

1. I don't have to spend time getting to know the characters.
2. Because I already know them, I know how to make them talk to me.
3. Because I know how to make them talk to me, writer's block is not much of a concern.

All of this should bode well for NaNoWriMo. But, as you may have guessed, it does not always do so.

Reasons why I hate it:

1. Because I know the characters, my brain assumes details are not necessary.
2. Because of above stated assumption, I forget to add details about the characters, and sometimes their surroundings, too.
3. Because I forget to add these details, I end up with a less than stellar story.

Which equates to lesser word counts for NaNoWriMo. Lesser word counts = no 50K. No 50K = no win. No win =...

I think you get the idea.

But why does any of this matter if NaNoWriMo is about getting everything out without letting the inner editor that will be screaming take control (besides the obvious word count issue)? I'm not sure. What I do know is that the inner editor is already having a fit at the idea of not being allowed more than surface grammar and spelling errors for a month. Everything that comes out is going to be interesting.

NaNoWriMo Countdown: (including today) 3 days