Fiddling (as if I know anything about that)

I can plan out a series of events that I hope will move the plot forward and not leave the reader snoozing. But I can't plan out the small details, the texture of context, that seem to come out of nowhere. Like today's complex color-coded guest list for the restaurant opening. I've never color-coded a guest list myself, I've never seen a color-coded guest list, so why did that flow naturally? Because J.B. (my character) color-codes her lists that way, like she's done a hundred times before. Possession, that's all I can offer in explanation.

Of course, as the Dow drops below 8000 NaNoWriMo feels a little like fiddling while Rome burns. But then again, if we're all going to be out of work, we might as well be writing novels around the bonfires together!