Category: NaNoWriMo

A score to settle – The Editor’s draft – Day 31

I have the story, the editor is asking for it, and I’m putting the final touches to it

…

Now the pressure to write each day is over, I can take my time over the last chapters of the story.

I took the day off yesterday and spent a little time staring at the ceiling. Well, that’s my euphemism for mentally going over the story so far in my head.

I know I’m guilty of writing chapters instead of pages, and pages instead of paragraphs, so already I can see some parts of the story could do with a bit of editing, but that’s not my focus yet.

For the last few days I’ve had big band music running around in my head, and it came to me that the ball preceding the conference should have a big band playing all of those songs from the 1940s, and, in particular, Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman, In the Mood by Glenn Miller, and a few others.

Listening to it has been inspirational.

The ending has changed, and now it focuses on the two main characters. I’ve given up the notion of exacting revenge, and gone for a more happier ending if that is possible after a rebel revolt. We’ll all have to wait and see if it succeeds, who comes out on top, and whether there are any casualties.

Certainly, there will be one person who will reappear like a messiah, a man thought to be dead at the hands of the military. More than one person has said they should have killed him rather than keep him prisoner, and a few more glad that they didn’t kill him.

And like all good authors, I’m trying to write an ending that leads into a sequel, though how I can top a revolution might be just a little difficult.

And although the word count is low for two days of work, a lot of other work has gone into changing the plan, and the ending, as well as a host of notes for changes in the middle, to accommodate the ending. I might just get around to writing a white paper on ‘how to capture airports and media stations for the purpose of taking over a country’ by the end of this project.

…

Today’s word count: 2,724 words, for a running total of 87,901.

A score to settle – The Editor’s draft – Day 30

I have the story, the editor is asking for it, and I’m putting the final touches to it

…

Tis the last day, but not the last day, if that makes sense.

I did not get the story done in the 30 days, but I did knock a big hole in it. All 85,177 words of it.

I did not anticipate the story would go that long, or consider that it might even be longer, say, around 100,000 words.

But, this is what happens when the story tells itself, going down narrow alleys and ending up in dark corners you never anticipated at the start.

That and the fact the characters evolve, and some even begin to start stealing the show and have to be reigned in.

It’s been an enjoyable journey though, and fun to write, but after I’ve got the first draft done, there is going to be a 6-month hiatus because so many other projects got put on hold so I could get this done.

And fortunately, at this time, we have the perfect weather for writing, continuous rain, so it makes it easy not to regret not going out.

There will be further updates through December, until the book is done.

But, for now, it is done!

…

Today’s word count: 3,784 words, for the running total of 85,177.

A score to settle – The Editor’s draft – Day 31

I have the story, the editor is asking for it, and I’m putting the final touches to it

…

Now the pressure to write each day is over, I can take my time over the last chapters of the story.

I took the day off yesterday and spent a little time staring at the ceiling. Well, that’s my euphemism for mentally going over the story so far in my head.

I know I’m guilty of writing chapters instead of pages, and pages instead of paragraphs, so already I can see some parts of the story could do with a bit of editing, but that’s not my focus yet.

For the last few days I’ve had big band music running around in my head, and it came to me that the ball preceding the conference should have a big band playing all of those songs from the 1940s, and, in particular, Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman, In the Mood by Glenn Miller, and a few others.

Listening to it has been inspirational.

The ending has changed, and now it focuses on the two main characters. I’ve given up the notion of exacting revenge, and gone for a more happier ending if that is possible after a rebel revolt. We’ll all have to wait and see if it succeeds, who comes out on top, and whether there are any casualties.

Certainly, there will be one person who will reappear like a messiah, a man thought to be dead at the hands of the military. More than one person has said they should have killed him rather than keep him prisoner, and a few more glad that they didn’t kill him.

And like all good authors, I’m trying to write an ending that leads into a sequel, though how I can top a revolution might be just a little difficult.

And although the word count is low for two days of work, a lot of other work has gone into changing the plan, and the ending, as well as a host of notes for changes in the middle, to accommodate the ending. I might just get around to writing a white paper on ‘how to capture airports and media stations for the purpose of taking over a country’ by the end of this project.

…

Today’s word count: 2,724 words, for a running total of 87,901.

A score to settle – The Editor’s draft – Day 31

I have the story, the editor is asking for it, and I’m putting the final touches to it

…

Now the pressure to write each day is over, I can take my time over the last chapters of the story.

I took the day off yesterday and spent a little time staring at the ceiling. Well, that’s my euphemism for mentally going over the story so far in my head.

I know I’m guilty of writing chapters instead of pages, and pages instead of paragraphs, so already I can see some parts of the story could do with a bit of editing, but that’s not my focus yet.

For the last few days I’ve had big band music running around in my head, and it came to me that the ball preceding the conference should have a big band playing all of those songs from the 1940s, and, in particular, Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman, In the Mood by Glenn Miller, and a few others.

Listening to it has been inspirational.

The ending has changed, and now it focuses on the two main characters. I’ve given up the notion of exacting revenge, and gone for a more happier ending if that is possible after a rebel revolt. We’ll all have to wait and see if it succeeds, who comes out on top, and whether there are any casualties.

Certainly, there will be one person who will reappear like a messiah, a man thought to be dead at the hands of the military. More than one person has said they should have killed him rather than keep him prisoner, and a few more glad that they didn’t kill him.

And like all good authors, I’m trying to write an ending that leads into a sequel, though how I can top a revolution might be just a little difficult.

And although the word count is low for two days of work, a lot of other work has gone into changing the plan, and the ending, as well as a host of notes for changes in the middle, to accommodate the ending. I might just get around to writing a white paper on ‘how to capture airports and media stations for the purpose of taking over a country’ by the end of this project.

…

Today’s word count: 2,724 words, for a running total of 87,901.

A score to settle – The Editor’s draft – Day 31

I have the story, the editor is asking for it, and I’m putting the final touches to it

…

Now the pressure to write each day is over, I can take my time over the last chapters of the story.

I took the day off yesterday and spent a little time staring at the ceiling. Well, that’s my euphemism for mentally going over the story so far in my head.

I know I’m guilty of writing chapters instead of pages, and pages instead of paragraphs, so already I can see some parts of the story could do with a bit of editing, but that’s not my focus yet.

For the last few days I’ve had big band music running around in my head, and it came to me that the ball preceding the conference should have a big band playing all of those songs from the 1940s, and, in particular, Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman, In the Mood by Glenn Miller, and a few others.

Listening to it has been inspirational.

The ending has changed, and now it focuses on the two main characters. I’ve given up the notion of exacting revenge, and gone for a more happier ending if that is possible after a rebel revolt. We’ll all have to wait and see if it succeeds, who comes out on top, and whether there are any casualties.

Certainly, there will be one person who will reappear like a messiah, a man thought to be dead at the hands of the military. More than one person has said they should have killed him rather than keep him prisoner, and a few more glad that they didn’t kill him.

And like all good authors, I’m trying to write an ending that leads into a sequel, though how I can top a revolution might be just a little difficult.

And although the word count is low for two days of work, a lot of other work has gone into changing the plan, and the ending, as well as a host of notes for changes in the middle, to accommodate the ending. I might just get around to writing a white paper on ‘how to capture airports and media stations for the purpose of taking over a country’ by the end of this project.

…

Today’s word count: 2,724 words, for a running total of 87,901.

A score to settle – The Editor’s draft – Day 30

I have the story, the editor is asking for it, and I’m putting the final touches to it

…

Tis the last day, but not the last day, if that makes sense.

I did not get the story done in the 30 days, but I did knock a big hole in it. All 85,177 words of it.

I did not anticipate the story would go that long, or consider that it might even be longer, say, around 100,000 words.

But, this is what happens when the story tells itself, going down narrow alleys and ending up in dark corners you never anticipated at the start.

That and the fact the characters evolve, and some even begin to start stealing the show and have to be reigned in.

It’s been an enjoyable journey though, and fun to write, but after I’ve got the first draft done, there is going to be a 6-month hiatus because so many other projects got put on hold so I could get this done.

And fortunately, at this time, we have the perfect weather for writing, continuous rain, so it makes it easy not to regret not going out.

There will be further updates through December, until the book is done.

But, for now, it is done!

…

Today’s word count: 3,784 words, for the running total of 85,177.

A score to settle – The Editor’s draft – Day 29

I have the story, the editor is asking for it, and I’m putting the final touches to it

…

I’m not going to get this finished, but there is an upside.

After writing the latest parts to the story, it gave me a sense of how it is going to end.

This story is probably the first where I had the end written before it started, a novel idea to writing stories, and it’s good to realize that after neatly 80,000 words, the end ties up the story exactly the way I wanted it to end.

It’s just what happens between the beginning and the end changed a lot during the month.

I dropped out the revenge part, which became a short story in itself, so it will be told later in a novella, and it made sense to stick to the original plan, the main character starts out as the protector, and is slowly drawn into the revolution.

He doesn’t have an active role in it, just maintaining a presence in the background, until Teresa forces his hand.

The rest, well, you’ll have to read the story when it’s finished. Tomorrow I’m going to try and write a blurb, that will give the reader some idea of what the story is about.

…

Today’s word count: 2,088 words, for the running total of 81,393.

A score to settle – The Editor’s draft – Day 30

I have the story, the editor is asking for it, and I’m putting the final touches to it

…

Tis the last day, but not the last day, if that makes sense.

I did not get the story done in the 30 days, but I did knock a big hole in it. All 85,177 words of it.

I did not anticipate the story would go that long, or consider that it might even be longer, say, around 100,000 words.

But, this is what happens when the story tells itself, going down narrow alleys and ending up in dark corners you never anticipated at the start.

That and the fact the characters evolve, and some even begin to start stealing the show and have to be reigned in.

It’s been an enjoyable journey though, and fun to write, but after I’ve got the first draft done, there is going to be a 6-month hiatus because so many other projects got put on hold so I could get this done.

And fortunately, at this time, we have the perfect weather for writing, continuous rain, so it makes it easy not to regret not going out.

There will be further updates through December, until the book is done.

But, for now, it is done!

…

Today’s word count: 3,784 words, for the running total of 85,177.

A score to settle – The Editor’s draft – Day 30

I have the story, the editor is asking for it, and I’m putting the final touches to it

…

Tis the last day, but not the last day, if that makes sense.

I did not get the story done in the 30 days, but I did knock a big hole in it. All 85,177 words of it.

I did not anticipate the story would go that long, or consider that it might even be longer, say, around 100,000 words.

But, this is what happens when the story tells itself, going down narrow alleys and ending up in dark corners you never anticipated at the start.

That and the fact the characters evolve, and some even begin to start stealing the show and have to be reigned in.

It’s been an enjoyable journey though, and fun to write, but after I’ve got the first draft done, there is going to be a 6-month hiatus because so many other projects got put on hold so I could get this done.

And fortunately, at this time, we have the perfect weather for writing, continuous rain, so it makes it easy not to regret not going out.

There will be further updates through December, until the book is done.

But, for now, it is done!

…

Today’s word count: 3,784 words, for the running total of 85,177.

A score to settle – The Editor’s draft – Day 29

I have the story, the editor is asking for it, and I’m putting the final touches to it

…

I’m not going to get this finished, but there is an upside.

After writing the latest parts to the story, it gave me a sense of how it is going to end.

This story is probably the first where I had the end written before it started, a novel idea to writing stories, and it’s good to realize that after neatly 80,000 words, the end ties up the story exactly the way I wanted it to end.

It’s just what happens between the beginning and the end changed a lot during the month.

I dropped out the revenge part, which became a short story in itself, so it will be told later in a novella, and it made sense to stick to the original plan, the main character starts out as the protector, and is slowly drawn into the revolution.

He doesn’t have an active role in it, just maintaining a presence in the background, until Teresa forces his hand.

The rest, well, you’ll have to read the story when it’s finished. Tomorrow I’m going to try and write a blurb, that will give the reader some idea of what the story is about.

…

Today’s word count: 2,088 words, for the running total of 81,393.