Category: NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo – Day 30 + 3

Well, I’m still writing, though since the start of the grand children’s school holidays has arrived and I’m now the official child minder.

It’s just a constant job jeeping them fed, and amused (I’d like a dollar for every time they’ve said they’re bored) and it is making it difficult to write.

So, it is left to the wee small hours of the morning to get it done, and it is proceeding slowly.

Yesterday I hit a wall (not literally) and couldn’t progress any part of the story because my brain had ceased to work. That’s usually writer’s block or something like that, but it was a mental thing. I had three chapters on the go, and in writing a later one, I’d hoped it would fill in the gaps for the two prior chapters.

It did, eventually, and now it’s flowing again.

Until I get to that great white plain of nothingness, heading for the lookout.

For the bean counters, latest word count is 3,322 for a running total of 87,629.

Memories of the conversations with my cat – 66

As some may be aware, but many not, Chester, my faithful writing assistant, mice catcher, and general pain in the neck, passed away some months ago.

Recently I was running a series based on his adventures, under the title of Past Conversations with my cat.

For those who have not had the chance to read about all of his exploits I will run the series again from Episode 1

These are the memories of our time together…

This is Chester. He’s feeling very smug.

Our focus has mainly centred on getting the NaNoWriMo project done each day, but in between all of this, a number of issues have arisen.

The first, the Maple Leads, and what Chester calls my obsession with ice hockey.

He doesn’t get it. No one plays ice hockey in this country at the same level, and you can never find it mentioned anywhere, so why bother.

Besides he adds in his most cutting tone, they’re a bunch of losers.

So they’ve lost six games in a row and sacked the 50 million dollar coach, but…

To him it’s but nothing. Chester now refuses to watch the ice hockey with me, not until they win again. That 6-1 drubbing two games back was the start of the slide.

I tell him that we’re missing key players and with the newish lineup it takes time to work as a team.

Right.

So we move to God Friended Me.

What the hell is going on there. Miles and Cara are stumbling, with doubts seeded, Rakesh has just had his heart torn to shreds and the incoming Bishop is at a crossroads.

So, for a little early advice…

What’s going to happen to Miles and Cara?

Chester: I’m cynical, their the heart of the show, they won’t be forced apart. It’s all about the ratings.

What’s going to happen to Rakesh?

Chester: Draw out the angst for another 14 episodes, we’ll have to keep tuning on to see what happens.

And the bishop and his girlfriend?

Chester: Send them to another parish, they’re just a distraction we don’t need.

I’m inclined to agree with him.

Except about the Maple Leafs. They’re in Pheonix tomorrow, maybe with a new head coach they might pull off a miracle.

NaNoWriMo – Day 30 + 2

The story continues.

I have spent the last few days catching up with everything that didn’t get done during November, and find that only about half of what I wanted to do.

The in tray is about seven inches high, and daunting.

But I haven’t given up and I’m pressing forward and got another two chapters written, and a good start on another.

A direction I thought the story might go a week or so back now seems not to be the right way, and I’m outlining this and plot it’s impact on later storylines.

It’s like hitting a fork in the road, and you’re not sure which direction to take.

For the statisticians, a total of 3,141 words for the two days, making a total of 84,107.

How went my November

It went quickly. One minute it was the 1st and the next it was the 30th.

But then all NaNoWriMo Novembers seem to fly. Especially at the end when it seems you just posted the days work, and all of a sudden, it was the next day.

Because of the full commitment to the NaNo project, nothing else got done. IT didn’t mean that it wasn’t swirling around in my head, it was just there wasn’t enough time. Trying to maintain a social media presence, and write 3,000 words a day is impossible, so I had to abandon some of the social media tasks.

Now, I’m just exhausted.

Today I did something other than writing, a job that I’ve been meaning to get done for a while, finish painting the lounge room window frames. It’s not a large job, just time consuming, but it provided some relief from having to come up with new ideas for the story.

My NaNo project reached nearly 80,000 words for the month, and got to Chapter 55 of a planned 99. I had not expected it would take so many to cover the story. I am still working on it, and there will be updates throughout December.

As for everything that was on hold, work will recommence shortly.

NaNoWriMo – Day 30 +1

Yes, I know it’s over but the story isn’t.

So, while I have time before the festivities start, and I have to wrap endless presents, I’ll keep going and see how far I can get.

The story is still fresh in my mind and it would be a shame to stop.

Beside that, the bad witch is about to become really bad, and a man who thought he could trust her, discovers otherwise.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain, our intrepid questers are about to find the odds are really stacked against them.

Hold that thought.

Todays words, 2,478, for a running total of 80,966.

NaNoWriMo – Day 30

It’s over, but it’s not over.

To be honest I didn’t think I’d get this far, because it takes a lot of effort to syphon time away from everything else I have on my plate.

I wish I was a full time writer.

That sounds like the title to a song, doesn’t it.

But, like everyone else who is trying to manage and juggle everything they have going on, I’m no worse of than just about ever other writer that’s not selling a million books a year.

That would be great, eh? A million books!

One day.

Maybe.

But, this story will continue after the end date, because I’ve made a promise that by the end of the year I would have at the very least a readable draft for them to read (and be critical).

Phew.

Time for some rest, and pick it up tomorrow.

For the record, todays effort produced 2,958 words, for a 30 day total of 78,488 words. That’s 57 chapters out of a planned 99.

Getting there.

NaNoWriMo – Day 29

I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t achieve what I set out to achieve.

Just not everything I intended to achieve.

But, that’s the nature of writing.

Of course, had I set my sights on a book that needed only 50,000+ words I would have completed the novel by now, and that is the case for the last three years.

This year I set out to push myself and finish a novel that I have been hunting and pecking over for two or three years. It needed something like a NaNoWriMo to screw up the courage to make an attempt to finish it.

At the outset I failed to realise the story was not going to fit in the constraints of 50,000 words. To be honest I had no idea how long it would be, but all I had to do was to let the story tell itself.

It did.

And I discovered the characters didn’t want to fit into a small box, they wanted to grow, they wanted to change, each following a path they never expected to follow.

And I’ve been with them, and they still have a ways to go.

Tomorrow will not be the end of their story.

For the bean counters, todays word count is a little less than the last few days, some 2,641 words, for a running total of 75,530 words.

This is going to be some story when it’s finished!

NaNoWriMo – Day 28

In a mad rush to get the story finished, but that now won’t happen in the time frame.

I’m in the middle of the quest to recover the artifacts, and Marigold has so much more to learn about the realm and herself.

And I’ve notice a little of what’s happening in our world here is creeping into the story, and it seems to me that we never seem to learn from our mistakes.

Our leaders, that is. Given a chance to make a real change after a one in a hundred year event, they’re ignoring the possibilities, and trying to consolidate or improve their power over the people.

But I digress…

Some of my disappointment is spilling over, and I’ll to be careful to keep it out.

In my stories, there’s always a happy ending.

For the bean counters, todays word count is 3,226 words, not much less than yeaterday, for a running total of 72,839.

I suspect this story is not going to come out under 120,000, until the first edit of course.

NaNoWriMo – Day 26

A good day perhaps, for writing. I’m further advanced, but I don’t feel like I’m getting to where I need to be.

I guess it’s ‘welcome to the world of writing’.

Some stories can be written in 30 days. I’ve done it myself three years running.

But, taking on a more complex writing project, not that I thought it would be at the time, has taught me to respect an old adage my father used a lot, a long time ago:

Rome wasn’t built in a day

It’s not the only one he used, but it’s the one I remember.

This project will take more than thirty days. I often wondered why some writers took years to finish a book, and now I know definitively why.

Next year I’ll take on something a little lighter in subject matter, plan for the fifty or chapters, and get it done.

This is one that I should have tackled within the other eleven months.

Still, four days to go, and anything can happen!

For the statisticians, todays word count is 3,074, for a running total of 66,371. That, in itself, is a lot of words.

NaNoWriMo – Day 25

The end of the month is rapidly approaching, and I will be appealing to the time lords to extend the month by about 10 days.

In other words, it’s not going to be finished in the time allocated.

But…

I guess there will be some NaNoWriMo reports with a suffix of Day 100.

Only kidding, but it will take longer and I intend to persevere.

What takes the time is the little nuances of the characters and the story that crop up when you least expect it.

Anyway, onwards and upwards…

For the statisticians, todays word count is 2,877 for a running total of 63,297.