IT'S OVER !!!
11,000 words in three days to make up for lost time - but I did it! I'm on the distinguished list of NaNoWriMo Winners. Thanks for the support from three truly great writers and friends (you know who you are). It's been a tough month, guys. More later - I need to rest for a bit. Whew!
Yeeee---haaaaa!!!
Sorry about that title, but I feel like I'm riding a wild bucking stallion. Yes, that's right, folks - another 4,500 words today! The weird part is, it isn't half bad. I'm actually making an argument for a demon to enter our plane of existence, even though their nature is diametrically opposed to a human's. Of course, I could just be delirious and be typing out "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" over and over. I'll have to check, in the morning. Well, that leaves me with slightly less than 2,000 words to go. That means I can do a thoughtful job on my ending. Watch, there’ll be a power outage tomorrow and I’ll be forced to commit Seppuku. Maybe not.
Heading For the Finish
Didn't get as much done for NaNoWriMo, today, as I wanted to. But I did manage 4,500 words - which still keeps me in the running. Just 6,500 more to go in two days. Hey, no sweat (he said, sweating).
Winding Down
Well, it looks like I might be finished with NaNoWriMo by the end of this weekend (if I don't eat too much turkey). I'm glad to see that they exceeded their fund raising goal, too. You know, I even might consider doing this again, next year. For those who have never attempted this, I more than recommend it. At least, when I'm done, I can add to my short list of things that I actually finished (big time challenge-wise). Well, the holiday looms ahead. We'll see you, tomorrow...
Picking Up Speed
As we come down to the wire on NanNoWriMo, I find that my excitement level has picked up considerably. I think part of that is due to the way I paced my writing. I stayed away from complex descriptors and focused mostly on the main plot points. That means that, right now, I'm actually coming to the climax of the story. Everything is now shifting into real time (like the TV show "24"). Once the conclusion is reached, I can end my novel, collect my 50,000 word win and then go back to edit, as I please. The bonus is that I think I have an actual viable story worth enhancing. 14,000 more words to go. That's 3,000 a day with a 3 day cushion. Time to move into high gear.
Up and Running
Well, I have 9 days to do 17,000 words. Not too shabby, I can cruise at 3,000 words a day through Wednesday. That will leave me with a light load to finish off by Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday will be a buffer. This has been a remakable experience. To tell you the truth, I feel motivated to try to get everything done as soon as possible. We'll see.
Winding Down the Week
Today was a ridiculous day at work. So much so, that I seriously had a hard time focusing to do my writing. Therefore, I only ended up with about 2700 words done instead of my intended 3,000. The good news is that I'm finally caught up and slightly ahead of the game count wise. It's time for a little rest and playtime session with the new dog.
Tough Day
Today was a really difficult one, at work. This placed a lot on my mind and I didn't think I was going to get my writing completely done. But I truly amazed myself and completed my 3,000 words. I cheated a bit, though. I had to break away from any dialog and jump into a narrative (which always goes faster). I'm glad that tommorrow will see me break away from the 20's to past the 30,000 mark. This is a good thing.
Keep on Truckin'
Another 3,000 words and I've sprinted past the half way point only a day late! Not to worry, though. At this pace, I'll be well ahead of the game by Friday. I've got to build some serious cushion in case I'm slowed down by a random turkey dinner, next week. I can feel one out there, wielding it's arsenal of mash potatoes, candied yams and cranberry sauce. It's a trap, I know. But I suspect the family is plotting against me. No matter. I'll pay them back with endless references to NaNoWriMo! They'll be sorry,
then, I tell you. Yes. Yes,
indeed...
It's All ComingTogether
Another good writing day for NaNoWriMo. I'm keeping to my 3,000 word a day schedule, in order to get back in the running. It's working out just fine. All the plot holes have been patched and all the loose ends have been tied. Now, it's just one nice revelation after another. I've gotten past the point where I say to myself "just another 500 words" to the point where I don't want to stop at any one point because I want not only to finish a train of thought, but start the next one. Good times. At work, we're on overtime till the Thanksgiving holidays. That doesn't leave much time for anything else but writing and bodily functions. When December gets here, I suspect that I will suddently be faced with free time that I used to waste. I bet I'll start filling it with more valuable pursuits.
Moving Into High Gear
This weekend was seriously filled with distactions. First, I was sick. Really sick. Then, on Friday, we got (or rather my 11 year old got) a new puppy. My wife's mom bought bought it for her as an early Christmas present. The lady they had spoken to, had a Bijon Frize for sale for $300. I had mentioned to my wife that I really wanted a Shih Tzu (I've owned two in my life), so she casually asked the woman if she knew of anyone selling them. Amazingly,
she was (!) She had a recent litter that she was going to put in the classified ads the very next day (!!) We asked her how much she was selling them for and she told us $350 (!!!) I haven't seen a price like that in years. So now we have an adorable female shih tzu named Mei Ling.
So, anyway, the best I was able to do with my NaNoWriMo novel was make a few key plot changes and a few edits, here and there - which put me behind. The good news is that the cahnges have put the story on a much faster track and today I knocked out 3,000 words. Since I've decided to keep this as my new daily goal, I'll be caught up in no time flat. On to the finish!
I'll be back
Whew, that was a doozy. My daughter had the same thing. Some type of 24 hr Intestinal Virus. I guess I used my weekly NaNoWriMo day off on that one. But no problem, I'll make it up over the weekend!
Sick
Wow. I'm sick as a dog. Had to go home early from work. Some kind of stomach virus thing (it's been going around). But I
still managed 2,000 words! I don't know how I did that.
Running With the Monsters
Here it is, the close of day 8 of NaNoWriMo and I'm back in the fast lane. I'm not sure what it says about me, but every time I feel myself slowing down, I just kick the creepy stuff up a notch and everything is just fine. Talk about going off on a tangent, though. I've gone from a straightforward "girl meets ghoul" type of tale to a murder investigation. Now, it's a battle of demons taking place in a 16th century Native American village that sets the backdrop for all the events that occur in our present. I had to do a couple of small revisions to the beginning of
that scenario to make it all fit, logically ("logically"?). Anyway, I'm just glad this stuff hasn't invaded my dreams, yet. Hmmmm.
A Day Off Did Me Some Good
I got back in the swing of things, today, after a day off. I was concerned about getting back into the groove and I'll admit, the first 10% of my daily 2,000 words was a little rough. However, today, I found myself focusing on more of the essence of the horror angle of the story - which is the way I want it. I want it to continue to build instead of periodically lapsing into more character development. I can always add that on the front end, later. Right now, I need the true horror story-telling that comes from the gut, like a nightmare, while I still have the creative juices flowing. Besides, who wants to read a "horror" story without any horror?
20 Percent and I'm Off
Sheesh, I had to work, today. But the good news is that I completed 10,005 words in NaNoWriMo and as such, I've earned a day off. Which I'm taking. Things are looking up!
Now, We're Cookin'
Today was a little easier in the NaNoWriMo dept. I think I'm getting in the groove and the novel seems to writing itself, at this point. I'm a little more motivated to focus on quality since one of the young ladies, at work (an Engineering tech), was very interested in seeing an excerpt from the part of the novel that focused on a character based on her. Oddly enough, I had hit the nail on the head and highlighted something that actually was a reflection of an event in her life. She liked it and told me I should definitely continue on. Man, that felt good.
And here I thought day 2 was tough
Day 3 of NaNoWriMo and I'm beat. Today was a bit of a struggle since my 2nd in command, at work, took a day off. My 3rd in command did a great job, but it still left me with a bunch of extra duties to take up the slack. Getting in those precious minutes on breaks, lunch ,etc. was tough and the writing, I'll admit, was a bit forced. But I still hit my goal of 2000 words a day and you know, I feel really good about that. This is an experience every writer should try at least once. Sort of like B-fest.
Hear My Train A'Comin'
Day two of the NaNoWriMo. I’m truly surprising myself. After keeping track of my word per minute count, I came to realization that I can hammer out 500 words in 40 minutes stretched out over the evening in various odd sections of time. Hmmm – didn’t think I could do that. That’s good to know if I ever decide to jump off the train at the end of NaNoWriMo and continue on foot to some hellacious volume of Internet ramblings. Why, I could even turn out to be another Ken Begg or James Lileks! Yes! Then I'll learn to play guitar like Jimi Hendrix! Just kidding folks. Obviously, the effort has made me delusional. Oh well, back to work…
Off and Running
First day of NaNoWriMo. How nice, it’s also a hellish day at work and my family didn’t let me get my full night’s\morning’s rest (I work nights). And I have to work overtime. I love it when things come together. But you know what, in between the cracks of the work night hours, I actually managed to hammer out 2000 words. How? You got me. I thinks it’s just latent hostility since I’m using people I work with for characters in the story. I plan on killing a few of them off. Check out the
excerpt if you wish.
