Month: November 2016 Page 1 of 3

I thought 4000 words would be simple. After all, I’d just written 9000. What’s another 4000?

Ha.

Found myself stuck. I had killed off the characters, then brought them back from the dead (spoiler!), and everyone is now happy as they head back to the air ship.

Now what?

Spent awhile trying to figure out where to go from there. Surely there was more story to be told, but what exactly? Played with potential unintended consequences of bringing back the dead, and came up with some intriguing options. My biggest concern was making sure that the ending was happy, since some of the consequences could take the story in decidedly unhappy directions. Found an answer and got inspired to start writing again.

Not a fantastic word count day, but definitely headed in the right direction.

Writing sessions today:

15″ – 504 words

15″ – 330 words

Total novel writing time so far: 1345 minutes (22 hours 25 minutes)

Total novel word count so far: 47660 words

So I gave it a go today and attempted to catch up to where I should have been if I had been writing at a steady, regular pace. I needed 7827 words to catch up.

Mission accomplished and surpassed: 9212 words!

This means I have less than 4000 words to write over the next two days to complete the 50,000 words in 30 days challenge.

I can’t rest easy quite yet, but the end is definitely in sight. It should be a simple coast to the finish line now, which is a relief.

Today’s highlights: killing off the main and supporting characters (!), Maddy’s epiphany, and this bit:

“I love you,” she said.

The Captain frowned. “Not yet, you don’t. Let’s go.”

It’s not exactly Han Solo/Princess Leia at the carbonite freezing facility, but it comes close for me.

Now I just have to figure out the ending, which will most likely feature tears, joy, ridiculous hats, and a teaser for a follow-up story.

Just two more days to go. Woo hoo!

Writing sessions today:

55″ – 1382 words

20″ – 697 words

20″ – 522 words

6″ – 214 words (really needed to eat lunch)

30″ – 1003 words

15″ – 522 words

45″ – 1379 words

43″ – 1271 words

30″ – 1001 words

45″ – 1221 words

(for a total of 5 hours and 9212 words)

Total novel writing time so far: 1624 minutes (27 hours 4 minutes)

Total novel word count so far: 46826 words

Time is rapidly running out with November 30 looming ever so darkly . . .

Wrote 2157 words in just over an hour, which is not bad, and at least puts some more words in the proverbial bucket. Tomorrow looks to be a bear if I’m going to try to catch up (10,000 words in a day? Sure! <choke, gasp>) and have any hope of finishing the 50,000 words by midnight on Wednesday.

I’m torn—do I nearly kill myself trying to finish before the official deadline, or do I accept that Life Happens and continue to work at a more human pace (figuring I’ll finish by next weekend)? Regardless, it will take less than thirty writing days to complete the first draft, so there’s something to be said for that. At the same time, I’m wanting to have this draft DONE so I can get back to other projects that have been suspended (like publishing that flash fiction collection). And getting the Nanowrimo “WINNER” badge wouldn’t hurt my feelings.

Decision, decisions.

The only surprise today was actually getting some time to write.

Writing session today:

65″ – 2157 words

Total novel writing time so far: 1315 minutes (21 hours 55 minutes)

Total novel word count so far: 37614 words

And we’re heading into the final days. Spent an hour-ish while baking oatmeal-cranberry cookies to work on plotting out the rest of the novel. Four dozen cookies later (baked, not eaten), I tackled the Catch Up Day: 4102 words in two hours. I was hoping 7000, but I’ll take 4000.

Today’s surprises: Maddy started healing folks a little earlier than I had planned, and our Captain was shot (and killed?). Not sure how well this will work with that planned out plot from earlier . . .

Writing sessions today:

20″ – 713 words

15″ – 517 words

15″ – 505 words

15″ – 500 words

15″ – 503 words

15″ – 533 words

25″ – 831 words

Total novel writing time so far: 1250 minutes (20 hours 50 minutes)

Total novel word count so far: 35457 words

Not much to say today. Just trying to get some words in so this isn’t Excruciatingly Painful come the end of the month when I’m trying to catch up. Surprise for the day: our fearless heroes end up skydiving (I really didn’t see that coming!).

Writing sessions today:

35″ – 1066 words

Total novel writing time so far: 1130 minutes (18 hours 50 minutes)

Total novel word count so far: 31355 words

Ugh. I don’t want to write* and I’m doing anything I can to avoid it**, including finding a new dentist (which if you know anything about me, you know how much I detest dentists, so to actively choose to research them and then schedule an appointment—yeah, this is way worse than dusting).

Some say that hitting the Wall where you don’t want to write, or are severly procrastinating, is a Good Sign that your subconscious is afraid of writing and revealing some part of yourself you’d rather keep hidden. That is generally the Good Stuff, but the subconscious wants to protect you by not exposing that to the world, so you end up doing Anything Else, anything besides writing.

I’d like a break from writing, but given the time constraints (thanks, Nano!) I can’t afford to NOT write, and I don’t want to count on having many more 7,000+ word count days because, well you know, Life Happens. So contingency planning, for writing. Which means Butt in Chair, fingers on keyboard, timer running.

Back to the word mines now . . .

Writing sessions today:

25″ – 792 words (painful)

20″ – 233 words (fairly excruciating)

Total novel writing time so far: 1095 minutes (18 hours 15 minutes)

Total novel word count so far: 30289 words

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*This is not exactly unexpected because doing anything this intensively will often cause that “can I just go home now?” thought. Especially when you are half-way through and you realize just how far you still have to go. <sigh>

To be fair, this may also be a result of lack of sleep. Curse Dancing with the Stars and their season finale being 2 WHOLE NIGHTS, and making me stay up way past my bedtime. Seriously, can they not wait until December (i.e. when Nanowrimo is over) to do their epic finales?

BTW, James Hinchcliffe totally should have won. Laurie Hernandez was great, but Hinchcliffe was breathtakingly amazing.

**Like create a draft cover in GIMP, which is a completely different animal from Photoshop. I don’t care what they say—GIMP is a very different mindset from Photoshop. And can I just say: if you want to compete against Photoshop, why the hell would you use different keyboard shortcuts? I’m talking to you “Crop”! (Photoshop = “C”; GIMP = “Shift + C” because “C” = “clone”. Who uses clone more than crop? BAH!)

Avoiding writing? I don’t know what you’re talking about . . .

It’s time to get Maddy up to speed with fighting, so we need a Montage! Unfortunately I’m not sure how to handle that with the written word (as opposed to a two minute movie scene). Dang.

Took our girl from her “OMG Teh World Has Totally Changed” reeling to some kick-ass (mostly hers) training. The Matrix made it all seem so easy with just a simple software upload. Will try to make a go of it with the mysterious stone in Maddy’s possession. As usual, I have no idea how it works, other than it has to because I can’t imagine getting a 20 year-old woman up to serious damage-creating ability in thirty minutes of training without some sort of magical doohicky. This should get interesting.

Writing sessions today:

20″ – 595 words

20″ – 696 words

15″ – 393 words

Total novel writing time so far: 1050 minutes (17 hours 30 minutes)

Total novel word count so far: 29264 words (almost 30k!)

And another lesson re-learned today: Don’t write with the TV on.

I have run into this issue before where I want to be part of the family happenings, but need to get some words written, so I figure I can just sit on the couch and do my thing with Life Happening around me. Often I can get so focused on writing that I block out what’s around me.

Apparently not so much when the TV is on. And especially not so much when you now have a bunch of new TV channels* that come in very nicely because your Dear One installed a TV antenna on the roof, so of course you have to go through all the channels seeing what you have that’s new.**

Note to self: When writing, do so in solitude. Or a coffee shop. (Not much difference there, really.)

The story is moving ever so slowly forward, as evidenced by writing 1420 words in 50 minutes (about my slowest pace to date—see note about the TV). But now that we have Changed the World for our heroine (i.e. turned everything she thought she knew on its head), we can start moving toward the Great*** and Final Ending. Whatever that will be.

Writing sessions today:

50″ – 1420 words

Total novel writing time so far: 995 minutes (16 hours 35 minutes)

Total novel word count so far: 27590 words

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*We don’t have cable television, so everything is over-the-air broadcast and has been limited by what reception we could get through wet tree leaves. Which is to say, we only had about seven channels that occasionally came in.

**Which in our house means syndicated reruns of Roger Moore in “The Saint,” Bill Bixby in “The Incredible Hulk,” and Lynda Carter in “Wonder Woman,” with the occasional “Love Boat” and “The A-Team” thrown in for good measure. Gotta love the 80’s (and 70’s and 60’s).

***Well, “Great” in terms of it being the Big/Significant ending. Not that the writing will be great. That I sorely doubt.

We’re approaching the midway point, so it’s time in the story to reveal information that will Change Everything for our heroine. That brother I didn’t have planned (just the three sisters initially in the family)? Yeah, he is now going to play a major role. And in the process of trying to figure him/story out, I learned some further details about his and Maddy’s relationship (ever have a closer relationship to one family member than another? something similar to that). And with near-death experiences, people’s motives can certainly change . . .

Fewer words today (1596), but Life Happened, so I am grateful for the words I did get. Having now crossed the halfway point, it’s all downhill from here. Theoretically.

Writing sessions today:

25″ – 1096 words

20″ – 470 words (in longhand – takes longer than typing)

5″ – 30 words (in longhand, again)

Total novel writing time so far: 945 minutes (15 hours 45 minutes)

Total novel word count so far: 26170 words

The story is continuing along. I’m still having the initial issues of putting butt in chair and writing, but I’m also finding that if I have a plan for the writing session (500 words = characters do this, 500 words = characters do that), then it’s much easier and less scary to write.

There’s probably a life lesson in there. <sigh>

Wrote close to 2000 words in close to an hour. A slightly slower pace than of late, but still respectable. I wasn’t sure about the details of the Super Secret Weapon (and still am not sure), but the fuel source is certainly clearer and the ramifications quite startling. What will our heroes do? Again, I have no idea. Okay, I do, but it’s along the lines of “attack Big Bad, suffer major setback”. I guess some details might be good.

Writing sessions today:

40″ – 1050 words

25″ – 926 words PANTS ON FIRE!

Total novel writing time so far: 895 minutes (14 hours 55 minutes)

Total novel word count so far: 24574 words