I've been so busy organizing things over on my local Wrimos' group blog that I've been neglecting things over here on my personal account of the experience. Oops.
I crossed 50K on the 15th of November -- then promptly took a week off from my NaNo story. It's not finished yet, it's just taking a back seat to term papers and studying for final exams for a couple of weeks. Once I'm finished with school for the term, I'll get back into a good rhythm on the story and expect to have a draft finished by the end of December. Then it's editing time!
As for my ongoing battle with Reliance: it's still nowhere. The latest bill they sent me finally had all of the correct initial charges on it -- plus a late payment fee for my not having paid one of their earlier, incorrect bills, which they'd assured me would be reversed! Renting one's water heater is supposed to be the "hassle-free" way of doing it, no? Anyhow... I've sent them a long letter, detailing all of their many errors, and asking what they plan to do now to make things right with me. No response so far.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Second Wind
Only a couple thousand words yesterday.
My pace slowed because I had mapped out Act I, which I finished Tuesday night, scene by scene before beginning to write. Act II, however, heading into NaNo, only had the major plot points documented. Other than that, my notes basically said, "the good guys pursue the bad guys and encounter lots of obstacles." In other words: the basic outline of every Act II ever written. So yesterday, I struggled through the first scene of Act II (the protagonist's first date with the love interest -- blagh) and called it a day.
The upside of this story is that I made use of the time I wasn't writing yesterday to make myself a large cauldron of spicy pumpkin soup, a big tray of chicken lasagna and an apple pie. With any luck, I won't need to cook again between here and 50,000 words. Also: I called Reliance (again) and think I may have finally convinced them to send me a bill for the correct amount of money for my water heater rental. (Third time's a charm, right?)
And this morning when I awoke: the next twelve scenes for Act II came to me, just like that. Time to get cracking.
My pace slowed because I had mapped out Act I, which I finished Tuesday night, scene by scene before beginning to write. Act II, however, heading into NaNo, only had the major plot points documented. Other than that, my notes basically said, "the good guys pursue the bad guys and encounter lots of obstacles." In other words: the basic outline of every Act II ever written. So yesterday, I struggled through the first scene of Act II (the protagonist's first date with the love interest -- blagh) and called it a day.
The upside of this story is that I made use of the time I wasn't writing yesterday to make myself a large cauldron of spicy pumpkin soup, a big tray of chicken lasagna and an apple pie. With any luck, I won't need to cook again between here and 50,000 words. Also: I called Reliance (again) and think I may have finally convinced them to send me a bill for the correct amount of money for my water heater rental. (Third time's a charm, right?)
And this morning when I awoke: the next twelve scenes for Act II came to me, just like that. Time to get cracking.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
A Better World
Yesterday I topped 15,000 words in my 2008 NaNo quest, and (far more importantly) my American neighbours made the world a better place. I feel giddy with hope.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
A Good Start
Last year I went to bed early the night before NaNo, rose early the morning of November 1st to do my yoga practice, then commenced my writing.
This year I stayed up to watch the clock tick over -- and began my writing in the wee hours of the morning.
It felt good to complete the NaNo baseline daily quota for the day before going to bed the night before.
Between my wee-hours-of-the-morning session, this afternoon's write-in with some local team mates on the NaNo quest, and another chapter and a half I wrote this evening after dinner, I've brought my output for the first day of NaNo 2008 up to 5118 words. Not too shabby of an accomplishment, if I do say so myself.
Now, if I could just get that whole yoga angle back on track...
This year I stayed up to watch the clock tick over -- and began my writing in the wee hours of the morning.
It felt good to complete the NaNo baseline daily quota for the day before going to bed the night before.
Between my wee-hours-of-the-morning session, this afternoon's write-in with some local team mates on the NaNo quest, and another chapter and a half I wrote this evening after dinner, I've brought my output for the first day of NaNo 2008 up to 5118 words. Not too shabby of an accomplishment, if I do say so myself.
Now, if I could just get that whole yoga angle back on track...
Friday, October 31, 2008
It's Almost Here
October 31st.
The countdown clock ticks interminably through the seconds.
My plot is outlined and character sketches completed. I am ready to go!
We had our first meeting of my local Wrimo group on Wednesday evening. It was great to meet up with other participants here in the same town as me! We talked book collections, genre boundaries (and breaking through them), past successes and challenges and our plans to achieve this year's conquest. We'll be launching the month with our first two write-ins this weekend.
Today I have been working on administrivia: Getting a blog set up for my local team, plus making sure all of my own blogs plus non-NaNo obligations are in order so that I'm ready to go come midnight.
I owe my dog a good long walk at this point. After that, I'll be settling in for the evening with my NaNo notes, immersing myself in the new world I've imagined, and waiting for the clock to tick over to November first so I can begin creating it!
The countdown clock ticks interminably through the seconds.
My plot is outlined and character sketches completed. I am ready to go!
We had our first meeting of my local Wrimo group on Wednesday evening. It was great to meet up with other participants here in the same town as me! We talked book collections, genre boundaries (and breaking through them), past successes and challenges and our plans to achieve this year's conquest. We'll be launching the month with our first two write-ins this weekend.
Today I have been working on administrivia: Getting a blog set up for my local team, plus making sure all of my own blogs plus non-NaNo obligations are in order so that I'm ready to go come midnight.
I owe my dog a good long walk at this point. After that, I'll be settling in for the evening with my NaNo notes, immersing myself in the new world I've imagined, and waiting for the clock to tick over to November first so I can begin creating it!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Plotting Along
My NaNo prep continues apace.
I've fleshed out profiles for my main characters and begun mapping out some scenes. All of the scenes for Act I are plotted so far, plus a few later scenes. I hope to find some time this weekend to finish up that process. Then I get to start playing with world-building!
Things are also starting to look good for hooking up with other Wrimos in the real world this year. That will be a nice change from last year's status as the somewhat exotic sole participant in town!
I've fleshed out profiles for my main characters and begun mapping out some scenes. All of the scenes for Act I are plotted so far, plus a few later scenes. I hope to find some time this weekend to finish up that process. Then I get to start playing with world-building!
Things are also starting to look good for hooking up with other Wrimos in the real world this year. That will be a nice change from last year's status as the somewhat exotic sole participant in town!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
The Adventure Continues
Yesterday I wrote out a rough outline for my 2008 NaNovel, so I felt I should update this blog with the first of my posts leading up to this year's challenge.
Gone is the old "nexus for news of a neophyte's NaNo niche" subtitle. It's time for the "soaring sights of a sophomore scribe's sojourn".
This time last year I had no idea what I was going to write for NaNo. I decided it would be a good experience to fly by the seat of my pants for my first NaNo, and it was, but this year I'm falling back to the tried and true preparation method. I'll have more on my plate this November than I did last. Plus, the stakes are higher now. I already know I can write a 50K word novel draft in thirty days (90,517 words, in fact). This year I want to write something better.
Gone is the old "nexus for news of a neophyte's NaNo niche" subtitle. It's time for the "soaring sights of a sophomore scribe's sojourn".
This time last year I had no idea what I was going to write for NaNo. I decided it would be a good experience to fly by the seat of my pants for my first NaNo, and it was, but this year I'm falling back to the tried and true preparation method. I'll have more on my plate this November than I did last. Plus, the stakes are higher now. I already know I can write a 50K word novel draft in thirty days (90,517 words, in fact). This year I want to write something better.
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