Full Speed Ahead

I had planned to take yesterday off from my writing. The story was going well (I knew where it was going now and was confident I could finish it by month end) and I hadn't taken a day off all month. My local library is closed on Wednesdays, and my home was not at all conducive to writing, so I headed out to do some other things.

The day passed pleasantly enough, but I was bothered by the fact that I hadn't written. It was a persistent itch that I just HAD to scratch, but it was 8 PM by the time I realized I wasn't going to be able to get away with a day off, and I was tired and groggy. So I downed a can of Monster...

... and I played solitaire.

For hours.

"What was the problem Laura?" you ask. "You said you were gung-ho to write and you know where the story is going now."

I'll tell you: The problem was those pesky polls.

When I started this project back on November 1st, I really didn't know what the story was going to be about. I had no plot and no characters and was just making things up as I went along, so I figured that whatever direction my readers wanted me to take the story would be fine.

Then I posted the first poll.
And I was stressed out. I was worried for my poor character (who'd I'd only just made up that afternoon). What would you all make her do?

I forced myself to get over my overprotectiveness. I'd promised daily polls so we were going to do daily polls.

Then I found that the polls were starting to crimp my pacing. My own fault that, totally, because I kept asking questions the answers to which needed to be acted upon within the next moment -- but my readers have almost 24 hours to respond to each poll. Made it a little difficult for me to advance time for a bit there.

Then I wised up and started to ask questions that didn't need to be answered until tomorrow. That worked much better. I learned to go with the flow and create the story from whatever the readers wanted. I soared through 50,000 words on November 17th and the world was all blue skies ahead.

So why did I spend last night playing solitaire and stressing out instead of writing?

Because I'm running out of good poll questions.

I thought I had an idea for one, but it was four or five scenes away. I didn't really have time to worry about whether or not I would be able to write that much in one night, however, as I immediately realized that "Should India do an interesting, heroic thing that might help to advance the plot or should she stay home and sulk?" was a pretty lame question. (Although, surpassed in lameness by the alternative: Should Cleopatra wear a red shirt or a black shirt today?)

The trouble is, I now know where the story needs to go in order to reach a satisfying conclusion by the end of the month, but my readers don't. So...

I've decided to put the polls on hiatus for a week. I'm making an executive decision that I've fulfilled my polling commitment since I ran them daily through the first 50K -- which was the official word count goal. This final week is the icing on the cake, and I need to be able to run with it.

I would like to thank the people who have been reading and voting regularly for your support. I hope you will continue to visit Raindancing Dragons as I am still updating the story daily (it appears that I won't be taking a day off after all!) and we're just starting to get to the juicy part.

I will have one final poll for you which, while it doesn't have the power to be a plot-killer, will I hope at least be of some interest, so watch for that on November 29th. (Yes, I aim to be writing right through to the end of the month at this point and finish in style on November 30th.)

Back to the grindstone.

Coming Together

56,132 words so far.

Sometime last week I actually figured out where my story needs to go, so I took some time over the past couple of days to storyboard out what needs to happen with everybody so that they can all get to where they need to be. It turns out that I've written very close to two thirds of the scenes my novel needs so far, which is sweet seeing as how we are now two thirds of the way through the month.

Write on!

Ready for the Final Sprint

Just cleared 45,000 words tonight.
My word count for the day was a hair short, but I just finished up a nice little character scene and am in a good spot to stop for the night and pick up the adventure again in the morning.

Tomorrow night I do not intend to sleep until I have crossed the 50K line.

Check In and NaNo Projection

2393 words today.
43,189 words to date.

I anticipate crossing the 50K mark on Saturday.
The story won't be done at that point, but don't worry. I'll just keep writing until it is.

Monster Writing

I downed another can of Monster Energy "Natural Health Product" tonight.

My brain had been sluggish all day. Went to the noon-hour SL Wrimos write-in hosted by PhoebeAnn. Wrote 108 words in 45 minutes. Bah! My focus just wasn't there and my brain wanted sleep.

Various and sundry distractions and other responsibilities kept me away from writing throughout the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening, but I'd vowed to top 40K before my head hit the pillow tonight, so I cracked open the caffeine juice and it got me where I needed to be:

2996 words today.
40,796 words to date.
And to all a good night!

Another Late Night

3242 words today.
37,800 words to date.

I had a full scene written and over 2000 words by 9 p.m., but I needed to put a button on it to allow for a poll question that wouldn't stall my plot, and lots of distractions got in the way of my crafting that little button. No matter. The word count continues to rise, and tomorrow we have two write-ins in Second Life. One more sleep before 40K.

Long Short Day

1953 words today.
34,558 words to date.

It's my first short day (under 2000 words) since this quest began, but I'm not worried about today's meager word count. My local library has been closed for two days in a row (ah, the joys of living in a small town) so I have had nowhere to write since Saturday afternoon at 3 other than the noisy, distraction-heavy house in which I reside.

I really don't want to be writing this novel in the wee hours of the morning, but this is the only time I can get long periods of quiet without interruption at home. Tomorrow, however, my library is actually open for seven whole hours! I plan to camp out for several of those and pound out some words.

I'm finally starting to get the hang of offering my readers poll questions which don't need to be decided in the next minute of my characters' lives -- a very good thing because I really need to start advancing the story through some time here so that I can advance the plot!

SL Wrimos Rock the Metaverse

Well, we rock the word count metres at any rate!

We had our second in-world write-in today and the fingers were flying, committing text to screens.

Of the seventeen gathered for today's meeting, everyone made good progress on their word counts with seven people clearing 1000 words during our timed hour. I squeaked just over the 1500 word mark in the hour myself, but the biggest kudos today go to Samantha and Skell who were really in the zone and both cleared 2000 words in an hour! Way to go mates!

My total words for today: 2441
and to date: 32,605

Off Again

I had completed my daily word count minimum by 10:30, really I had.
30K just looked so close. I couldn't sleep without tasting it.

So, here I am. Signing off to bed three hours late. But I feel good.

3438 words today.
30,164 words to date.

Back on Track

I put in some solid time this afternoon and managed to get back on schedule for a 10:30 log off tonight. Going to try for 6:30 a.m. yoga again tomorrow. Wish me luck!

3367 words today.
26,721 words to date.

The NaNo folks have finally published Paul Hawke's word count widgets. There's some pretty neat stuff there. Check out the badge on Raindancing Dragons and click through to read my "Progress Report".

The Plot Thickens

2750 words today.
23,354 words to date.

Eight days into NaNoWriMo and I've just squeaked by the word count minimum needed for the end of week two to stay on par with the baseline pace. That's reported to be a tough number to achieve, with 95% of Wrimos trailing behind pace at the end of week two. Here I am, six days ahead of the baseline with no end of words in sight -- but I don't think I'm any further along in my story than I would be if I was on par with baseline today and had a story I could actually wrap up in 50,000 words. I've thrown a lot of stuff out there so far that I still need to bring together -- like the fact that one of my main characters is still in a different galaxy from everyone else!

Report from the Trenches -- One Week In

1. Word Count

Baseline: 11,669
My Goal: 14,000
My Actual: 20,604

Baseline is the 1667 word per day daily minimum required to reach 50,000 words by the end of November.

The NaNoWriMo statisticians report that only 5% of Wrimos are on or above par with the baseline pace at the end of week two. Being this close to the week two baseline target after only one week, I don't think I have anything much to worry about on the word count front. (Of course, no one who knows me ever imagined that I would, including myself. The real challenge for me is going to be making it to the end of my story by the end of the month. That is shaping up to be considerably more than 50,000 words away.)

2. Blogging

I have posted to both this blog and Raindancing Dragons daily so far, however, since I normally post at the end of my day, and my schedule was shifted later on November 3rd due to an external cultural engagement, that day shows as missing from both blogs because I didn't get a chance to update until after midnight.

3. Yoga

My morning yoga sessions have been going well, although they haven't always occurred at 6:30 a.m. (see notes on Schedule below).

The first day my Sun Sals felt okay and I strove for good form in each pose. Days 2 and 3, I felt the previous days' exertions in my shoulders and arms. Day 4 I was staying with a friend and had not brought my yoga mat with me, so I flew through my Sun Sals at a fast pace, not worrying about form at all. Simply trying to avoid slipping on the carpet. Today, for the first time, my yoga actually felt good.

At the beginning of the week, my dog slept right through my morning yoga. Recently she has taken to "helping" me:





Practicing yoga with a dog is perhaps not the best way to encourage proper form in one's poses, but it sure makes for lots of laughter!

4. Mileage

Pretty much right on track for four miles a day. Many of them I have hiked by myself, however. Princess Kendal isn't too enamoured with my outdoor activity plans now that the weather has turned cold and wet.

5. Diet

Right on track here with three square meals a day. Following the Canada Food Guide. Snacking on fresh fruit and Optimum Energy Bars (they're organic, well-balanced, were recommended to me by my dietitian friend and they actually taste good!)

I do have one confession to make regarding diet. Previous to last night, I had not consumed caffeine for medicinal reasons since 1992 and had planned on getting through NaNoWriMo without the drug. The November greys have been effecting me with a strong urge to hybernate however (not something the Californians considered when they shifted NaNoWriMo from summertime to November, I'll wager). When 5PM rolled around yesterday and I had not written my first word of the day, I hiked down to the drug store to buy a bottle of juice and walked away with a can of Monster. I don't plan on making this a regular habit, but 2841 words later, I had written the most adrenaline-packed chapter of my story so far.

6. Schedule

Rising before the sun is over-rated.

I am going to keep trying for the rest of the month to give the idea a fair shot and because my house is actually quiet in the early morning, but come December 1st, I'm pretty sure I'll be falling back to a 7 a.m. rise at the earliest.

7. SL Wrimos

We made it to the century mark in membership and beyond. (125 at last count.) No one has touched the blog so far this month (which is how it should be this early in the game) but in-world meetings are going well. Last Sunday's write-in was a big hit and group members are starting to plan more write-in times in addition to the weekly one I host.

Activity on our forum thread remains high, there have been several excellent entries in my word-of-the-day challenges, and a friendly competitive spirit is developing amongst team members. Everyone is loving Sodovan Torak's word count titlers which were updated frequently during Sunday's write-in, with everyone present cheering whenever a group member logged an important milestone.

8. Local Wrimos

I finally did meet up with some other local Wrimos on October 31st. I neglected to get NaNo IDs from anyone, however, so have not been in touch with the group since. Next meeting is mid month.

Things Heat Up in Dragonland

2841 words today.
17,509 words to date.
1 can of Monster Energy Drink.
New poll online. Go. Vote.

November 5 Update

2059 words today.
14,668 words to date.
Another late night.
I need to get back on schedule.

Bed Time

3305 words today for a total of 12,594 to date.
I'm working a bit late tonight, but the new poll is online.
More news tomorrow.

Technical Difficulties

2085 words today for a total of 9287 to date.

My apologies that there is no new poll. I'm on the road today and have been having difficulties acquiring a connection to the Internet. Hopefully all should be back on track November 4.

Day Two

3080 words today for a two-day running total of 7202. I'm still ahead of schedule and have a new poll for you up on Raindancing Dragons.

Ah the polls. Those crazy polls. When I first thought them up, they seemed like such a great idea! The perfect way to keep me -- the uber-organized planner -- firmly anchored in the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants spirit of NaNoWriMo! Well, I wasn't wrong about that, but they sure are stressing me out!

I got off to a great start yesterday. Pounding out slightly more than twice my daily word count goal. Creating characters and whole storylines on the fly. I was feeling good. Then I posted my first poll and went to bed.

Well, I tell you, I could not sleep! I tossed and turned most of the night, worried about what my readers would do to poor little Diane Helice Callisto. She'd only been in existence a few hours when I handed her off to you with a BIG decision to make, and already I cared too much about what happened to her! (And the NaNo experts all tell you, "Write something completely new for NaNo. That way, you won't care about it too much and you will be able to do what you'll need to do in order to complete the challenge." Hmph!)

When I dragged my sorry carcass out of bed this morning at 6:36 a.m., I felt somewhat the worse for wear. Still, I persevered. Did my yoga. Wrote my words. Walked my dog. And posted another poll for you all.

"And what did become of poor Diane?" you ask. Well, the final vote was tied. Now I'm faced with a new dilemma: Do I cast the deciding vote myself, or somehow attempt a compromise between the two positions? You'll have to wait until tomorrow night to find out.

In the meantime: Go. Vote. Take good care of India for me.

The First Poll is Up

Did my yoga, ate three square meals, walked my dog twice, and wrote four thousand one hundred and twenty two words today. Now it's your turn.

Diane Helice Callisto has had a rough year, losing her job under disturbing and inappropriate circumstances and breaking up with her girlfriend in the bargain, but Diane has recently received an offer which, if accepted, will transport Diane thousands of light years away from her old troubles to a new and exciting life on a distant planet. Should Diane stay at home, attempt to work things out with her old flame and rebuild her life, or accept this new challenge and fly away to new adventures? You can help to decide Diane's fate by voting in the web poll on Raindancing Dragons but only if you vote soon. Each poll is only open for one day!

And We're Off!

1961 words down the hatch this morning.

No new poll for you to vote on yet -- only the prologue is posted so far -- but have no worries, I have another writing session again this afternoon and will post again with something new for you to vote on before the day is out.

In the meantime, go be intrigued by the prologue -- and vote in the fun pre-NaNo poll if you haven't done so already. (I've heard of people incentivising their NaNoWriMo quests by betting people on their success or failure in the mission -- but so far no one has voted that they think I cannot do this!)

The Concept

National Novel Writing Month is "a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing." The challenge is simple: write a 50,000 word novel entirely within the month of November. This breaks down to 1667 words per day - a feat I wouldn't have been daft enough to even contemplate during the last few years when I was juggling two jobs but, now that I'm freelancing and can set my own schedule for November, the word count should not be a problem. So I've set myself a WriMo challenge with a twist:

Each day during the month of November I shall post my NaNo writing for that day to a new blog I have set up for the purpose: Raindancing Dragons. Each day's installment of the story shall leave one of its main characters with a key decision to make -- and you, dear readers, shall have the opportunity to decide which decision is made by voting in the poll posted in the blog's sidebar. I shall then write the decision which has garnered the most votes into the story.

Seriously.

Well, okay, maybe not always seriously. I reserve the right to write your decision into the story irreverently, comically, tragically, seriously or in whatever other vein I see fit -- but I will write it in!

Here's how it will work:

1. I will post the day's writing to Raindancing Dragons normally between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m. my time. (My time = GMT-4 November 1-3 and GMT-5 November 4-30.) [If Life conspires to throw me off my posting schedule, I will attempt to notify you of the next day's ETP (Expected Time of Posting) here in the Dragon Dreams blog when I make my daily post the day previous to the expected anomaly.]
   
2. During this same window of time, I will post a new poll in the Raindancing Dragons sidebar. Each poll will pose a question relating to a dilemma faced by one of the characters at the end of that day's installment and offer choices for how that character may choose to deal with said dilemma.
   
3. You may vote for one of the choices offered by me in the poll, or write in your own choice as a comment to that day's post. (There are a few simple rules for write-in votes, as described below.)
   
4. Each poll is open from the time of posting until the following day's update window (when it will be replaced with the new poll).
   
5. The character choice which has received the most votes during the time the poll was open will be written into the story.

The Rules

1. Please do not attempt to spam the polls. Each reader is entitled to one vote per day.
   
2. Recruiting your friends to read the story and vote for your choice is allowed and encouraged.
   
3. Sadly, I am functionally a monoglot. Write-in votes need to be submitted in standard English or I am not likely to understand them.
   
4. Write-in votes should be proof-read for spelling and grammatical correctness. (I am familiar with a variety of nationally standardized spellings for various English words, but I will not attempt to decipher "textspeak" or plain old laziness.)
   
5. Each poll gives you the power to get inside the head of one of my characters and vote on an important immediate decision in her or his life. The polls do not give you the power to play God. For example: "Laura decides that this entire project is a crazy idea, packs it all in and heads for home," would be an acceptable vote on the question "Does Laura accept the challenge and register for NaNoWriMo?" "Laura decides that this entire project is a crazy idea, packs it all in and heads for home, encounters no obstacles along the way, never regrets her decision to abandon NaNoWriMo and lives a quiet and pastoral life happily ever after," would not be an acceptable vote. Make sense?
   
6. Keep it clean. My story is intended for an adult audience -- but two of those adults are likely to be my parents! I reserve the right to discard any and all votes which I deem (in my sole discrection) to be inappropriate for publication in a public blog with my name on it.

Why am I doing this?

1. Because I think it will be fun.
   
2. Because I found out about NaNoWriMo through Blogger and immediately started thinking of ways to integrate my experience of the two while honouring the spirit of each.
   
3. Because I think it will be fun.
   
4. Because I think it will prove an interesting challenge.
   
5. Because I think it will be fun.

I hope you'll join me in November for a little Web 2.0 meets "choose your own adventure" stories meets NanoWriMo mayhem. Until then, you can continue to check back here for more news of my NaNoWriMo plans and pop on over to Raindancing Dragons for a fun, pre-NaNo practice poll.

Write on!