30 November 2013

Gravel and Sand for the Win!


I feel like yesterday I was filling in the holes in my novel with gravel. I added four or five whole paragraphs. Today it was sand. I was looking for any paragraph where I could stuff in an extra sentence and then for any sentences where I could stuff in extra words. I guess that is the downside of finishing the story before the word count. Anyway you cut it I did it, and that’s what matters with NaNoWriMo. Thanks to everyone who encouraged me over the month and congratulations to all the other winners! Now, I gotta go work on those other projects I have to finish this month.

This the last day to get reach the goal of 50,000 words.
My novel was validated with 50,097 words.


29 November 2013

More Bits


Today I put more finishing touches on the novel in four different places. It is really easy to go back and lay in hints and details about he story that coming, now that I have it written. I wish every project could be written backward from the finishing touches.

The benchmark word count for today is: 48343
My total word count so far is: 48845

28 November 2013

Filling Holes


With my story at the end I have to go back and plug some holes to get up to the 50k. That is what I worked on today. Because I know that winning a NaNoWriMo means (at best) that you have finished a first draft, I have kept chapter- by-chapter notes throughout the month about what kinds of changes the novel may need when (or if) it is revised. Today I just looked for a chapter that was a little short on the ideal length, checked my notes about what needed to be done and wrote that. Hole filled! I’ll do another one tomorrow. I am so thankful to be almost done with this.

The benchmark word count for today is: 46675
My total word count so far is: 47115

27 November 2013

The Home Stretch


I have finished my story. I have known for a while that the cathartic ending between my two main characters would be hard to write. Plus a twist ending. I can not resist a twist ending. I wrote all that today. It came out better than I expected. They have a fight. Triangle wins. Cue the accordion music.

I still have a few words left to write so I will have a go back and work them in throughout the novel. I am not looking forward to that. I want to be done with this project. I have enjoyed having this as my side project, but I need to get back to all the things I have going on in my “real” life. Not far to go now…

The benchmark word count for today is: 45009
My total word count so far is: 46247

26 November 2013

Write What You Know?


Yesterday I wrote another terrible chapter. Apparently, I have not experienced enough breakups to be able to write about one. Especially, not breakups with giant insect women.

Now, that doesn’t quite follow because I’ve never charged into a hive of giant insects with my sword either, yet that’s what I wrote about today and I am pretty happy with it. Humm...

The benchmark word count for today is: 43342
My total word count so far is: 44529

24 November 2013

1800 Terrible Words


It was been a busy weekend here. It always is, right? I spent all my working time this morning on the other project I mentioned last post. When all the deadlines come at once, there is less and less time for each individual thing. I had to really squeeze in today’s writing between other things, and it shows. It’s not my best work. I ended up writing about dreams again and this one took on a new element. That is kind of cool, I can work with that, but Julian is whining and mopey at this point in the story and I don’t know how to say much about that. I wrote whatever, no good, going to be thrown out in revision thing I could. I suppose that is the point of NaNoWriMo, after all. Write something! Anything! Well I did.

The benchmark word count for today is: 40008
My total word count so far is: 40670

22 November 2013

In the Background


So, all this month I have had 2.5 projects on in the background. It is better to say that NaNoWriMo is in the background of those other projects. Those are writing projects in the gaming industry. They will see print and I will write about them when appropriate. One of these projects finished up this week, so that’s off my plate. There are still the other 1.5 projects. I spent much of yesterday and today working with my co-author on the biggest one. There are some parts of a project that work better when the two authors can sit together and play off each other’s ideas in real time and write everything down right then. We sat in the local coffee shop and worked together. Actually, he did most of the work. What we produced turned out well. He is a coffee shop writer. I am not, except when I meet with him.

Then, as it happened, I had two hours to kill tonight and as I had not yet worked on NaNoWriMo for the day I went to coffee shop and wrote. It was a different location of the same local chain. That’s the first time I have gone to a coffee place to write just for my own project. Even on a Friday night, there were plenty of other people in there working. It wasn’t a bad time. I can see the appeal. There is just enough chatter and low key music and bean grinding noise to turn into a nice white noise. I’m not sure I will ever become a regular, but I would be willing to try it again.

In the story the Genji made it all the way to the hive tonight. I expected him to meet with warriors and fight his way in. Instead he was met with a group of chanting insects who lined the path for him like an honor guard. I didn’t expect that. I imagine they are some kind of apocalypse cult within the hive which knows what is about to go down. In editing, I’ll have to develop that idea some more and drop in some hints.

The benchmark word count for today is: 36674
My total word count so far is: 36958

20 November 2013

The Shape of My Story


I have not yet talked about my story. Now that I am starting to wind things up, I guess it’s time to talk about it. I have four characters in two story lines. One story focuses on an old warrior dedicated to destroying the Locust Folk and the current Queen of one of the hives. She is wrapped in the routine of running the hive and I have laid in some political unrest as well. The warrior – the Genji – is a solitary figure trooping through the desert landscape trying to reach the hive. He has tried to track the insects back to their home for years for years. This time he is giving it his all. He is old and tired of a lifetime of fighting and wants to end this struggle one way or another.

Interwoven with this story is a story about a young homesteader and young potential insect queen. Xilva is supposed to go out and mate with as many humans as possible. Instead she “falls for” Julian and helps him set up his farm. It’s a doomed cross-species romance. She will eventually leave him to return to her people. I am really happy with how this part of the novel is going. I feel like I have nailed both their internal monologues and set up them each realizing this is one of those starcrossed things.

I am pleased with the way the two stories relate and interrelate. The novel contrasts interaction through war and interaction through love. These are two paths the humans and insects could take. I am still not 100% certain how everything will wrap up. I have one of two endings planned, but both seem a little anti-climatic. How I feel in about six days when I write the last chapter will affect things, I am certain. Stay tuned!

The benchmark word count for today is: 33340
My total word count so far is: 34596

19 November 2013

A Corner Turned


Don’t have much to say today. I managed to get my count in today despite having a lot of the other stuff I needed to be about. Yesterday and today I did not write a great chapter. Gotta move on, though. Things are really coming down to the climax of the story at this point. I’ve set all the balls in motion, I hope I have, and now we just have to see where they go…

The benchmark word count for today is: 31673
My total word count so far is: 32254

17 November 2013

I Need More Characters


This was a fairly easy writing day. Usually the weekends are full of errands and going out. This weekend has not had any of that stuff. I have been able to sit back on focus on this novel.

I realized today that my story is rather empty of characters. I have my four main characters and they have all spent long sections of the story remembering or wandering around the desert landscape or talking to themselves or interacting with each other. I think that is all okay. This is story about looking into the past or thinking about the future. Yet there is still some stuff that should be done as dialog. When I get to one of those scenes I have no one for main characters talk to. So I created a Chancellor for the Queen of the insects to talk to. I immediately thought of the Chamberlain from The Dark Crystal. I happen to have the concept art book for that movie so I was able to look up his name – SkekSil. I love his preening, cooing way of manipulating everyone in that film. But he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty (and stabbed) when he needs to. He’s the perfect model for a male insect fighting to hold on to some authority in the nearly all-female insect society.

I actually had to take a short break and brainstorm about the Chancellor and how he came to power and what interests him and motivates him. That line of thinking led me to wonder about the insect males in general and what kind of place they would have in insect society. Some of this ground I covered way back in 2008 when I worked on Deep Dark. I think I have a different take on it this time. Besides, this whole pile of ideas about cultural elements and secret societies and missions to uncover lost knowledge is largely irrelevant to this story. I like that I have these ideas now and some of that will show up no doubt, but the further adventures of the Chancellor is not going to be part of the story. That is why I took only a small break. I have to get back to this novel.

The benchmark word count for today is: 28339
My total word count so far is: 29384

16 November 2013

Over Halfway Done


Week two is supposed to be the hardest week. I looked back over all of the my previous WriMos and most of them petered out in week two. I have felt myself slipping this week. There have been three days where I didn’t write at all. I tend to do really well until I start to falter and then its over. Though I have stumbled I am still stumbling forward. By doubling up my time on the day after, I have recovered. As of right now this novel is the longest I have written except for the one year I actually finished. That’s great! I am done with week two and I haven’t done too poorly. Things look good for the future.

A major challenge of my plot is that a human and an insect fall in love. In the normal universe of my story that doesn’t happen. The lady insects show up, release their pheromones, get the men to do their thing and then they move on. Maybe with the occasional mantis-style devouring of their mate as well. With my characters things don’t go that way. I have not been sure how the scenes of their meeting will go. Obviously, they cannot go killing each other at first sight, but they have to overcome their prejudices slowly. Since I want there to be a strong element of love as all about the chemicals I also feel the need to distinguish between what the characters do because they decide to and what they do because they are compelled to by chemistry. I think it all came out well.

The benchmark word count for today is: 26672
My total word count so far is: 27149

12 November 2013

What My Story is About


I wrote a fair amount again today. I was worried this weekend that I had hit my personal “wall” as far as word count goes. I have only won NaNoWriMo once. Most of the other times I gave up somewhere between 12-20k words. Well, I am happy to say that I have now passed that wall handily. It was more sitting in waiting rooms that catapulted me to where I am.
That is a good a transition as any to say that while I am not ready to recount my plot outline yet, I now know what my story is about. It is about my own “middle age.” I am in my 30s so that’s not technically middle age, but I don’t feel young anymore, so that’s the middle, I guess. In my novel I have two young characters and two old characters. The young ones are idealistic and motivated and the old characters are a little bitter and are dealing with lost dreams, forgotten memories and resentment. Not that I think that defines “older people.” My characters have this shared tragedy that they are looking at in different ways. I feel that these ideas are in my mind at this time because I am neither young nor old. I am working through what it is like to be the age I am by looking through the eyes of these differently aged characters. That’s what it seems like anyway. I’m going to mull that idea over and see if it shows up explicitly in my writing in the next few days.

The benchmark word count for today is: 20004
My total word count so far is: 21660

11 November 2013

Heroic Efforts


Whew, that was a monumental writing session! Going into the weekend, I was 600 words ahead of schedule. Not much, but better than being behind. Well on Saturday I didn’t write at all. In fact, I did nothing at all. I spent the whole day reading about why the whole ancient astronaut thing is silly. On Sunday I wrote about 1000 words. Those two numbers together mean I started out this morning one writing day behind. Well, I am happy to say that I have done two day’s worth of writing and I am now slightly ahead of schedule again.

The benchmark word count for today is: 18337
My total word count so far is: 18789

08 November 2013

What a Difference Some Heat Makes


This morning I had to scrape frost from my car for the first time this season. So, I guess it is officially cold, now. I took it as a sign that it was time to break out the space heater that lives under my desk in winter time. Yesterday I couldn’t focus and my hands hurt and I kept having to get up and wander around while I was supposed to be writing. Today, with that space heater blowing on my feet and the warmth rolling up my legs I was able to focus and I banged out close to 2,000 words in an hour and a half. That is how NaNoWriMo is done!

The benchmark word count for today is: 13336
My total word count so far is: 13996

07 November 2013

How’s Your Novel Coming?


Today I was asked how my novel is coming along. It seems to be going alright. I am on target with my word count, but how is the story? Again, it seems okay. There are some details which need more explanation or merit exploration, but I cannot spend that much time on any one thing if I want to get to the end of the story. My story? I haven’t explained it yet. I will have to do that another time, I am always up against time limits these days. For now, it must suffice to say that I am confident about the weird cultural elements and the brutal fighting scenes. I am less sure about the love story aspects. I will be getting to that soon.

The benchmark word count for today is: 11669
My total word count so far is: 12009

06 November 2013

Tablet Writing


I spend a lot of time in waiting rooms. Not by choice, I assure you. As a don't have a lap top, a lot of this year's NaNoWriMo has been written on an iPad. It is not an ideal word processor, but when the alternative is to thumb through back issues of Good Housekeeping, typing on the iPad starts to look pretty nice. I have done a lot of writing over the past few months on my iPad. I would like to think that I done this despite having to wait around in all these various waiting rooms. However, I know that it is only because I have been forced to wait around that I have gotten as much writing done as I have. So there's a silver lining for you. I'll be writing in waiting rooms tomorrow too.

The benchmark word count for today is: 10002
My total word count so far is: 10655

05 November 2013

Ketchup or Catsup?


I did squeeze in a few words last night during my weekly gaming group meeting. Not many. I didn’t get started on today’s writing until late, but things were really flowing and I managed to make over the day’s count! Here is one thing I wrote tonight. Enjoy.

The plate contained half a roasted turkey breast, one egg, a dish of jerky gravy and a thick slice of sourdough. [It wasn’t what he had requested but] He didn’t argue and knew quibbling would do no good. He forked the turkey breast, cut off a piece and put it in his mouth. Cold roast turkey made a descent meal. Especially when the tavernmaster’s wife had done the roasting. As he chewed the tavernmaster returned with a small clay pot. Through a notch in the pot’s lid protruded the handle of the small ladle. “How’s the steak, Genji?” the tavernmaster asked with a broad smile.
“The best I’ve had all year.”
“I’ll bet it is,” said the tavernmaster his smile only broadening. He set the clay pot beside Genji’s plate. “Now, try some of this.”
Genji set down his knife and lifted the lid on the pot. Inside was a thick, reddish-brown paste. It smelled slightly sweet and slightly spicy. Genji lifted a ladleful out of the pot but was unsure what to do with it.
“Some people like it on their eggs.”
“On their one egg?”
“However many eggs.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No! This past season we had one of the best tomato crops ever in the Valley. We had more than we knew what to do with...”
“Really? This is tomatoes?” Genji bent over the ladle and sniffed at the paste again.
The barman nodded. “...My Mel hit on this way of preserving them. The stuff seems to last practically forever.”
Still unsure, but willing to trust his tastebuds to Mel, Genji tipped the ladle and let a good bit of the paste fall onto his egg. He replaced the ladle, cut the egg in half and forked one part into his mouth. The tavernmaster looked on expectantly. After a moment of chewing gingerly, Genji nodded his approval.
“See?” The other man said triumphantly.

The benchmark word count for today is: 8335
My total word count so far is: 8972

04 November 2013

I Love NaNoWriMo!


I just finished my required word count for the day. It’s still early, so a may actually get ahead today.
I love NaNoWriMo. I had the general shape of the story framed out in my mind before I started but I love how the need to move forward with the writing makes filling in the details so easy. It hardly matters to the story what a character is named so the first one you think of is good enough. You can always go back later and change it if you need to. Then sometimes those one-off decisions inspire whole other structures that the story world needed. One example. Because I recently read a passing reference to The Tale of Genji, sometimes called the first novel in history, I decided to name my old warrior Genji. Then I spontaneously decided to call him The Genji. That implies a whole system of titles with specific roles in the kingdom for The Genji. At least it does to me. This idea of the character going by a title alone is perfect for other threads I am drawing through the story. This is why NaNoWriMo is so great. It is hard to make a mistake and almost any decision you make improves the story.

The benchmark word count for today is: 6668
My total word count so far is: 6764

03 November 2013

Didn’t Fall Back


So, last night was the end of daylight savings time. It hasn’t been that long that the time change has happened during NaNoWriMo. I was thinking last night that today would be great. I planned to use my “extra hour” to write! As it happened, my “smart” phone decided to pick up the signal of the next time zone over so the change was negated. I can’t actually wrap my head around what happened, let alone explain it. Suffice it to say when I got up I had to set my clock ahead an hour. I know that I just didn’t gain an extra hour, but it feels like I lost two hours!
I am doing this novel with four main characters. I made it into chapter four today so not I have met all my characters. It has been going well. I like them all so far. I have an old bitter warrior man called The Genji who is set on destroying the insect people who plague the northernmost valley of human civilization. I have the Queen of one of the insect folk hives. She is feeling old and tired and ready to pass on the torch to a younger queen. There is Julian (not sure about this name), a young homesteader looking to set up and claim in the valley. Lastly, comes Xilva (with Mayan-style pronunciation I believe that makes it CHILL-va). She is a potential young queen. See, the insect people need breeders to mate with human males (don’t ask why, this is fantasy) and that is Xilva’s role. Where this all goes I know, but I won’t say yet.
I am happy to report, despite my time fiasco, I am still on track with this novel.

The benchmark word count for today is: 5001
My total word count so far is: 5014

01 November 2013

The First Day

Ahh, NaNoWriMo! I love starting a new project. A blank page means anything goes. You can’t do anything “wrong” in the first few days because none of the rules or forms of the story are set. It’s a time of total creative freedom. The more projects I do, the more I realize it is this early part of a project that I enjoy most. I feel really energized and positive about this year’s novel! Let me say now, this is going to be a crazy month. I have two other writing projects that need to be completed this month!
I have had a story bubbling in the back of my head for a few years and this is the month to get it all out. I outlined the story a few months ago so I know all about where I intend to go. It seems like a good idea to have at least some kind of stick to measure against as you go along. This year I am attempting a fantasy adventure story in one of those story worlds where it could just as easily be the distant past as the far future.
For today I will just tease you with a list of my inspirations for this story:
Disney’s Gargoyles
Conan – as written by Robert E. Howard
Heretic II
Starcraft
Hellstrom’s Hive by Frank Herbert
Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Verde Valley in Arizona

The benchmark word count for today is: 1667
My total word count so far is: 1793