November 1st started out with pancakes and lots of zombie talk. I do not write well at all at 1am. But I do write better at 10pm, in bed, comfy and warm. I got my start tonight just as I needed it. This year's Nano will be mainstream fiction, something very cathartic for the emotional turmoil that I will be going through this month with the divorce and moving out of my house. It will be a painful novel, a private one as well, but I think I need to tell it to myself. No zombies this time. Only hope and a future unwritten.
November 1st started out with pancakes and lots of zombie talk. I do not write well at all at 1am. But I do write better at 10pm, in bed, comfy and warm. I got my start tonight just as I needed it. This year's Nano will be mainstream fiction, something very cathartic for the emotional turmoil that I will be going through this month with the divorce and moving out of my house. It will be a painful novel, a private one as well, but I think I need to tell it to myself. No zombies this time. Only hope and a future unwritten.
The 30 days of death was a freaking blast! I am still trying to remember all ways I killed my female lead...first death was thrown off a balcony over a cliff into the ocean, drove a car off a cliff, hid in bed and still the ceiling collapsed on her, fell down stairs with a glass of water in hand severing an artery, drowned in her pool, overdose, impaled by falling fire escape, spontaneous combustion, overdose, stabbed herself at the altar in a church (that was fun), overdose. The being crushed by a piano was switched with the fire escape impalement and will come more towards the end (when they are in Vegas).
TGIO. I survived November with no medical accidents and have a smile on my face. This was so much fun. I loved getting together with other Nano people from the area.
*victory dance* Cheers!
Oh, I am hating my novel right now. Got the Nano blues. Behind on my word count and hitting frustrating plot obstacles. Grrrr argh. I need to push through and I haven't even gotten to the Beastly 20,000's yet. It sucks and I hate it and my husband is making fun of me because I don't write paragraphs the way he thinks paragraphs should be written. He's making fun of my paragraph structure. And this is all by looking over my shoulder and seeing my page. Dude. So like nothing can go right? I'm going to bed now.
I am halfway from halfway on the half of the month. Yea for Bella Vita writing, upping my word count by 2000 this morning. This evening I plan on another 2-3000. And then I shall do it all again tomorrow. This story, it really is a-rolling. It's fun. I just need to stay focused and get in as many words as possible. I am not a very fast writer but I can still do this.
She still hasn't died yet. Though the one who curses her has turned out to be something quite different than first imagined. And my other main character is also quite fun. I like him lots. Her, she's so damn full of herself that it's fun to write her too. I can't hate her because I know how she gets through this. But tomorrow, I promise! She dies.
2,400 / 50,000
I have begun. The story has begun. I am really liking the tone the narrative had taken already. I have pushed aside my fears and jumped in the writing. Because to me, writing is so much fun. I love to write, love when I am writing, and don't want the fear of what happens around me to stop me from that. I have started Nano 2008. I am going to be strong and I will finish it on November 30th.
Ironically, my character is not quite dead yet. I forget how much leg room novels give you. Instead of the cramped couch seats of short stories, noveling is like sitting in first class. Room to stretch, spread out, and relax. No need to fit it all in at 1000 words. This is nice. I like this.
Now if only TPTB would summon the servers to come back up so I can update my word count on the site.
Have plot bunny? Check.
Now what? Can't write yet. Well, maybe I should try outlining this year. I still can't figure if outlining works for me or not. Caught this today from Paperback Writer: Speed Outline. Seems pretty logical and when I apply it to my story, I get question marks in my head. So I shall have a little fun now filling in the blanks, while still thinking up accidental ways to die.
Less than two weeks left until November 2008. The season is starting off with much excitement. I have a plot, characters to kill off and bring back to life, lots of fresh coffee to make, a new sparkly coffee maker, a laptop in good form, a backup writing method, and my health. I think I have everything. I am not afraid of November. Even though, statistically speaking, all my ER visits happen in November. Why is that? Especially when they are unrelated to Nano. WEEEIIRD. This year, I have an enthusiasm for creativity and life that I have never had before. I think this will be my best year yet, my time for my imagination to shine. I love looking forward to November.
Well, the month did not end as well as I had hoped. But though the month is over, the story is not. I will continue and try to finish my novel by December 31st. Heath issues have been getting into the way and sometimes putting me in a state of mind that I can't even put coherent thoughts together, And focusing is a very concentrated effort. But I will continue to try. One thing this entire health problem brings to light is what if I lost my ability to create, to use my imagination, to write stories. I have a mission growing inside me to finally push all doubts and fears aside and just write out all the stories I have in me. Because like this health scare, something could come out of the blue and knock it all out of your hands. All the stories would die with me, untold. And I find that unacceptable.
15,000 / 50,000
This month's writing has been interupted by a freak of nature medical condition probably caused by a little bit of alcohol, antibiotics, the alignment of the stars and planets, and Notre Dame winning. All of which caused an unforeseen condition in which I got majorly confused and lost muscle control of my legs. Which caused a spinal tap to be done. Which caused a spinal tap headache from hell. Which caused me to be on prescribed narcotics, insane amounts of caffeine, and bed rest for a week. Which all caused me to get behind on my word count.
Initiate PANIC sequence now.
The writing is actually going pretty smoothly. Once I get my ass in my chair to write. And when I keep the internal editor away. This is week two where the doubts start springing up. I am writing slower than usual (if I keep going at this pace I will need my PANIC BUTTON icon soon). It's almost like I want to take my time with this story and make it good. Which is not the NaNo way. I really need to pick up the pace and keep my ass in chair because this story is much easier to write that other past NaNo attempts. Not that it is an easy story. I don't really think that, but the words are flowing much better and I am not cringing at them either.
I really do want a winner by my name this year. To prove to myself that I am far beyond the place I was mentally and spiritually last year. I want this as a sign that I am over that and better now. That I really can do what I set my mind out to do (again).
7123 / 50,000
The end of week one. I am a little behind but I am not worried. The story is coming along nicely. So far I am having fun with it, characters keep popping up and surprising me, making it go into the direction I want. Very cool. I love when writing does that. Still though, I have a ways to go. Thank goodness I saved one of my weeks of vacation for November, just for the purpose of writing NaNo. I think I will be doing that every year. It's as good excuse as any. Not taking a trip anywhere that cost money, but the places I get to visit in my mind are fantastic.
Today is the seventh day and I have killed off my main character. Or have I? I love this whole writing thing. Honestly, what is more fun than an imagination?
Since the Nano site is down, I will just update my count here. I did not write yesterday but got my daily quota in today. I am hoping to get some extra writing time in tomorrow before the weekly group meeting. Now I am writing some action scenes so it's going pretty well. I need to get away from the style of writing that I had been working with for short stories and remember that this is a novel so I have to remember to flesh things out a bit more. So far, so good though.
Good start to the month. Did much better than I thought. I think this will be a fun story. I love all things superhero. The mix of mundane and fantastic kind of similar to the Incredibles where superheroes are very accepted and respected.
It helps that this month my husband is taking martial arts class three nights a week so that leaves me with the perfect quiet writing time. Also went to a Nano group kick-off meeting last Sunday and found talking with other nano people very cool.
Thank goodness, I am confident about my story this year. No juggling ideas, this is a solid one that I really want to go with. Inspired by the tragic mix-up of two Indiana State students who were riding in a van that was struck by a semi. One died, the other one in a coma. Both looked very much alike, so much so that their identities were mix-up. Wrong girl declared dead. Wrong girl thought alive. It wasn't discovered until the girl in the coma awoke and said who she was.
So the story kind of starts out with something similar, but includes much more governmental intrigue, a world of superheroes, a civilian woman and a hero woman caught in the middle of it all.
Hmm, also comes to mind that I need a title for my Nano story....
Bring on the excitement. Bring on the doubt and fear and the oh-my-god-what-was-I-thinking. Bring on the creative rush. Bring on the writing high.
There is a bottle of champagne waiting for me when I write those magic words - The End.
Bring on November.
Sincerely,
Me
Two days left and nothing. I guess I will just call it a no-show year. No Nano for me.
Unless...unless I just really wild and crazy and write 16,667 words tonight, tomorrow, and Thursday.
Hmmm...
Yeah. Zero. No words yet.
That's what happens when one schedules LASIK eye surgery at the beginning of November, of NaNoWriMo. Today is the second day that I've been able to sit and use my computer screen. Too bad that most of my day is now spent staring at the screen and all I want to do at home is just watch TV (so not to focus on anything up close). But today, I will prevail.
According to my calculations, I need 2100 words a day to make it. That is not bad at all and very doable. I really want to get started on the Novel-that-must-not-be-named.