Nanowrimo: Extract

So I'm all worded out. At just over 27,000 words, I'm done for the month. Quite an achievement, obviously not as good as I hoped, but I'll deal with what went wrong, and what went right, in another post.

I thought, since you've come along for the ride, that I might give you a taste of what I was writing about. As I said in an earlier post, I changed my story within the first few days, and I'm pretty happy with what I have down for the new one.

I think it has the potential for a life after Nano, and I have most of the major scenes that I imagined written. The plan is to put it away until after Christmas and concentrate on something else. When I pick it up again, I'll go through with a red pen and get rid of anything that immediately doesn't fit, and then re-write it, filling in the gaps, and bulking it out to (hopefully) around 70,000 words in the first few months of the new year.

Until then though, here's a small extract from my Nano novel. (Note: this is unedited - it is exactly as originally written, so apologies for bad sentence structure and typos).

Just a bit of background - Quinn and Luke are best friends in their final year of high school. As the result of an accident, Quinn has ended up in Luke's body. This scene takes place when Quinn finally returns to her own body. Unfortunately, this means that Luke has to die. This is the scene that ensues.

Everything came flooding back to me last night. I woke in the early hours of this morning to a feeling of dread. I was sweating, my heart palpitating and my breathing ragged. The doctor was sitting at the foot of my bed.

“Welcome back, Quinn,” he’d said. I immediately knew who he was and why he was here.

“I’m me again?” I asked.

“You’re you again,” he replied. I smiled. And then I realised that meant that Luke was no longer alive.

“I have someone here who insisted on talking to you.” He nodded towards the door. I looked over to see Luke standing there, leaning on the door frame. He was smiling at me, but he didn’t look like the Luke I knew. He looked somehow lighter. Peaceful.

“Luke?”

“Hey, Quinn.”

“Luke!” I tried to sit up. Luke walked over to my bed and sat down on the chair beside me. He helped me sit up and then took both my hands in his.

“I thought you were…”

“I am Quinn. John let me come back just to say goodbye. We never got to say goodbye Quinn, and I couldn’t bear leaving you like that.”

Tears started rolling down my cheeks. I knew. All these weeks, I knew Luke was gone, but somehow, living in his body, even for a little while made him feel like he was still really alive.

“You have to go?” I asked. Luke nodded.

“So, is this where you tell me to be true to myself and live long and prosper or something?”

Luke laughed. “Something like that,” he said. “Quinn, I really want you to know that it was me who needed you. Not the other way around. You’re the brave one, Quinn. You always have been.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.

“Do you remember the day we met?” he asked.

“Sure. You beat up Andy Fitzgerald for picking on me. That’s why I started hanging around you,” I replied. Luke laughed.

“You were the one who stuck up for me, Quinn. I was playing in the sand pit with some new cars I’d gotten for my birthday. Andy came along and took them. I yelled at him, and you just walked up to him and told him to give them back. He called you a girl. Do you remember what you said to him?” Luke asked.

“No.”

“You said ‘I am not a girl’,” Luke said and laughed. I laughed too. What a funny thing to say. “Anyway,” continued Luke, “just having you there standing up for me made me brave enough to stand up for myself. While he was focused on you, I snatched my cars back out of his hands. He was so surprised. He went to hit me, but I got in first. I guess I made his nose bleed because I still had the cars in my hand.”

“I don’t remember it like that,” I said.

“I know you don’t, but I’ve never forgotten that day Quinn.” Luke smiled at me.

John cleared his throat. “Time, Luke,” he said.

“Listen Quinn, I know you’re going to have a tough time over the next few months, but I will be watching over you, I promise. I believe in you, Quinn. I always did and I always will. Never forget that.” Luke leant in and hugged me. It felt like I was hugging air. When he kissed me on the forehead, it felt like the tickle of a feather. When he stood back to look at me, I saw a single tear streak down his cheek.

“I have to go Quinn. I love you,” he said.

“I love you too, Luke,” I said. I watched as he turned and walked through the door.

As per usual, comments are always welcome. I'll release a few more extracts over the next few weeks.

Sunday Sesh #20 - My Lesbian Story brought to you by Cascade Blonde

This Sunday Sesh is brought to you by Cascade Blonde. I've had it in the cupboard for awhile from when I bought a Cascade sample pack before Christmas, and since I didn't want to review all of the Cascades at once, I left this one til now. Plus, a friend of mine said I should give it a go, so this review's for you, Alicia.

Cascade Blonde

Firstly, apologies for no Sunday Sesh last weekend. My real job, house stuff, business stuff and a prior engagement all conspired to whittle away most of my time over the last couple of weeks so that I ran out of it, and didn't get a chance to post a blog.
However, I'm back to the beer-reviewing this week.

So, Cascade Blonde.
This one's very fruity and crisp, slightly cloudy in the glass with a frothy head that slides down the glass as you sip. It's another one that could almost be mistaken for a shandy because of it's slight bitterness and very little after taste. It's something you could drink easily in a session and not realise how many you've had. Good one for a hot day.


This post was inspired by a young'un I know who came out to all and sundry a little while ago, via facebook, no less. I've known her since she was a shy thirteen year-old, and to see her (and the rest of my former soccer team-mates from long times past) grow into the confident and crazy woman she is now is wonderful.

I was in my early twenties when I discovered I was a lesbian (still am, but that's another story...)

It was at that moment I decided I would be a cat-lady - living by myself with a house full of feral cats in a derelict but eccentric house, terrorising children with my wild hair and icy stare.

Why? Because I would rather be single than run the gauntlet of lesbian dating. When you're a lesbian, the field of potential partners is vastly smaller than if you're straight. Plus, there's always the danger of falling for a straight girl or getting mixed signals from the object of your desire who isn't entirely sure if she plays for your team, or if she even wants to. (Again, another story for another time).

Granted, being a lesbian on the dating scene is probably easier than being a gay man on the dating scene. You're far more likely, as a lesbian, to get a positive response from the object of your desire should they be straight, than if you're a gay guy. Though the response of the object of your affection is in direct proportion with the size of the boyfriend, if she has one.

The other thing I realised early on was that it's pretty hard to come out when you're single. Quite simply, people tend not to believe you. They think it's a phase (though this can happen even if you are with partner), or that you just haven't met the right bloke yet. I realised pretty early on then, that it's far easier to just not say anything, unless asked.

Funny thing about these types of decisions when you're that age - something always happens to turn them upside down.

For me, that was meeting my wife. As she tells it, it was definitely not love at first sight. Me though? Well, she hid my beer (flirty little thing) and then after I cracked open a fresh one, the old one mysteriously reappeared. Kind of like when you're in primary school and the boy who likes you pulls your hair, not because he hates you, but because he wants you to be his girlfriend.

I figured she wanted me to be her girlfriend, so I pursued her relentlessly. Meaning: I rang her for a ride home at various times in the wee hours when I was blind drunk, and skirted around the issue of my feelings for her. Apparently, as often happens, all our friends knew we liked each other, but we were both too, well, immature I suppose, to admit it. One night, at the pub, we just kind of started holding hands, and it spiralled from there.

Since then it's been a whirlwind of big moves and overseas trips, a couple of false-start marriage proposals, a wedding, acquiring two gorgeous puppies and making a home together.

Turns out, my lesbian life is a lot different from the one I imagined when I was just coming to terms with my sexuality. Turns out, my relationship isn't really anything different from my sisters' relationships with their other halves, or my brother's with his girlfriend. All that angst early on about not being "normal" was wasted energy.

Now I have bills to pay, a bank to keep happy with regular house payments, and a wife to keep happy with my baking. Not to mention two dogs who act out like spoiled children when we don't spend time with them. How much more normal can you get?

I guess the lesson here is that if life throws you lemons, you can still have the white picket fence (if that's what you want).

Sunday Sesh #13 - Cascade Pale Ale

Today's Sunday Sesh is brought to you by Cascade Pale Ale.

This one was a light golden colour, and a little cloudy in the glass. Smells crisp and fresh, and went down well. Perfect for a stinking hot day on the Ridge. There was a slightly bitter aftertaste, but not too strong, and it didn't stick around.

I wouldn't say no to this one if someone offered me one.


So much to write about this week what with interesting happenings in Aussie cricket, as well as politics. But I want to start off with a rant - just a short one, I promise.

Does this tool make my butt look big? (Photo courtesy the Toowoomba Chronicle)

Every Saturday, there's a little section in our local paper called "Tradie". And every bloody weekend there's a chick holding a tool. This isn't just a gratuitous shot - it's an ad for a tool they do a little speil on. They tell you what it is, what it's used for, and who should use it.

For example, this one's called a "nibbler" (Hmm, on second thoughts, maybe the model is a good choice...) Tradies that could use it include "shed builders, roofers and sheet fabricators." Does she look like a shed builder? Or a metal fabricator?

So why does this annoy me so much? Well, I thought we'd grown out of this crap. It's not Zoo magazine afterall.

Besides, does it really make you take any more interest in the tool she's holding? Does it make you go "Oooh, I wonder what that tool does"? Do you even notice there's a tool there somewhere? (Yes, I'm talking about you Lisa.)

I'd be more impressed if they got a real tradie chick to show off the tools. At least she'd actually know how to use it.

I mean, there's no way she'd be able to use that tool with her nails. Plus, she's holding it wrong. And she doesn't even have any other tools in her tool belt.

Look, I know blokes dig chicks holding tools provocatively, but seriously? In a little regional newspaper? The only thing missing here is a little bit more cleavage to get the boys salivating over their morning coffee.

At least she's got protection though I suppose. Those big tools can cause serious injuries if you're not careful.

Ok, rant over.

Big news from Aussie cricket - we finally have a coach in South African Mickey Arthur.

Lots of people are up in arms at the thought of a non-Aussie taking the reins, but you know what? That just tells me that our stocks of home-grown coaches are very, very low. Besides, Mickey Arthur plotted our downfall as the South African coach last time the Proteas were out here. He's done some good things with WA, so I'm interested to see how he goes with rebuilding our team.

I'm hoping he starts leaning on the older players to maybe drop back to state cricket to mentor the younger generation and elevate some of the younger players that have been toiling hard and waiting in the wings for someone to die.

Thanks to a bag full of injuries from the tour of South Africa, we might get to see some of those young guns taking central stage against the Kiwis. Dave Warner looks to finally have his chance to prove he's not just a 20-over wonder-boy (and put some pressure on Phil Hughes), and we have some new quicks looking to make their mark with Ben Cutting, Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson.

It's good to finally have some talent in our pace bowling stocks, but the big problem that still haunts us is injuries. And if the new coach can't work out some way to keep our best on the park when they're needed most, it's going to be a long time before we can climb back up to No. 1.

There is one burning question I have though - does having a South African coach mean that whenever the Proteas are playing we should respectfully cheer for them over their opposition, as long as it's not the Aussies? And does that mean that the South Africans should be doing the same, except in reverse?

What do you think? Happy for a South African to take the top job in Australian sport or not? And the other burning question - should Ricky Ponting call it a day and bow out gracefully in the second test in Hobart?


That's it from me for this Sunday's Sesh.

Until next Sunday,
Cheers!

Nanowrimo: Day 21 - Help!

So, here's the deal. Three days off has meant no more words added to my Nano novel, and I'm finding it hard to connect with the story again.
I've also realised I've been focussing too much on trying to make this story "good" and "readable" rather than just writing the damn thing and having fun. While I think this story has a chance at life after Nano, I've reverted to "pre-Nano writer" and been giving the story too much reverence. I need to get back to Super Writer mode, and fast!

What am I doing to fix this? I'm glad you asked. I'm going to throw my characters out of their comfort-zone.
Remember back when I made my random generator? I knew it would eventually come in handy some day (for something other than procrastination).

I've picked out a couple of traits from the "specials" box, and I want you to help me choose what I'm going to throw into my Nano novel, just to mix things up abit.

I'll give you a little bit of background, hopefully without giving too much away.

Quinn (17) and Luke (18) are BFF's in their final year of high-school. Quinn has just come out to Luke (who incidentally always knew Quinn was a lesbian, but for some reason, never told Quinn). He, of course, pays out on Quinn for her crushes, and makes bad lesbian jokes, as a BFF should do.

As a result of an accident, Quinn's soul ends up in Luke's body, so she gets to do things she wouldn't normally get to do. Things like peeing standing up, crash-tackling her arch-nemesis Josh who plays on Luke's football team (and who also happens to be the boyfriend of Quinn's biggest crush), and cracking onto girls without fear of getting slapped - or laughed at.

It stands to reason that while she's Luke, she discovers a secret Luke has kept hidden even from her.

My problem is - what is Luke's secret?

That's where you come in. I've put up a snap-poll to help me decide what Luke's big secret is. Feel free to offer up any other suggestions, or longer reasonings or comments, in the comments section.

I'll leave the poll up for 24hrs, and then start work on the next part of my Nano novel - tentatively titled "Luke's Secret" - tomorrow night.

The poll's up on the left, and closes at 7pm tomorrow night.

So get voting! And don't forget to tell your friends!

Sunday Sesh #12 - Cascade Stout

This Sunday Sesh brought to you by Cascade Stout.

I've cheated a little this week and also in order to get ahead over the next few weeks - I bought a gift pack from Cascade with four of their beers in, so I'll be reviewing them all over the next month. I've heard they make a good brew down in the southern-most state (something to do with the pureness of the water they reckon), and I wasn't disappointed with this week's choice.

"Hints of coffee and chocolate"

I'm joined in today's Sunday's Sesh with the Little Sister and the Bro-in-law, visiting from the Sunny Coast. They both had a taste of this. Bro-in-law isn't a beer drinker but thought this one was alright. Little Sis enjoyed this one. She said she couldn't taste the chocolate but it smelled like it had something in there. And she liked that the aftertaste wasn't overpowering.

(Caveat: Bro-in-law said Little Sis would like anything with alcohol in it - I'm not sure what the problem is.)

I say this is a pretty good stout. It pours well in the glass with a creamy head, but not too much. It smells a little of chocolate and if you swirl it around in your mouth you can get a hint of the coffee.

This is a pretty heavy one at 1.7 standard drinks - and it feels like it. It goes down well, but probably would be suited more to winter rather than summer. Very much an after dinner beer this one I think.

Having said that, I will be getting this one again.

I was reading over my first couple of Sunday Sesh's and thought I should do a quick update on the weather front, since the whole point was to bring on Summer.

I think it's worked. The temps have been climbing pretty steadily the last few weeks, and it's been perfect beer-drinking weather up here on the Ridge. We have a half-done deck which will be great once it's finished to enjoy a few cold ones with friends, and I've been getting a few tips for beers to review from friends - stay tuned - they'll be coming up soon.

The rising temps mean that Christmas will soon be upon us. And that means more beer-drinking, water slides, and catching up with rellies and friends.

Which we've been doing this weekend, which is why this Sunday Sesh is so short.

It's also why there's been no improvement on the word count for my Nano novel since Thursday. Plus, I had another migraine on Friday night - oh the pressure of writing 50,000 words in 30 days.

I was planning on being as close to 35k as I could by tonight, but that's just gone right out the window. I have another busy couple of weeks coming up so getting 50k is looking further and further away. I do like my story though, and I will get it finished regardless of whether I hit that 50k by the end of the month, so I will still be giving it a good crack. There might have to be some long nights if I want to score some more wagon wheels.

And Wifey has a secret reward planned if I crack the 50k mark so I do really want to get there to see what that is.

Until next Sunday's Sesh,
Cheers!

Nanowrimo: Half Way

I've been a little bit lax the last couple of days with the Nano thing. We had a big weekend and I tried to find some time to write but it didn't turn out that way. Usually, I'd beat myself up for it and spend the next few days depressed because I couldn't be disciplined enough to get words down, but I tried something different this time around.

This time, I promised myself more treats.

And it seems to have worked. Rather than concentrating on hitting my 1,667 words/day goal, I decided that every time I cranked out another 1,000 words, I'd give myself a Wagon Wheel. It also helps that whenever I call out to Wifey that I've cracked another 1,000 words she calls back "Here comes the Wagon Wheels!" with great enthusiasm.

I've cranked out some pretty good numbers but haven't bested my current one-day high score of 2,680.

I think I'll give that a run though this weekend, but we'll see how we go.

I've just clicked over the 18k mark, which feels great. Especially when I realised that I still have so much of the story left to tell.

I'm still writing in scenes, and jumping around a bit and it still seems to be working for me. The last few days I've surprised myself by cranking out over 1,000 words each session even though I didn't think I had anything to write.

I've also been plotting (sort of) during the day - thinking about other things the characters might get up to and what other situations would logically (and sometimes illogically) follow from previous ones.

I have some great scenes coming up that I'm looking forward to writing, but I've been holding off on them so I can get started on them leading into week four. I think I have at least 20k in them alone, so the closer I can get to 30k by the end of this weekend the better.

Ideally, I want to be around 35k - not impossible but quite an ask considering I have to write as much as I have done already, but only over the next couple of days.

Reading the forums on the Nanowrimo site has been a great source of inspiration. I think it's the whole community feel of Nano that keeps me going. Writing can be pretty lonely sometimes, so when you jump onto a website and you're able to lament your lack of enthusiasm for your characters (or your very real threat of knocking them off and continuing on with another more interesting character), and you hear how others are coping, it makes you feel a little less alone in this crazy quest.

On that note, I'm off to recharge my vocabulary muscles and dream about what the cover of my nano novel will look like when it's published to great acclaim.

Sunday Sesh #11 - Old Fart

So this week's Sunday Sesh is brought to you by Merriman's Old Fart english ale. (I can't actually find a website for this one, so this is the closest you get).

This is kind of a burnt amber colour, no head, and if you look closely there's a little bit of sediment. Tastes abit like burnt toast and smells like a country pub on a busy Saturday night.

Not a favourite and I struggled to get through this one. Too "roasted malt" taste for me, and the bitter after taste lingered longer than it should.

So this week in Nanoland saw me soar past the 15k word count, mainly thanks to a (as yet unfinished) funeral scene and my main character starting to speak her mind a bit more.

Without giving away too many details, one of my characters gets themselves killed. But they get a short-lived, high-action second chance, and my main character gets to discover a few things she never would have otherwise about this other character.

Anyway, it got me to thinking - if the people I've lost over the years had a second chance, what are all the things I would ask them now that I didn't get a chance to ask them before they died.

This is what I came up with.

What I would ask my Nanna:

• How do you brew the perfect cup of tea (in a teapot and not using tea bags)?
• Are you glad Richie Benaud is finally retired?
• Would you have married Slim Dusty if you'd been given the chance?

What I would ask my Grandma:

• Can I have your ginger nut biscuit recipe? (She'd probably say no, but no harm in asking).
• Are you still watching the cricket with your eyes closed, stretched out on a recliner? (I know most of us have been watching cricket with our eyes closed lately).
• Do I really suffer from the affliction known as "Kelly Nose"? (Those in the Silcox family know what I'm talking about).
• Did you really stop at 7 kids because my dad was born - and therefore you didn't need to "try again" for another boy? Or because he gave you such grief you just couldn't handle another one?

What I would ask my cat Spook:

• Did you really hate my sister that much?
• Were you "catching" pieces of vinyl in my dad's shed for our amusement, or because you really thought they were lizards?

The things I will make sure I will pass on before I die:

• The internet banking and email passwords to my wife.
• My favourite baking recipes to my nieces. This does NOT include my potato bake recipe - sorry.
• My unwritten story ideas to anyone who wants them - I can guarantee there'll be lots.
• My unpublished memoirs - oh wait, I'll probably get them published just before I croak it, so you'll have to buy it (See kids? You will get something from my estate).

Things I won't tell people even if they beg:

• The secret of my potato bake.
• Where I hide my diaries.

So that's it for another Sunday Sesh. Short and sweet this one since we have a tupperware party today (yay!) and a friend's going away party this afternoon (boo!).

How about you though - if you could ask anyone who has died one question what would it be? And what is the one thing you would take to your grave?

Until next Sunday's Sesh,
Cheers!

Sunday Sesh #10 - Cricketer's Arms Lager

Today is a celebration Sunday Sesh, and I'm doing the honours with a Cricketers Arms Lager, brewed in Melbourne.

This one is light and crisp. If you look closely at the photo you'll see there's lots of bubbles. It's very light for a lager, and it smells sweet and fruity.

It goes down a little bit like a shandy, which isn't a bad thing on a hot day. The sweetness in this brew takes the edge off the bitterness.

If you like Bare Cove Radlers, you'll like this drop.

So, why the celebration?

In the last 24 hours, I've managed to write more words in one novel than I've written across 4 of them in the last 6 months. And it felt bloody good to finally get a good run on for once.

I guess the beauty of Nano is that it frees you from the constraints you normally find yourself under when sitting at the computer banging away on the keys, hoping that the words you form make some sort of sense.

I know I said the Sunday Sesh's during November would be writing-free since all my other posts would be full of my Nano-neurosis, but I stumbled across something last night that made me fly through my writing, and I wanted to share it with you.

Of all the things suggested to help get you through Nano, the one thing I struggled with was finding the right tunes. Most of the time I write with nothing but the sounds of cars going past, ambulances with sirens blasting, and the dogs barking incessantly at people walking too close to the fence. (You can see why I get so much work done under those circumstances). On the odd occasion I do have some music on while I attempt to get words on the page, it's normally something like Enya. I have a bad habit of actually listening to the music and singing along to it, bopping away at the keyboard and not actually typing anything, so any music without words, or with words I can't understand is good.

However, last night a song jumped out at me while I was writing and it made me sit up and think. I stopped typing and listened to the song a few times over, and I realised that it embodied the essence of my story. The feeling I got when I listened to that song and thought about where my plot was heading was just magic.

I got goosebumps, and new plot points began forming in my brain. My words came more easily and my characters jumped to life. No longer were they skimming along on the edges, blurry in my mind and doing meaningless things in an attempt to move the plot forward. They were taking on lives of their own. I could see the settings as clearly as if the characters were me. Instead of sounding like they were talking under water, their voices became much clearer.

I began to dig deeper and started asking them some hard questions.

That's all well and good for my plot, but the thing I'm really happy about is that I am much more excited about writing than I have been in a long time. Regardless of whether I hit the 50k at the end of this month or not, the one thing I will take away from Nano (even at this early stage) is that I need to make sure I stay connected with my characters, and I need to make sure that they're following their true paths, and not the ones I think they should be following.

And finding a theme song early on should be a priority.

Having said all of that, I should be writing. I still have a huge amount of words to get down to reach 15k - not likely but I'll give it a good shake.

And for everyone wondering, my Nano-novel's theme song is "I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLachlan. If you listen to it, you'll discover what type of novel I'm writing. I just hope I can do the story, and my characters, justice.

Until next Sunday's Sesh,
Cheers!

Nanowrimo: Day Five - 10%

Word Count: 5,772

Day five and I'm still struggling, but it's getting easier. I spent most of today procrastinating - grocery shopping, helping Wifey out with some small renos and house-hunting.

I did get in an hour of good writing time though, and got just over 1,400 words down. My goal of 15k by COE tomorrow night is a long way away to say the least, but if I can get somewhere close I'll be happy.

I'm measuring my successes in small steps at the moment - just sitting down at the keyboard and making my characters do something (anything!) is a success at this point. I've also been reading the Nano forums and pep talks and doing little bits of reading in between to keep me in the right frame of mind.

I'm not ashamed to admit that more than once last night I wanted to walk away from the keyboard and throw it in completely. Instead, I went and made myself a coffee, ate a piece of chocolate from my treat stash, and asked myself what is the story that I really want to be writing.

Turns out it wasn't the same one I'd started on Tuesday night. Go figure! Half the words I've written so far belong to that story, and I'm still counting them in my tally since they're still words on a page I didn't have at the start. If I manage to get past the 50,000 words though, I'll totally discard them at the end.

So what happened when I came back in, re-caffeinated and more determined? I thought about the essence of the story I started and what I wanted to say. I have some great scenes written that will hopefully end up in another book some day, but they're just not right for this one. And they're just not right for the theme of the story I really wanted to write.

So, I put all my characters in a line-up. I threw some darts and picked a couple, and then did some what-ifs. I ended up changing my main character to a girl, her best friend to a boy, and tossed in a few elements from the original plot just to make things interesting.

So far, in the roughly 3,000 words I've written in the new improved Nano-novel, I've managed to pull out no less than six different extra plot points and discovered some things about these characters I never knew before. There's skeletons in closets and secrets galore.

And yes, someone is still going to die. At the moment, it's a roll of the dice who it's going to be, and not even my characters know at this point. Which is probably a good thing - they'd react differently if they knew they were going to cark it.

I'm heading back to it to see if I can hit 7-8,000 words by COE tonight.

Before I go though, a big shout out to everyone who's seen me pop up on facebook or in person, or had texts from me the last few days and asked "Shouldn't you be writing?" Thanks guys.

Nanowrimo: Day Three - Small Successes

After a slow start on Day One, I finally managed to get in over a full daily quota of 1,684 words. That brings my total word count on Day Three to 3,426. (Day Twos' count was 1,207). Still short of the 5,000-ish I should be, but I'm happy to be gradually building up the word count each night.

I struggled early last night to make any sort of headway, so I decided to change tact a little bit and just let one of the characters tell me the story from their point of view. It turned out to be the right thing to do. Changing from third person ("he/she") to first ("I") also made a huge difference. Sam, (my character), turns out to be a bit of a loser, but he tells a great story.

So I decided to let him keep going tonight and he didn't disappoint. I'm not sure how many words I can drag out of him, but I'm happy to let him prattle on. I discovered a couple of little plot points I didn't know existed that I'll be happy to incorporate somewhere along the line. All in all, it seems to be setting things up nicely, and Sam keeps throwing up questions that need to be answered further down the track. Hopefully, (and this is a bit of a spoiler), he doesn't get himself killed before he tells me what happens.

The next big goal for my word count is to hit 15,000 words by C.O.E (close of eyes ie bed-time) Sunday night, which means getting in close to 4,000 words each for the next three days. Not impossible, but I have a lot of time on my hands this weekend, and I'm primed to pull an all-nighter tomorrow night with the assistance of some strong, hot coffee.

Until then, I'm off to bed. Some of us have a real job to go to in the morning.

Stay tuned.....

Nanowrimo: Day One

Goal: 2,000
Word count: 535

Not as good as I'd hoped, but better than no words. I only got time to write at about 8pm, and had to shut myself away in the bedroom since our visitors are still here. I hate being unsociable.
Very aware that wifey needs to go to bed, so wasn't able to concentrate well at all and ended up only getting in an hour.

I made two different starts, which will probably translate into two separate chapters and fleshed out some early ideas.

I'm hoping with some more time tomorrow night I'll get more done. I have a goal to be at or around 10,000 words by Sunday night which will put me slightly ahead, so I'm going to shut myself away for a few hours at a time, and maybe have a late one Friday night.

I've realised that I'm really going to have take advantage of my weekends and Mondays in order to hit 50k words by the end of the month.

No word count widgets available yet, but will stick one up as soon as they do.

Time for some rest, and hopefully a better count tomorrow.