Going the Distance

Last night I passed the finish line of 50,000 words. I validated my novel and picked up a couple of reward goodies. I’ve got to admit, there were plenty of times I didn’t think I was going to make it this month, especially after such a difficult start.

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Here’s my progress chart. You can really see the hit I took that first week too, plus the lack of motivation that took place shortly afterwards. There were several times when I came oh so close to throwing my hands in the air.

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Instead I made myself be sociable and attended a few write-ins, and even though my word counts during those sessions weren’t that high, it gave me the boost of confidence I needed to continue. I didn’t expect that sort of thing to happen really. I kind of thought I would attend a few, then walk away from it; but the knowledge that I had to meet with folks who were working on the same deadline I was gave me some much needed peer pressure to finish.

So the novel isn’t done, but I am in the climactic final scenes. With all of the setting notes and background scenes (which won’t be included in the final novel), this beast is now over 100k. So I’m taking a guess that it’s really only around 90kish. At least, I hope so. I’m pretty minimalist on my first drafts, so I’m sure there are areas that need buffing up.

The final scenes of the book took a DRASTIC change from what I had outlined too, which is why it’s more difficult to put down words at this point. Lots of POV switches, lots of balancing out what character knows what, and lots of action going on. It’s a tad bit difficult to keep it all straight, and I’m sure there are several knots that need to be worked out, but I’m much happier with how this is ending compared to what I had before. I just couldn’t imagine Shaleigh getting dragged into a ball, nor could I imagine Madam Cloom throwing one after the craziness that happened in the scenes prior. But this unmarked path is freaking fun. Lovable (and not so lovable) side characters are getting the spot light and all their flaws are shining through. Colin, Mawr, Lieutenant Varg, and Captain Briar are all getting a lot more stuff to do; and more importantly, they’re staying in character for the most part. The plots in the background make more sense and the villains are even seeing more exposure with this path. There’s some tough work going on here, but it’s keeping me highly entertained.

 

Here’s the progress on my YA other-world fantasy novel about urban explorer Shaleigh Mallett who is whisked away to the Land of the Fae. Along the way she encounters living statues, friendly minotaurs, and a backstabbing ruler. When she gets tangled up in a love story that can’t possibly end well, Shaleigh finds herself forced to make a difficult choice that could change the future of this new land, and prevent her from ever getting home.

Project: Madam Cloom’s Garden
Current Word Count: 102,577
New Words Written:
11/19 – 2,843
11/20 – 490
11/23 – 4,174
11/24 – 2,416
11/25 – 3,000
11/26 – 3,742
11/28 – 1,517
11/29 – 4,595
11/30 – 1,800

NaNo Word Count: 51,319

Progress: Battle has broken out everywhere as an unexpected enemy makes a drastic move. Shaleigh is pivotal to what happens next, but she doesn’t understand why, or what the consequences will be.

Next up: Bonds are broken, others are made, and some mistakes can never be forgotten.

Commentary: I caught up with my NaNo word count the day before Thanksgiving, which meant I could spend the day with family for the most part. Most of this catch-up time has been late at night to be honest. Quite happy with how this story is unfolding, and I’m excited to see all the pieces finally falling into place. Also getting some good ideas for Book 2.

Not What They Seem

So yesterday’s write-in was really fun! There were only four of us total, but I really got a ton of writing in. And when you’re as behind as I am, you look for all the inspiration you can find to get more words in. It’s late but I wanted to do a quick update on the latest word count.

 

Here’s the progress on my YA other-world fantasy novel about urban explorer Shaleigh Mallett who is whisked away to the Land of the Fae. Along the way she encounters living statues, friendly minotaurs, and a backstabbing ruler. When she gets tangled up in a love story that can’t possibly end well, Shaleigh finds herself forced to make a difficult choice that could change the future of this new land, and prevent her from ever getting home.

Project: Madam Cloom’s Garden
Current Word Count: 77,700
New Words Written:
11/17 – 2,972 (Mostly at the Write-In, with a very inspiring Word Sprint too!)
11/18 – 2,462

NaNo Word Count: 26,742

Progress: A surprising combat and dark secrets get revealed. People who Shaleigh had written off or thought she understood now have a very different side revealed to her.

Next up: A bloody backstory and getting Colin’s help.

Commentary: I’m still not caught up yet, but at least NaNo is predicting I need under 2k words a day in order to reach my goals. And I hit the halfway mark! Only three days after the halfway point! *Sheepish grin*

A Weekend of Much Writing

I started this weekend almost 10,000 words short of where I ought to have been (to be exact, 9,733 words short), and it was difficult to find the motivation to keep writing. I was honestly the biggest de-motivator too. I couldn’t really blame friends or family or even the kitties on that. I kept telling myself that I didn’t really plan to catch up, and how much writing it would take to make up for that large of a word gap. You can really see it in the missing day and the low word counts below too at first. I think I have a mixture of resources to thank for keeping me going.

Mostly I think it was reading the Reddit Nanowrimo forums that helped. It’s super inspiring to look through at the other people who are already hitting the 50k deadline, and hear their happy stories. It gave me just the nudge I needed to keep going. Especially hearing people who were making up for larger word shortages than what I had. In addition I remembered there was a Write-In I’m planning on attending tomorrow. I’ve never actually been to one before. I went to the meet and greet session back in October and really enjoyed it. It’s funny how as an introverted writer you kind of dread meet-ups like that, but after you attend them you find they’re actually a lot of fun and you get to meet some amazing people. I guess writing is like that though. You don’t get a lot of time to be able to talk to real life writers in person very often, and it’s inspiring to hear how other people have to juggle their lives with their writing goals and dealing with various setbacks along the way.

Anyway, that too is motivating me. I’m really looking forward to the meet up tomorrow. I couldn’t go to the first Write-In because I was sick, and this is the only other one they’re doing. Peer pressure is a powerful tool, folks. It’s kind of cool to use it in a positive light.

I’m still behind. (5,358 words total actually, and by tomorrow it’ll be 7,025 – oy!) However I’m still in this race, and I’m not about to give up. The NaNo site says I have to write 2k words a day to catch up… for today’s word count at least. Looks like I have a busy half month ahead!

 

Here’s the progress on my YA other-world fantasy novel about urban explorer Shaleigh Mallett who is whisked away to the Land of the Fae. Along the way she encounters living statues, friendly minotaurs, and a backstabbing ruler. When she gets tangled up in a love story that can’t possibly end well, Shaleigh finds herself forced to make a difficult choice that could change the future of this new land, and prevent her from ever getting home.

Project: Madam Cloom’s Garden
Current Word Count: 72,266
New Words Written:
11/12 – 0 Words. 🙁
11/13 – 783
11/14 – 1,704
11/15 – 2,940
11/16 – 4,768 (Aw yeah! 😀 )
NaNo Word Count: 21,308

Progress: Minotaurs too can catch you off guard. It’s best not to underestimate them. Time to attend a party in the clouds, but one filled with much dizziness, nausea, and fear. The beautiful scenery makes up for it a little at least.

Next up: A backstage pass that shows a little more about how broken this society is, a terrible wound, and a dangerous test.

Commentary: In all, I’ve written 7,708 words this weekend. I’m super happy about that even though I haven’t caught up yet. Even if I don’t reach the deadline, this has been an incredible experience to see how many words I can push out when I have some motivation behind me. I’ve purposefully not been skimping on the grammar either, because this is going to be a more polished draft, so really I’ve just been putting more hours in. The house may not be in perfect shape, but this manuscript sure does look good!

NaNo: Day 11? Already?

You know that feeling when you get all your plans set and you’re moving through them on a strong, steady pace? You feel amazing. You feel like you’re making progress and that the finish line isn’t some cloud in the sky, but is actually reachable. Heck, you might even treat yourself if you get it ahead of schedule!

You know that other feeling when life has other plans? When it slashes your tire and you’re stuck trying to figure out where the road is again? That’s how I feel right now. Heck, that’s how I felt as soon as I got terribly sick last week. I’m not talking about a head cold either, where you feel like you could maybe write through the headaches and stuffy nose. I’m talking about getting so sick you can barely get out of bed for days. Trust me, it ain’t fun. If I had enemies, I wouldn’t even wish it on them.

So this week I’ve been playing catch-up, grabbing every tiny ounce of writing time I can, and getting the words in. My extremely detailed outline is helping me keep up too.

I’m still about 7,000 words short, but I think I’ll still make it this month. Thank goodness there are so many weekends!

 

Here’s the progress on my YA other-world fantasy novel about urban explorer Shaleigh Mallett who is whisked away to the Land of the Fae. Along the way she encounters living statues, friendly minotaurs, and a backstabbing ruler. When she gets tangled up in a love story that can’t possibly end well, Shaleigh finds herself forced to make a difficult choice that could change the future of this new land, and prevent her from ever getting home.

Project: Madam Cloom’s Garden
Current Word Count: 62,071 (since the weekend)
New Words Written: 5,249
NaNo Word Count: 11,113

Progress: An unexpected argument cropped up between my two main characters, but I’m already figuring out how it’ll be good fuel for one of them to change over time.

Next up: Making up for some harsh words, failing at donning armor, and dealing with a rude minotaur.

Commentary: NaNo says that I need to write around 2,000 a day to reach my goal. Time to roll up those sleeves!

NaNo: Day 3

So the NaNoWriMo website isn’t letting me update my word count, but that’s okay. I’m still dragging from Daylight Savings Time. I know it’s only now 9:00 but dang, I feel like it’s closer to 10 PM. When you get up somewhere between 4 and 5 each morning, that extra hour goes a long way.

Anyway here’s the progress so far. I’ll try again in a few minutes to get the NaNo word count updated, but I did hit my 5k goal for the day.

Now this sleepy writer is off to bed. Is it really only Monday?

Here’s the progress on my YA other-world fantasy novel about urban explorer Shaleigh Mallett who is whisked away to the Land of the Fae. Along the way she encounters living statues, friendly minotaurs, and a backstabbing ruler. When she gets tangled up in a love story that can’t possibly end well, Shaleigh finds herself forced to make a difficult choice that could change the future of this new land, and prevent her from ever getting home.

Project: Madam Cloom’s Garden
Current Word Count: 56,822
New Words Written: 2,079
NaNo Word Count: 5,864

Progress: Learned that people do some disturbing things in order to keep their position of power. Also learned that you can’t judge someone’s intent by their actions.

Next up: A sad story over lunch, a quick tour through the Marketplace, and running into an old friend.

Commentary: Yeah, that 56k isn’t all storyline though. Some of those bits and pieces are scene descriptions, background scenes (ie. stuff that won’t be making it into the final cut), and explanatory stuff to keep the plot on straight. I’m sorry to say that I have no idea what the real length of this piece is yet until I compile it and omit all those extra pieces. Still though, I’m pretty damn proud of this so far. This a complete rewrite of the first draft I fast drafted last year, after a very thorough outline that I finished earlier this year.

Tl;dr – Writing is tough, ya’ll!