My Crazy NaNo Project 2011

As anyone still reading this blog is probably aware, I'm doing NaNo again this year. Only I've gotten so used to it, I decided to make things a bit more "interesting". The curious can read the details over on the blog I set up just for this wild project: Thirty Days and Nights of Inksanity. Yes, I'm writing in longhand, with fountain pens and inks, and posting about them each day. I'm a few days behind, thanks to the "snowpocalypse" that struck in late October (which I posted about over there, too). But I'm having fun...

NaNo Diary: Day Ten

I know I haven't posted the past few days. I've been writing, but that and everything else in my life just took up too much time to allow me to update my NaNo Diary here. I'm dealing with a great deal of personal stress and tension, problems that keep cropping up and have to be resolved, other things I need to do.

But, in spite of all that, my novel is doing well. I don't mean to suggest it is perfect. I've gone off the rails in a few places, and I'll need to clean things up quite a bit when I revise - but this is a first draft. I am not one of the rare writers who can put a flawless first draft down on paper. At least not usually, and the very rare times when I do, it is a poem or a very short story...

The point is that a few interesting twists have come up to enliven what I'd planned in the few days I managed to devote to that. The story and the characters are coming alive, and developing a certain momentum of their own. No matter how much cutting, patching, putting things back together, and otherwise rearranging I'll need to do in revision, I do at least have a story I think I can polish into something interesting.

And Dietrich Bonhoeffer hasn't even stepped into the story yet... Yes, he has a cameo in this alternate history. He sets my main character thinking along different lines. Anyway, if anyone is reading this, I know what you're waiting for is my current word count. As of tonight, I am up to 21,921 words!. For the first time ever, I have consistently been ahead of my goal from the very first day, and each day, my 'lead' keeps growing. By now, I am slightly more than three days ahead of target. I dare not grow complacent, but at least I'm not thousands of words behind - and my story is picking up steam, as I already said.

NaNo Diary: Day Two

I seem to be on a roll so far; my two day total is 4,010 words. But since I am also fighting off a nasty bug, my entire lead may disappear at any moment. Still, I plan on making as much progress as I can as quickly as I can, and dealing with the problems as they come up. Since it is late and I'm tired, this will be a brief update...

But...

4,010 words! Woohoo!

NaNo Diary: Day One

For the first time, I am - slightly - ahead of target on the very first day of NaNo! I'm excited by my story, my main character is really taking shape on the page, and I have 1,775 words already written. That's 108 words more than my target. Now, if I can only keep this up...

So, if you're following my progress, wish me luck.

NaNo Diary - Calm Before the Storm

In a few hours, the frenzy of National Novel Writing Month will be upon me, as I try my best to finish 50,000 words in spite of everything life can throw at me. This will be a difficult year, since I'm still coming to terms with a number of issues, and since I am struggling with other distractions as well.

However, I do have some idea what I want to write, and I hope to start setting words down on paper tomorrow. I will be making periodic updates here, every day if possible, or at least every few days, to note my current word count and my thoughts at the time.

I've entered a contest to win a clay Plot Bunny, and I have two chances to win. My best shot is to be the first entrant who wins NaNo, and I am at least going to try for that. If I miss that opportunity, as long as I get my 50,000 words before the end of November, I will be among those from whom a second winner is drawn. The contest adds a bit of spice to this year's efforts, and gives me a little extra motivation, which I really need this year.

On the other hand, I'm excited about my idea, and I'm desperate to really get back into a writing streak, so I do have a fighting chance. Let me know if you're observing my progress and cheering me on (or hoping you win the plot bunny instead...).

NaNo Diary: the Aftermath

The next day, the 29th, I had a party I had (and did want) to go to, later in the evening. I had originally hoped I might slip in a bit more work on the WIP, just to pile up a more impressive word count, even thought I'd officially become a winner the night before. This and that cropped up, however, and since I no longer had the urgent drive to win, I couldn't swat them aside as easily. In any case, I was pretty tired, and not exactly blazing through anything at impressive speed.

After the party, a friend stuck around for a while, so I was up much later than planned. Between that and NaNo, I was exhausted for the final day of November, and barely crawled out of bed. The weather was nasty, too, which didn't help; dark, gloomy, and wet without light, wind, or anything else to recommend it. Bleah! I got up the next day full of good resolutions, but determined first of all to begin catching up on all that backlog from November.

I started to climb that mountain, and discovered it was much higher, and steeper, than I'd guessed from the bottom. A few minor things cropped up, as they always do, just to make things interesting, and left me updating this diary over a week later than planned. Sorry to anyone who was watching the drama, I didn't mean to let you down. A server malfunction on one of the mailing lists I subscribe to didn't help; it dumped a heap of delayed e-mails, including a whole raft of duplicate ones (with no way to sort the dupes except by opening and scanning), into my inbox starting the other day. They're still coming...

For those of you who are wondering; I do like the book, I think it has potential. I plan to finish the first draft as soon as I can catch my breath and settle down to that, then let it sit in the dark for a while before I revise it and decide just what to do with it. I can't let a chance to slaughter a few sacred cows in SF pass, now can I?

NaNo Diary: Day Twenty-Eight

I sat down and wrote as soon as I could, for as long as I could stand. I knew the next two days would be too busy to fit in much writing, if any, and I wanted to get as far as I possibly could. I had continuity issues, and spent quite a lot of time re-reading, going back and tweaking this or that mention, or adding a line or two as needed. I know you're not supposed to do that during NaNo, as it slows you down, but I prefer a book that is at least mostly coherent.

By the end of my writing marathon, I suspected I'd passed 50,000 words, at least barely, and a quick check of my word count agreed, but only NaNo's validator could tell for sure. I was exhausted, but I pasted the full manuscript into the validator - and won! The official count was 50,794 words, and that in only twenty-eight days instead of the full thirty, with problems dragging me backwards all month. I paused to smile broadly at the result, then went to bed while I still had the energy to do that.

NaNo Diary: Day Twenty-Six

I managed a pretty good spurt today. I still don't want to do a victory roll, just in case that fans the fire in my starboard engine, but I can see the airstrip from here, and I still seem to have power. I can probably even glide through tomorrow without writing anything, although if I get the chance I'm going to put fingers to keyboard.

Today's Total: 3,798 words
Days Left: 4
Cumulative Total: 48,179 words
(4,837 words ahead of target)

NaNo Diary: Day Twenty-Five

As I've found before, desperation is often a great spur to writing. I seem to be coming down with something, but before I felt too awful, I managed to write enough words to at least get me out of immediate danger. I still won't say I'm sure of a safe landing, but I have the damage under control. I also have only a few days left. We'll just have to see how things turn out. Of course, it helps that I've hit an exciting part of the story...

Today's Total: 6,096 words
Days Left: 5
Cumulative Total: 44,381 words
(2,706 words ahead of target)

NaNo Diary: Day Twenty-Four

Yesterday's trip was long and grueling, and I am still worn out (and somewhat dehydrated). Also, in the "it never rains but it pours" department, one of my cats was sick, nothing serious but enough distraction to keep me from writing until late. I managed a bit, but not nearly enough to catch up. I am dangerously far behind right now. Still, I plan to keep writing. If I lose, it may as well be by as slim a margin as possible (although if I hit the deadline with 2 or 3 words to go, you may hear my scream even if you live on another continent...).

Today's Total: 1,055 words
Days Left: 6
Cumulative Total: 38,285 words
(1,723 words behind target)

NaNo Diary: Day Twenty-Three

As I expected, I got nothing done. The crisis was averted, thanks to the efforts of Senator Reed's staff and a very helpful gentleman who worked at the JFK Airport in New York. Still, the overnight drive down there, and the subsequent return, left me far too tired to write. Sigh.

Today's Total: 0 words
Days Left: 7
Cumulative Total: 37,230 words
(1,102 words behind target)

NaNo Diary: Day Twenty-Two

Today, I did manage to get some writing done. Not as much as I'd hoped, but at least some. I'm still (technically) ahead, but that's going down the drain tomorrow. As I write this, after 10:00 PM, I am within minutes of leaving on a long, weary overnight journey to New York City, to (hopefully) rescue my son-in-law from being entangled in a mistake that isn't his own. Thanks to Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island and his staff (yes, I live in Massachusetts, but my daughter and son-in-law live in RI) there is some hope of that. Otherwise, the same government that trips over itself to hand billions to the very executives whose stupidity and greed caused a financial meltdown couldn't be bothered to correct their own errors in time to spare one ordinary, decent person from suffering. All of which means that I'm going to lose any chance of writing tomorrow, so I really only have seven days left - at best. Still, I'm only seeing black smoke pour from my wings, and not flame, as I try to guide this novel in to a safe landing at Fifty Thousand Words Base.

Wish me luck!

Today's Total: 1,964 words
Days Left: 8
Cumulative Total: 37,230 words
(565 words ahead of target)

NaNo Diary: Day Twenty-One

Between rushing around trying to get things done that absolutely had to be done, and being upset, I didn't manage to write a single word... I just destroyed most of my lead in a single day. I can smell the smoke pouring off my wings as I spiral down in the air...

Today's Total: 0 words
Days Left: 9
Cumulative Total: 35,266 words
(259 words ahead of target)

NaNo Diary: Day Twenty

I had a good day today, and finally built up a lead. I am tempted to say I smell victory in the air, but I remember the video of the bicycle racer who threw up his hands in victory just before the finish line - and crashed, only to have someone behind him cross the finish line while he was struggling up. With that in mind, I don't want to get too cocky, but at least today was a good day. I hope to have more like it. I have two more days before I lose a day, and I'd like to make the most of them.

Today's Total: 3,548 words
Days Left: 10
Cumulative Total: 35,266 words
(1,926 words ahead of target)

NaNo Diary: Day Nineteen

Today I had to run some urgent errands, and didn't do as well as yesterday, but I did hit an important milestone. Today I caught up, and actually have a few words over the ideal target of where I should be. Still, I have only eleven days left, and at least four of those are days when I won't be able to fit in any writing. That leaves me at best seven days to write almost 20,000 words if I want to win. I'll need to average almost 2,700 words per day. Well, we'll see. To my well wishers and commenters: I hope you understand, until this madness is over and I've won or fallen short, I am not likely to have any time to visit your blogs and thank you, but I do appreciate your visits. Special thanks to DBA Lehane and Wolfbaby, two old friends who have let me know they're in my corner. Those of you I don't know, I'll drop by and visit you once this race is over and I've caught my breath...

Today's Total: 2,490 words
Days Left: 11
Cumulative Total: 31,718 words
(45 words ahead of target)

NaNo Diary: Day Eighteen

Today, in spite of disruption, frantic preparation, a looming crisis, and the knowledge that I will lose at least four more days, two at the very end of November, to depress me - in spite of those things, I managed to close much of the gap. I wrote a fairly decent amount, and I have some idea where I'm going, so I may manage to do well tomorrow as well. Still, wish me luck. This isn't going to be easy even if I do start to pull ahead. This weekend, I'll not only miss at least one day's writing, I'm going to end up so exhausted I'll be lucky to get back on track at all. Still, I plan to forge ahead, and hope.

Today's Total: 3,649 words
Days Left: 12
Cumulative Total: 29,228 words
(778 words short of target)

NaNo Diary: Day Seventeen

With potential disaster staring me in the face, the crisis I've mentioned before took up enough of my attention I barely managed to hold my own today. I'm going to have to do much, much better in the next few days to make it past the finish line in time. I need to close the gap entirely, and to forge well ahead of where I "ought" to be, assuming I wasn't going to lose at least 3 more days of writing time in the next two weeks. (In other words, I need to close up the gap completely, then quickly build up a lead of at least 5,000 words. A tough order, with so few days to go.)

Today's Total: 1,691 words
Days Left: 13
Cumulative Total: 25,579 words
(2,760 words short of target)

NaNo Diary: Day Sixteen

As I'd planned, I went to help a friend, and got back home too late to do any writing at all. I fell behind again, of course, but I'd planned for this and normally I wouldn't be too worried. I could probably handle it without trouble. The crisis I mentioned, however, is going to cause me to miss a few more days. So the outlook is very uncertain.

Today's Total: 0 words
Days Left: 14
Cumulative Total: 23,888 words
(2,784 words short of target)

NaNo Diary: Day Fifteen

Well, despite an awful day and too many errands, I managed to keep up and not fall further behind. The only problem? Tomorrow I will be going to see a friend; plans I'd made weeks ago. I doubt I'll manage to write a word. And I'm still behind, a little bit. So I'll be far behind on Monday. The worse problem, of course, is not only Thansgiving (I was planning on that, and on tomorrow) but a get-together the weekend after Thanksgiving, and a need to deal with the crisis I've mentioned next weekend - leaving me with four days during November I'm not likely to be able to write. And I'm behind... I suspect I'm doomed, but I'm going to keep trying. Wish me luck.

Today's Total: 1,828 words
Days Left: 15
Cumulative Total: 23,888 words
(1,117 words short of target)

NaNo Diary: Day Fourteen

Today was marked by so many interruptions and disruptions I was sure it would be a total disaster. Yet when the dust settled, and I looked at the final counts, I didn't gain any more ground, but came only 8 words short of holding my ground. Not too bad, for a day I thought would set me back all over again. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Today's Total: 1,659 words
Days Left: 16
Cumulative Total: 22,060 words
(1,278 words short of target)