National Novel Writing Month

National Novel Writing Month, Day 18
Word count: 5,181

The answer is no. I’ve officially given up on this year’s limp attempt. I’ll conduct a full autopsy later but little planning and little enthusiasm played major parts in the death.

My writing continues here and elsewhere, so while this particular effort has ended, all is not lost. As part of the autopsy (coming soon™) I’ll post excerpts from both of the opening scenes I wrote. It’ll be fun and a little sad. But mostly fun.

National Novel Writing Month, Day 15
Word count: 5,181

I did not write today. I didn’t even think much about the story. I think in its present shapeless form it’s a non-starter. I won’t say it’s dead because there’s a germ/seed/substitute-your-own-thing there that could be nurtured into a proper story but as it is now, I have neither the will nor imagination to prop it up, flesh it out or just plain wing it.

In a way it’s a relief to realize this year’s project is going nowhere at the halfway mark, because I can go back to my other writing projects that much sooner. Which I will do, for real!

I may have a brilliant revelation overnight and take back everything I’ve just typed out but I would not bet large, small or any sums of money on it.

National Novel Writing Month, Day 14
Word count: 5,181

I didn’t write today, a day I could have devoted a lot of time to making up lost ground. There were a few reasons behind the non-writing. Some of it was lack of motivation. I was feeling lazy and unambitious today, not just writing-wise, but in general terms. More concerning, I’m not feeling much from the restart of the story. It’s not bad, but it’s not really grabbing me, either. The spirit of NaNoWriMo says sit down, start typing and see what happens, because something will happen. But at the same time I think you have to know yourself and decide if that hour or two or three spent writing (or trying to) will yield anything useful or not.

I’ll see what happens tomorrow and mull the story tonight. I’m not confident that this revised version will fly, but there may be a kernel there that I can use…somewhere.

National Novel Writing Month, Day 13
Word count: 5,181

I wrote a few hundred words today but mostly spent my time thinking about what I want to do with the story. It is still rather shapeless beyond a very broad outline and while the opening scene has some drama in it, I’m not quite sure yet how it will inform the rest of the story. I have a few ideas.

I’m also starting to get the urge to go back to last year’s novel. On the one hand I hate the idea of simply giving up on this year’s NaNoWriMo because it feels like quitting. On the other hand, literally no one will care if I do, so I probably shouldn’t, either.

Also, I promise to mix in a non-NaNo post sometime over the weekend so the few errant bots happening across the blog will have something new to collect. Don’t worry, errant bots, I’ve got your shiny metal backs!

National Novel Writing Month, Day 12
Word count: 5,181

Two consecutive days of writing! Will wonders never cease? In all likelihood, yes, but not quite yet, at least.

Adding 1,756 more words gives me a total of 5,181 words and officially puts me at the 10% mark a mere week later than it should have. With 19 days to go I need an average of 2,368 words per day to finish with 50,000 by November 30. I actually think this may be possible, especially if I get in a couple of Big Writing Days or BWDs, as I call them.

Still, as long as I keep writing, that’s all that counts. I can’t say the magic is back yet but there’s definitely signs of life beyond posting cat pictures and lists on this blog.

National Novel Writing Month, Day 11
Word count: 3,425

A truly weird thing happened today. I wrote! I began the new introductory scene and it came out to 1,689 words. Added to my previous writing, this gives me a total of 3,425 words. At this point I should be at 18,337, so I’m 14,912 words behind. This is a lot but it’s not insurmountable. More importantly, this new scene feels right and I’m confident I can keep moving forward for at least awhile before it all falls apart like the Titanic if all of its rivets suddenly popped out at the same time.

Tomorrow: More words!

National Novel Writing Month, Day 10
Word count: 1,745

I did some actual writing today but erased it so have nothing to add to my word count. That’s the bad news. The good news is I finally came up with an opening to the novel that I like, which does in fact involve a car crash. You would think opening a story with an exciting car crash would be easy and yet it proved to elude me over lunch today.

But I have a plan now, I just need to execute. With ten days gone but twenty more to go, I still think I can pull this off. Perhaps it will all come together in a magical dream tonight. Magical, I say. With magic. Writing magic.

National Novel Writing Month, Day 9
Word count: An amazing 1,745!

I fiddled around a bit in Word and WriteMonkey today but didn’t do any real writing. I think my last gasp for starting on completing NaNoWriMo 2015 successfully will come on Wednesday, which is a holiday. If I write nothing then I will probably call it quits and shift back to other writing projects, such as I Really Intend to Finish The First Draft of my 2014 NaNoWriMo Novel This Time or That Incomplete Short Story Collection Won’t Complete Itself or Hey Maybe a Writing Prompt is Just the Thing to Get the Gears Turning.

National Novel Writing month, Day 8
Word count: 1,745

I have worked over the revised idea for my NaNo novel throughout the day and feel I’m close to having the protagonist in a situation, which is where I want to be before committing to the whole writing thing again. One part is simple enough–he comes across the Chekov’s gun, cleverly disguised as a journal (there are a million or so ways this could happen), but for some reason I have this notion that there needs to be a car accident or other traumatic incident up front, too, to replace the scene of him getting hurt in the woods that opens the play. Maybe I’m wrong and I should just write and see what happens.

Which I will do…tomorrow.

National Novel Writing Month, Day 7
Word count: 1,745

Today I did some thinking while the weather did the monsoon thing. The weather ended up contributing to my thinking because I tried approaching Weirdsmith, my NaNo 2015 novel that has been in frozen animation for the past six days, from a different angle and that angle came to me because of the torrential rain.

In the original concept, which I carried over from the unfinished 1991 Weirdsmith play, the character of Smith is found hurt and bleeding in the woods by a couple out camping. From there it all starts. I’m now thinking of scrapping this in favor if Smith hurting himself in a car accident and his journal comes in somewhere just before or after the crash. The book is, in fact, the core of the novel, as it dominates his life. Or something like that.

I didn’t actually write today–except for this blog post–but I will make my best attempt tomorrow, with the triumphant or tragicomic results posted here.

National Novel Writing Month, Day 6
Word count: 1,745

That nasty cold/flu/virus/thing I had seems to have exhausted itself after an intense 24 hour blast, as I was feeling much better today, if not exactly up to running a marathon.

I still didn’t write nor had I really planned on doing so, partly because I wasn’t expecting to feel that much better and partly because I still don’t know what I would write except poop. I may be at the point where poop is better than nothing, though, so expect an update featuring genuine, actual writing tomorrow.

(As bonus incentive there is a heavy rainfall warning in effect and it’s the weekend–what better time to stay inside with a nice cup of hot chocolate and write until my fingers seize up?)

National Novel Writing Month, Day 5
Word count: 1,745 (yes, still)

The cold was seductive enough to keep me in bed until noon today. After I got up, I desired only two things: food and more sleep. It was a primal needs sort of day. Because I am not Stephen King (and in some ways this is good–for example, I have no keening desire to be hit by a van) writing does not count as a primal need and so I had my fourth consecutive day of non-NaNo activity. Here is a handy list of the daily word goal to date, along with my actual word count:

This leaves a 6,590 word deficit or if you prefer, a 6,590 fun word challenge. It is by no means insurmountable and I am feeling better now than this morning, so there is promise of great things to come. Or things of some sort, possibly involving writing.