NaNoWriMo wrapup

I reached the 50k goal about Thanksgiving, but not the end of the story. I kept plugging away, and wrapped it up today (11/28) at about 66k words. I'm so glad I finished the story and brought it to a satisfying ending.

It's pretty rough. The first part, about 40k, is more cohesive than the second part. The last 27k suffered from my fatique.

It has holes also, and needs to be re-arranged, but it has successfully achieved what a NaNoWriMo novel should. I have a rough draft of a novel down on paper, and I did it in a month.

I really like the story. I realize it won't appeal to many people, but this is the Southern Gothic, grit-lit novel that I wanted to write.

NaNoWriMo completed!

I reached the imaginary, arbitrary, 50k word boundary sometime Thanksgiving Day. The first draft of the novel is not complete though, and I will continue on until I get a "finished" story down on paper. Currently I am at about 54k words.

It is a dark novel, there is no doubt about that. I may change the name to "Midnight Blue", the name of Edgar Stokes' bluegrass band. Right now I just want to rest and take a little break.

NaNoWriMo ahead of schedule

My work schedule got back closer to normal this week, and I actually had some energy in the evenings to work on the novel. I think I am actually ahead of schedule, sitting at 38k words in 20 days. The first draft of the novel is going to be longer than 50k. I can't tell how long at this point. I will probably keep churning away, even after the end of the month, until I reach a satisfactory stopping point. It is definitely more satisfying to wrap up that first draft into a complete story than to stop prematurely at an arbitrary 50k. The characters have taken over and changed the story. The female character that was to die early in the novel survived all the way to 37k words. There is still a lot of story to go. The character that was to be the main character hasn't made much of an appearence! Oh well, that's the way the story unfolds.

NaNoWriMo - almost on schedule

The good news is that I have gotten some writing done and I am only slightly behind. If all goes well I should make the 50k target. Of course, the novel is going to be much larger than that. I am halfway to 50k and just getting started good on the novel. The characters are taking over, and my plot line is in trouble. I planned from the beginning to have one of the major characters die halfway through, but now I am having second thoughts. I have gotten attached to her. If I don't eliminate her, then I have to change the second half of the novel - that won't be fun. So I guess I need to get out the scissors and cut her out of the novel.

GWA Monthly Contest - an interesting sample of the judges

I have been entering the Georgia Writer's Association monthly contests the past few months, and have managed to get two third places and a first place. For October I got a third place, my short story "Flip Flop FLap". The contest organizers were kind enough to forward to me some general feedback from the seven judges, which I am printing here, anonymously, A through G:

A. Good introduction- engages the reader. Cute problem (sock/sandal issue) to introduce tension. Ending let me down a bit. Explore your story, flesh out the ideas and end with more punch.

B. Humorous, silly ending, not much color

C. This is a really cute story. Very Sweet

D. Good title. I found the writing engaging, amusing, with that hook that interests you enough to wonder what IS going on, making you want to read on.

E. very good

F. Enjoyed the story--you could almost picture yourself in his shoes (sandals).

G. I thought this was a bit corny and I didn't really get what it was all about.

They are all over the place, everything from "very good" to "I didn't get it". For what it's worth, this closely matches the typical feedback I get from Critique Circle. On the whole, a few people will like it a lot, a few will not like it at all, and most will fall someplace in-between.

NaNoWriMo Progress

I got back on track this weekend, since I thought it was prudent to cancel the vacation trip because of the Mother-in-law situation. I should be at around 24k words right now and I am at 15k. Still behind the projected schedule, but close enough considering that I lost a week because of work.

As usual, the characters are taking on a life of their own. It is a very rough first draft, of course. It's a pity that I am going to kill off the character of Beth Womack, since she is interesting and sympathetic. The planned main character - Joey Womack - hasn't captured my attention very much. Perhaps after the death of his mother.

I worry that it may be totally confusing to the reader. I am jumping around in three different time frames, and only the chapter titles set the year. Readers will have to pay close attention. Of course, some readers will love that, because of the mystery and the mental challenge to keep it straight. Others will hate it.

NaNoWriMo emergency CPR

OK, I have to admit things are not going well. Life has gotten in the way. Work has taken every waking moment this week. I am up to over 300 machines connected in the new building. Things finally tapered off today and I was able to take a lunch!

My vacation next week has been postponed (or canceled) because the Mother-in-law is having a crisis related to her Alzheimers and Dementia. My major concern is for Laurie. I couldn't possible go backpacking for a week, and be totally out of touch in the woods, and leave her without any means to contact me in the event of an emergency. Hopefully we will reach a resolution next week about the MILs status, and I need to be available for the nursing hoom move.

So, I haven't given up on NaNoWriMo - tomorrow I will devote some time to getting back on track, although I am (almost) hopelessly behind.

NaNoWriMo Progress

I got some writing done this weekend, finally, although I am still behind schedule. The move at work went well on Friday, and I had to do some stuff from home, but there was time for writing also. I am close to 8K words, and there have been two deaths all ready. I have alternated between Joey and Edgar/Emmett once, and will go back to Joey for the next section.

NaNoWriMo Stall

I'm exhausted. At least the move to the new building is going well. We delivered a Penske truck full of servers today, and I managed to get the two most critical ones back online. That has nothing to do with writing, of course, but it means I can devote some time this weekend to the novel.

I'm been dreaming about it. During that last hour of sleep, from 4-5 am, the novel (or at least the current part of the novel) plays out in my mind. Now if I could only find the time to type it in.

NaNoWriMo Slow Start

Work has gotten in the way. Moving 50 faculty/staff and 200 grad students to a new building is taking all my waking time and energy. Who'd a thunk it? I did manage to write about 1000 words - maybe this weekend I can get things started correctly.