I Didn't Quite Make It

I finished the month with just over 40,000 words written. I wouldn't have done that much if my best buddy, Chris, hadn't helped me over a rough patch in the story. With his help, though, I broke through the block and so I was able to add over 3,000 words tonight. I killed off the major baddie, revealed the answer to the big mystery and only have a few thousand words left to finish the rough draft. I think it all hangs together pretty well, but there will be a lot of rewriting left to do when I finish. At least the first draft is almost done, and if I didn't quite meet either of my goals... writing 50,000 words or finishing the first draft... I am closer to finishing than I would ever have gotten without those goals to push me to write. I actually enjoyed writing tonight, once I got started, and remembered why I like writing at all. The last week or so has been torture as I keep hitting snags. I need to remember to ask Chris when that happens next time. I can hardly believe I have 90,000 words towards my novel. How exciting is that??

Feeling like a failure

It's the 26th and I've only written 35,500 words this month. I have no chance of finishing on Wednesday, not without missing a couple of days from work, and probably not even then. I am glad I got that much done, but I let myself down. I should have written more this weekend. I should have written more, period. It was a lot easier to write in November, probably because it was the early part of the book and the stakes weren't so high. Now I'm at the end of the book and I want it to be perfect. That's slowing me down more than any other factor. I wish I could just finish this thing and get on to the rewrite stage. I am going to hate this book before I'm done if this keeps up.

Onto other things... After playing with Harley and the laser pointer he came up lame the next day. He must have hurt his foot while running around in the dark. He wouldn't put his foot on the ground most of the next day and was still limping into the following day. I guess that wasn't as good an idea as I thought it was.

I took him out with me yesterday to try sledding for the first time. We had about 4-5 inches of snow and it was good, wet snow so it was really slick. He liked it when I let him run around, chasing me, but he didn't like riding on the sled. On the other hand, he jumped on Dad's back, and rode him down to the bottom of the hill. Unfortunately, I had already put the camera away, so I didn't get that taped. The snow is already mostly melted today, so no more sledding. I hope we get one more sledding day this year. Last year we only had two sledding days. I want more!

I finally saw the finale of Beauty and the Geek tonight. My favorite guy, Nate, lost, but he was happy about it. He felt that the only way that his horrible partner (my word, not his) could learn anything from the experience would be if she lost. So he told all of the housemates to vote for the other team. I love that boy. What a great heart he has.

Weekend Over - Still Behind

I can't believe the weekend is over already. I got about 3,500 words done today so I'm still over two days behind. I just couldn't write anymore. I'm not sure of the exact number because I spent a lot of time rewriting some of it so that it would fit better with my new ending. I'm at 17,600 words or so for the month so far and over 70,000 on the book overall.

I quit around five or six and spent the rest of the night updating my LibraryThing list. I had ordered a Cue Cat from them. It is a barcode reader thingie, and all I have to do is pass it over the barcode on my books, and it adds them to my list. I have over 400 books in my list now and I haven't even really gotten started. Most of the books I added tonight are the joke, trivia and quote books that I keep near my computer for the Giggles. Soon I want to take the laptop into my bedroom and scan in all of the fiction and writing reference books as well as the other odds and ends I keep in there. I don't know why I'm spending all of this time, except it is fun in a very geeky way.

I feel bad that I did not make my word goal today, but on the plus side, I finally watched the Lost episodes that have been sitting on my TiVo since November. Now, if I can only get caught up on Desperate Housewives...

More Plotting More Writing

I thought last Saturday that I had worked out all of the plotting I would need to finish the book. But in the last couple of days I realized that my pacing was off. When I finished last night's section with them stopping to take a nap only a sections from the climax, I knew that I had a problem. Mom and I went out to Olive Garden and talked about the problems. She claims she is not a writer, but my mom is clever and creative and we managed to rethink the ending sequence. I am excited because I think this ending is going to work well.

I have had trouble getting my butt in the chair and my hands on the keyboard, but I finally started writing about 6 tonight. I got 3,845 words written, bringing the total for this month to 14,152. I am only 3,705 words behind schedule. If I manage to get more than 4,000 words done tomorrow, I will be less than a full day's writing behind. It would take 5,491 to get my completely caught up. I know, too many numbers. Did I mention that I used to be an accountant?

The story is getting pretty exciting. I wish I could share it with you, I would love your feedback, but you may have to wait until it goes on sale to read it. At the rate I work, that could be a decade or so. You won't mind waiting, will you?

I put a little content on the 30Stories30Days.com website, but I am just testing out some applications. I may move it to this server, I have to talk to my friend and see if he has room for another of my websites. I am pretty sure I will be doing that challenge in April. Any of you thinking about joining me? It is less of a volume commitment than NaNoWriMo, but it will take more creativity as you will have to come up with 30 plots, 30 sets of characters, 30 settings, etc. You might want to start jotting down ideas but remember, you shouldn't start writing until the day the challenge starts. There are no prizes if you finish, but I would be happy to give you a certificate showing that you did it. :)

I should be getting to bed, I have a lot of writing to do tomorrow, but I am waiting for my dad to get home. He's been in Cuba all week and should be home in about ten minutes. Mom and I have missed him, but maybe not as much as the dogs have. They love their grandpa.

Week Two

I have been blogging for just over a week so far and, not so coincidentally, today is the first day of the second week of my second "Write a Novel in a Month" month.

To write 50,000 words in February requires an average of 1,786 words a day. That means that I should have 14,288 words done by now. I finished tonight with 2,141 words, so I am now at 8,486, leaving me 5,802 behind schedule. I'm gaining! I actually wrote 2400+ words today, but somehow lost a chunk of over 300 words. When I'm this far behind, every word counts.

If it seems like I am obsessed with quantity over quality, it is because I am. The thing is, I am such a perfectionist when I am writing that if don't force myself to write this way, I spend so long agonizing over each word, each phrase and each sentence, that I give up and don't write at all. Besides, without a definite deadline, I am so lazy that I would get nothing done. This way, I write down the bare thread of the story in a relatively short amount of time, and then I can go back and fix it all later. Since plotting and maintaining a narrative thread is what I find most difficult, it frees me up in rewriting to concentrate on the finer points, like believable dialogue, good grammar and honest characterizations.

Speaking of the latter, I had an argument today with a coworker who agrees that Tolkien is too bogged down with detail to be interesting but disagrees that the core reason the books are boring is because the characters aren't believable or engaging. Ah well, as she says, we will agree to disagree. (As long as we both know I am right, I am okay with that.) This is the same friend who gets annoyed because I say that I do not argue unless I am right. She thinks that I am boasting, but actually I am just telling the truth. I will argue opinion, because my opinion is as valid as the next gal's and I think everyone has the right to express their own opinion, even when they are wrong. But, wen I say I don't argue unless I am right I am talking about arguments of fact. I will not waste my time or yours arguing about some fact or other unless I know what I am talking about. If I am not sur of my facts, I will say so, But, if I argue with you about what actress played what role in a movie, or what breed of dog we are looking at, etc., don't waste your breath. I am right, you are wrong, get over it. That's not arrogance, just the truth.

Book Excerpt

Here are the first two pages of my book. What do you think? Am I wasting my time?

“Milady? Pardon me, milady." Deana hurried to catch up with the townswoman crossing the otherwise deserted street. She had never visited Rakart'ver before, and she had expected to see folk running errands and taking care of business despite the early hour. Yet, other than the sleepy guard at the town gate, she had caught only glimpses of figures in the distance until now. The capital was quieter than the tiny village near her family's farm on a Sabbath morn.

At her call, the townswoman paused and allowed Deana to approach. "Yes?"

"Milady, can ye tell me how to find the Mage's Guild?"

The townswoman stepped back and pulled her shawl across her face. "Are you a mage, then?"

"Nay, milady, I hope to be, but I do not know where the Guild might be. Can ye help me?"

"You should turn and return home to your parents."

"Why do ye say such, milady? The life of a mage is an honorable one. Tis all I have e'er wanted." Deana frowned.

"Honorable, yes, but not much of a life, not now. Still, it is best if you learn of this from the Guild. Turn to your right at the next crossing and take the third left. Halfway to the next crossing, knock at the red gate. Do not forget, it is not yet too late to return home." Shaking her head, and with the shawl still covering her face, the townswoman turned and scurried off.

Deana stared after the townswoman, her flesh creeping. She thought about chasing after her and demanding an explanation, but decided against it. She was not far from the Guild and maybe the townswoman was right and she should ask her questions of the Guildmages. Shouldering her pack, she set off towards the crossing she had indicated.

With no folk there to see her gawking like the country lass that she was, she craned her neck to stare at the tall buildings she passed. Each of them was at least twice the height of her family's modest cottage. Ornate paintings surrounded every door frame and decorated the wooden shutters firmly closed over every window. Lush flowers dripped from boxes in front of most windows.

She turned right at the crossing and made the third left. The huge, red gate of the Mage's Guild shone in the early morning light. She paused outside; her head tilting back as she surveyed the immense building within. The towers and turrets rivaled those of the Duke's castle on the hill above the town.

What was she doing here? She had no business with a grand place such as this. Who was she, a simple shepherd's daughter, to think she could be a mage?
She dithered for a long moment, thinking on the townswoman's words, before lifting her hand to brush her knuckles over the red wood. No sooner had she let her hand fall to her side than the massive gate swung inward. Deana peered into the shadowy courtyard, but could see no one. She walked forward, her head swinging from side to side. The gate swung silently into place behind her.

"Greetings, Deana Trindle. Welcome to the Mage Guild." A deep voice issued from the arched doorway at the far end of the outer courtyard.

Deana tripped over her own feet, almost falling to one knee before recovering. "Mi-milord?"

A man stepped into sight. He was just over average height, not overly wide in either shoulders or waist, and his blue robes were simply cut. His brown hair and brown eyes were unremarkable. However, one look from his commanding gaze and no one could fail to recognize his status.

Deana dropped into a deep bow, her pack thumping to the flagstone path.

"Do not bow to me, Deana. I am no Lord." The Guildmage paced forward, one hand on her shoulder in welcome.

"Nay, Milord. My pardon, Milord."

He chuckled. "I am Guildmaster Tarak Shernfeld. Ye may call me Guildmaster or Tarak, tis yer choice. I am sure ye have many questions. Let us join the others in the hall and I will attempt to answer as many as I am able."

He turned to lead the way through the shadowed archway and Deana followed. She did not know much about the workings of a Guild, but surely the Guildmaster did not routinely meet new applicants to the order. Then there were those concerns the townswoman had expressed. Something odd was going on and she felt off-balance.

Beyond the archway, whose stones were etched with runes and symbols Deana did not recognize, there was a long entryway with graystone walls and a ceiling open to the floor above. Heavy oak doors lined the passageway. Guildmaster Tarak passed two of these, flinging open the third one and indicating with a short nod that Deana should precede him into the chamber before them.
Deana hesitated, and he gave her a reassuring smile. "Tis well, Deana. Ye will come to no harm in the Guild."

50,000 words in one month

In November I participated in NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. I wrote just over 50,000 words in one month. The problem is that 50,000 words, though pretty impressive for a slacker like me, does not a complete book make. Since November I have only added 6,000 words to that total, leaving me far short of a completed novel. I'm not far from finishing the plot, but the book, as it stands now, is short, weak and sketchy.

My goal is to add another 50,000 words in February. I know, why pick the shortest month in the year? Why not? What's two days, more or less, and the sooner this is done, the sooner I can get back to the other book I have started. Then again, I have an idea to write 30 stories in 30 days, and I have to finish this book first.

So, that's how I plan to spend the next 27 days. So far I have about 800 words. That's a little behind schedule, but that's what weekends are for, right? I'll keep you up to date on my progress. Wish me luck!