Nano -- Week 1 Wrap-Up

Well, I've officially survived my first week of Nano. And, thanks to a little thing called a Nano Write-In today, I managed to keep on track with the ole' word count. I can't remember the exact number of what you should have today -- 11K and some change -- but I'm sitting pretty at just below 12K. WHOOT!

I can't tell you how mega-excited I am to be writing again -- to feel the keys beneath my fingers -- to see the pages ratcheting up.. SIGH. It makes me very happy. :) And it gives me hope that I CAN do this. I feel revived -- yet exhausted. LOL!

I've heard tale that week 2 is the real toughie. I don't doubt it. I'm already exhausted -- but hopefully I'll be able to gut this one out. I will say that I plan to attend as many write-ins as I possibly can. Especially because I need to stack up some words before my family arrives. Yes, they're incoming again and I'm mega-stressed. Not sure I'll get ANY time to myself, let alone time to write, while they're here so I really need to be on the ball and push ahead of the game. We'll see how it goes. A handful of write-ins like today's and I'll be set, I tell ya! (Oh, I produced 4800 words -- and this with no clear idea of what I would write even 10 minutes before the event began. lol. Whew...talk about flying by the seat of your pants.)

At any rate, a good week! :)

How are my Nano peeps doing so far?? Care to share a snip?? :)

Day 4 -- CHECK!

I'm on my way to bed in a few minutes, but thought I'd drop in to say I've survived my fourth day of Nano. Even met my goal -- for FOUR nights in a row. That puts me over the 7K mark. WHOOT!

I very nearly called tonight a no-go. Didn't start writing until after 11 -- but I said, gut it out, Jen. Don't get behind. And so, I did.

The scene is fairly pivotal, and pretty much sets up the ending of the book--whatever that will be. LOL. This without a real beginning or middle of the book written. Go figure. Welcome to the world of a chunk writer. LOL. I LOVE IT, though. For me, knowing the end helps me to figure out a way to get there. I know, weird...assbackwards, but in my opinion, you do what you have to do to get the job done. For me, this works.

That said, I'm excited to see what happens next!! Whoo!!! :)

Booyah!

So tonight was tough. I came home, utterly exhausted. I didn't sleep well last night, was late getting to work, had a fairly stressful day. Bah. It was no good, I tell ya. (Well, a few highlights...*big wink*...but nothing I can talk about here.)

At any rate--the thought of churning out 1700 words tonight was not a good one. I also made the mistake of staying at my aunt's house to watch the women's volleyball game (go Huskers!), which set me even further behind schedule. In short, I wound up falling asleep at 9...and waking up around 11 to write. Uh...does anyone else see the stupidity of this plan??

Well, I very nearly said forget it. That I'd try to make up the words this weekend. But then the guilt set in. The ladies at ATWOP are doing such an amazing job...in fact, they're kicking some major BOOTAY, and I didn't want to be the one to drag the group down with lame excuses. I would hate saying I didn't get anything written, if you must know. So, I told myself to write 500 words. It's something at least, and helps move the word counter up, even if it's only a little bit.

I set to work -- head and body and soul, bone-tired.

I got a few hundred words in fairly quickly... hmmm, maybe I could do the full 1700... So I kept going...and lo and behold, I ended up with 1822 words in a little over an hour! This when I didn't think I would be able to get the 500. BOOYAH, I say! Sometimes you just have to show up to work and count on yourself to get the job done.

YAY. Happy Dance.

Now I'm going to bed, yo. Night.

Direction

Well, I will give my friend, Jenna, a lot of credit for calling this one. I was sharing with her the fact that I had NO idea...absolutely NO idea what this book was going to be about. I mean, I knew general/big picture stuff...but had no clue what kind of story arc would take place to get the job done.

She told me -- as did others -- JUST WRITE. It will come to you eventually.

I think it's a truth universal that every panster freaks out a bit when beginning a new book. I've completed two novels, parts of several others, and each and every time I begin, I feel like there's NO WAY in hell I'm going to be able to do it again. It probably seems pretty crazy to outliners/planners when they hear about someone like me who says... eh, I think I'll write a book. (What's it about?) Oh..no clue. I know there are werewolves... and well, yeah.. that's about it. (What happens?) Eh.. I think there will be a scene where this happens... but I'm not really sure what leads into it... or what will happen after it. No clue if it's in the middle, beginning, or end... Yeah, but I THINK it's going to play a part.

Yeah, people don't usually understand that way of thinking.

At any rate, I dug in last night with the one scene I KNEW for sure I wanted in the book. It really has no major impact on the plot -- just a cool scene idea I've had knocking around in my brain for a long time. Of course it plays into the book...but I'm not sure when it will take place, how it will impact the story as a whole... yeah, I just wrote it.

It's definitely not great... I'm sure it will change drastically at the "meld" point. (When I take all of my random scenes and try to figure out how they go together to form a story). But it was a start and it led to a couple of little brain firings. All in all, I got 1702 words... not a stellar night, certainly not on par with the ladies over at ATWOP, but a nice start.

NO CLUE what I would write next, and I finished slightly freaked out about the thought of having to produce another 1700 words today.

Well, the good news is that Jenna was right. By golly, as I was walking into work today, I had a mini-epiphany. Nothing major, mind...but definitely a beginning to a story arc... a reason for my MC to move forward in search of the answer to a particular question. It gives her purpose... and well, something for me to write! LOL. PHEW. I'm off to do that now... wish me luck.

Let The Fun Begin!

Well, I've officially taken the NaNoWriMo plunge. And I do mean PLUNGE.

I'm thinking about my schedule this month and have told myself MORE than once that I must be out of my mind to even attempt this. Attempting it I am, however. I may need to recuperate in the hospital afterwards, but oh well... I'll worry about that in December! :)

That said... I've decided to give myself a "break" and work on something for fun. I will be working on the sequel to BY THE PALE MOONLIGHT -- working title, WALKING IN SHADOW. And folks, I can't tell you how excited I am to begin. That said, I have NO CLUE what this book is about. Oh, I have some vague ideas...but that's just what they are. Vague. I've had a couple of scenes knocking around in my head...some ideas of how it MIGHT go...but yeah, I'm starting pretty much in the dark here. Sort of like the first time I started writing FAKING IT... NO CLUE. None whatsoever. And well, that turned out okay...so maybe I'll be okay.

Do you hear the fear in my voice?? You should. I'm scared to death and feel like I'll never be able to accomplish this. Hmmm...rings a few bells for me. Fear, I know. Fear I am familiar with on all kinds o'levels. :)

That said...I'm getting a late start...it's 815PM and I have VOWED to get my 1700 words in tonight. Not sure what I'm going to write....where to begin... bah, this is really flying by the seat of your pants at it's very finest. It will be very interesting to see what happens.

I've been offline all week -- so if I haven't buddied you yet, please buddy me... and if you have, please be patient with me. I haven't forgotten! My system is running really slow. :) I'm buddy-ing as I type.

Good luck to all my Nano peeps!! Let the games begin.