Day 13: NaNoWriMo 2012

Lucky 13? Maybe...

Yesterday should have been one of those days that if I got in a thousand words, I would have been happy.

My wife was to come home late, so I had to deal with my little monkeys. Homework, get them to bathe, prepare dinner, and assure that they don't dismember each other in the span of the night.

With the potential outcome of the future already pre-determined, I had given up on real productivity. But something happened.

The kids were on the ball with their homework. They bathed and changed at the speed of light. Dinner was a hit. We were done by just past 6 PM. They were fed, clean, and in their PJs.

I popped in a DVD in the home office (Shorts, a Robert Rodriguez movie). So as they watched, I wrote. And wrote. Took a couple of small breaks to make pop corn, but I kept on writing and the words kept rolling out.

 By 11 PM, my head spinning, I posted this on Facebook...

Day 13's total: 7,944
Overall: 38,459

So maybe I was off on my math, but as you can see, not a bad night given that I had assumed the day would be a total loss.

You never know when you'll have these types of days. I could have written it off. But I chose to try. I chose to write.

Fight the good fight!

Day 12: NaNoWriMo 2012

After a day off on Sunday, on Monday, I was back into the manuscript...

A good, solid day of writing. But I'm a bit worried now. As I've mentioned, I'm writing a mystery novel -- my first dive into that genre. I read a lot of mystery novels and know that this genre should be no less than 60,000 words. NaNoWriMo's goal is 50,000 in thirty days.

I'm past the mid-way point in the novel and have realized that I may not have enough meat in my plot to get me past much more than 50,000 -- great for NaNoWriMo, bad for a mystery novel.

I started to panic a little, questioning why I didn't think it out further before I jumped in.

But worrying is a wasted emotion.

I got it out of my system and decided to move forward. If by the time I'm done I have 40,000 words, so be it. That's the story that was produced. However, I have confidence in my characters. I have a feeling that they'll throw a couple of curve balls soon, extending the word count in a natural organic and meaningful way.

But one thing is for sure, I will not add empty scenes, empty words, or empty subplots. A good story with escalating conflicts and deep characters generate words. Words do not create a good story.

Day 12's total: 3,880
Overall: 30,515

Fight the good fight!

Day 10: NaNoWriMo 2012

*slap to the forehead* Doh! I nearly forgot to post yesterday's update.

Some of you are my Facebook peeps and saw this post:

Yes, she did it again. My wife gave me a few hours of uninterrupted writing time. I don't care who you and what you do, without real support from those who surround you, living your dream in the face of life, becomes a challenge of Herculean proportions.

And the results?


Day 10's total: 4,255
Overall: 26,635

Remember to thank those that help you and support you. And in honor of my supportive family, I took today, the eleventh day off. I will be back on Day 12.

Hope you're doing well. Keep writing and, as alway, Fight the good fight!

Day 9: NaNoWriMo 2012

The voice emerges...

I am at the mid-point in the story and I received another great surprise. I wasn't very productive on day 8 (in terms of word count). I wrote one scene, but a real good scene. Possibly my favorite.

The surprise was the voice of my protagonist and antagonist. They've evolved and have built a unique speech pattern. Even the selection of words and sentence structure seems to be true to who they should be.

Clearly, it's always best to have this up front, but my experience is that it rarely happens that way. It'll mean that when I revise the draft, I will have to rewrite the scenes with the evolved voice. But that's okay. I actually love revising and adding new scenes. It becomes a game. I look forward to how my characters respond to the original scenes or to new ones.


Day 9's total: 1,369
Overall: 22,380


Okay, back to the manuscript. I will officially start Day 10 of NaNoWriMo as soon as I've pressed "Publish" on the blog. Ready? Laters


Fight the good fight!

Day 8: NaNoWriMo 2012

And then he did what he wasn't supposed to...

It happens all the time. My characters say and do things that were not planned. What happened this time is that it threw a monkey-wrench in the plot line. My high level plan is now out the window.

"So what," you may say. "Just delete the unplanned stuff and keep at it."

Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions in store for me. I have learned to trust my characters. I have honored their request to change my story. And between you and me... I like where it went.

Now, I have to think on the fly as to how this new plot-line will reveal itself. Or, I may just let the characters take over. Allow the inmates to take over the sanitarium. Does that make me the medium?

The good news is that it sparked new energy in the manuscript. It could have derailed the progress. And it may still derail it in the coming days if I don't come up with the rest of the path. But for now, the word count is solid.


Day 8's total: 2,307
Overall: 21,011

Fight the good fight!

Day 7: NaNoWriMo 2012

I'm tired, okay? I want to sleep!

That's what I continued to tell myself last night. But I had to write. I just had to.

Sure I could have taken the day off. Why not? I'm ahead of plan after all. But there was one reason above all that forced me to move forward. Shame.

Yeah, you heard me. I have to write my daily diary on this blog. I may not have a huge following but this series is getting a few hundred hits a day (thank you, by the way). So as you can see, that's pressure. Real pressure.

So if I had been smart, I would have done this whole "write a book in a month" thing in the privacy of my little room. And if I finished, then I would have told the world that I was done.

But that's the rub isn't it? It's easier to give up when no one is watching.

And since you guys are watching, I pushed through. It was sloppy, messy and painful (get your head out of the gutter!). Once I'm ready to revise, I may lose half of those words. But at least I have something to edit.

Day 7's total: 2,104
Overall: 18,694

Just Write and remember...

Fight the good fight!

Day 6: NaNoWriMo 2012

No life lessons in this post...

And that's the thing about writing... most of the time, the magic of writing isn't that magical. I'm sure you've heard the saying about 5% inspiration, 95% persperation? Well, it's a good approximation. Although, I do believe that coffee accounts for 10% and Nutella another 5%... good chocolate should account for another 10%. Snack. Snacks are good for 7.5%... but I digress.

All kidding aside, writing may be an art, but art can only be produced by the same methods that you produce anything in life.

If you want to have a vegetable garden, you can't just be inspired by the though of fresh veggies. You have to treat that soil, take care of the insects and snails, water the soil, manage the weeds and so on.

The basic principle is hard work and discipline. Because if your butt isn't in the seat, and if your fingers aren't moving on that keyboard, then words don't show up on your manuscript.

Speaking of words...

Day 6's total: 2,573
Overall: 16,590

Just Write!

It's not easy. I get it--trust me. Life gets in the way. But that's what we have to do. Otherwise, we would all be lawyers :)

Fight the good fight!