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OK. This ALWAYS happens.I decide to start #nanowrimo2021 each year, and each year November is full of events and other commitments.
Well… *rolls up sleeves*. I now have a 3-day weekend in which to write 50,000 words of a novel to win the competition this year.
There will be delivery orders, tortured characters, swashbuckling, some banter, earth-shaking revelations (and maybe some space-shaking ones?), and action aplenty. (I don’t do boring.)
I am live-posting this when I need to look away from the project, so check back often for updates on the battle!
Day 1: Friday, 11:35 am
Slept in longer than I thought, but I think I know where I need to go next. It’s still Friday morning, so I’m not terminally late. The competition starts off with Chapter 54 of Saint Gavin’s Ghost. I’m very happy with how the Russian Doll drama worked out, splitting each chapter up into a different character’s viewpoint of the same critical half an hour, but it’s time to bring the gang back together for the first time since Act 1. Except for Mary… where DID Mary get off to…? Didn’t she have the ledger?
Oh well. It is probably of little consequence.
Day 2: Saturday, 2:25 pm
Well, the best laid plans gang aft agley, as a relative once said. Yesterday I got called for some godfather time, and as awesome as writing is, family both natural and elective are far more important. The kiddo and I marathoned our way through the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Bible study and breakfast was also a worthwhile pursuit of the time.
But I’m back with two days to go, and making progress. I just passed 3,000 words. 47,000 left to go! This will be QUITE the adventure, to be sure, and I’m having a blast. We’re finally getting to Mary Teague’s journey out of her home country of Nemed into the city of Mount Lee, where she was once a prisoner. That’s all I can say without more spoilers! The drama continues!
Even taking a night off to godfather (worth it) I’m 3,000 words in out of my 50,000! 6% done! That’s way better than saying 94% to go! Onward!
Day 2: Saturday, 3:16
Here is a random bit of prettiness from my favorite Scots-directed-Welsh-surrealist-kung-fu flick. (Yes, you read that correctly. Say it again slower, it won’t hurt.) Now back to my regularly scheduled writing marathon in progress…
PS: Pushing 4,000 words.
Day 2: Saturday, 7:09
Well, when ye olde brain locks up, a good nap is a wonderful cure. Back at the marathon, and I picked up a little trinket on the way!
Chapter 54 is off to the beta readers!
Day 3: Sunday, 00:21
I have learned some new things this evening:
- NaNoWriMo2021 has a neat Discord server for Minnesota.
- Even with the processing power of my gaming laptop, it is possible to make Nuance Professional dictation software curl up in the corner and cry. I have had to reboot the pouting thing three times since the last update.
- I can still make myself cry when writing. (This sort of indicates that I still have a soul, and that I still set my soul aside sometimes to do the terrible things I need to inflict on my characters in order to give my readers a good story.)
- Chapter 55 is off to the Beta Readers
The current count is 12,385 out of 50,000 and the end of a half-day of writing. This is still doable.
Sunday, Day 3, 4:15 am
I have given Nuance Dragon Professional two breaks to quit crying and one accuracy tune-up, and it still keeps looking at me like the scrawny kid with glasses appraoches the school bully.
That said, Chapter 56 is off to the Beta Readers. That’s three chapters in roughly twelve hours, which is not bad even if I don’t manage to win the competition.
I have every intention of winning, but the brain needs a reset and the soul needs church, so we’ll see how this goes!
The word count is 15,920 out of 50,000 and climbing.
Sunday, Day 3, 4:23 pm
Back at it, except for the 200-odd words I got written on my phone in the down time at church.
Sunday, Day 3, 11:35 pm
Nuance has only crapped out once so far tonight, but the night is young and I have another eight hours of dictation I can do before I absolutely need to sleep before work!
Chapter 57 is off to the Beta Readers, and I am making good progress on Chapter 58! We are drawing close to the end of part one in this two-part saga, and I am very pumped.
The word count just passed 25,000 words! If you consider that the professional writing pace is a mere 2,000 words a day, then this weekend alone I have accomplished 12 day’s worth of professional work! Even if I don’t succeed at the overall challenge (though I’m certainly going to try), the productivity represents a huge win!
Lagrandil 