41,000 words and counting
With only a few days left, I am racing to finish the 50,000 words which will form the basis of my novel. I am in relatively good shape to complete it on time, although I did not write much in the past two days due to the fact that I was out of town for the Thanksgiving Holiday. I managed to write about 200 words on my palm pilot, but the slow pace of the input method meant that it was almost impossible to get any substantial work done on that device.
I am writing now about the main character’s downfall, he is being discarded by his friend and then suffering rejection from a series of lovers which ultimately will leave him tired and will put him on the road back home.
It is interesting to write this part of the story because it is challenging to convey both the moment to moment experiences of the protagonist, but also the overarching sense of abandonment that he feels which will eventually push him into leaving his dream of living in the Crescent City.
I have really been enjoying writing this month and I hope that many of the things that I learned about writing during the month stay with me when this project is done.
30,000 words
I just crossed the thirty-thousand word threshold, and I am excited to be catching up to where I am supposed to be at this point. By midnight on Monday I need to have 35,000 words in order to be on track to finish 50,000 words by the end of the month. I am feeling positive about this and I am impressed with the fact that I have written about 4000 words last night and today so far.
Having this weekend to myself has accelerated my flow of words, although my cat seems to want my attention constantly. I am drinking Mocha Java from my French press with cinnamon and milk for inspiration this morning. I feel jazzed to be awake and maybe I will go for a run sometime this afternoon to get my blood pumping and to clear my head for yet more writing.
Gee, what will I do when this is over, and it is not novel writing month?
Alone for the weekend
My partner's grandmother is very ill and probably going to pass away this weekend so he flew to Wisconsin to be with his family this weekend. I support his choice to do this as his grandmother was wonderful to him when he was growing up. She is 91 years old and has decided that it is her time.
I am on my own here until he returns on Monday night. This could either be an opportunity for me to write a lot, or a depressing and lonely weekend of defeat.
I am listening to the Flaming Lips and I thought I would share the Lyrics with you.
Waitin' for a Superman
Asked you a question
I didn't need you to reply
Is it gettin' heavy?
But they'll realize
Is it gettin' heavy?
Well I thought it was already as heavy
As can be
Is it overwhelming
To use a crane to crush a fly?
It's a good time for Superman
To lift the sun into the sky
'Cause it's gettin' heavy
Well I thought it was already as heavy
As can be
Tell everybody
Waitin' for Superman
That they should try to hold on
Best they can
He hasn't dropped them
Forgot them
Or anything
It's just too heavy for Superman to lift
Is it gettin' heavy?
Well I thought it was already as heavy as can be.
Tell everybody
Waitin' for Superman
That they should try to hold on
Best they can
He hasn't dropped them
Forgot them
Or anything
It's just too heavy for Superman to lift
20,000 words and counting
I have fallen behind a bit in the NaNo competition. I should be at 25,000 words at this point, but I have only just passed 20,000. I didn't write from Thursday night until Tuesday night (tonight) so a part of me was either just being very lazy over the weekend or trying to sabotage my attempt at completing this. This is going to require redoubled effort on my part, but after putting in 2500 words tonight I feel like I have broken past my block and with effort I will be back on track by this weekend.
I found that writing about things that I feel guilty about is really hard. I was writing about selling a car I had purchased with another person back in 1994-1995 and i don't think I used good judgment at the time. I feel like I wronged someone in the process and also just made a bad decision. It is crazy how something that happened ten years ago can still feel fresh and even painful when you write about it.
Darkness falls on a Friday evening in South Philadelphia
The busses are running again after the SEPTA strike and rumbling bus engines replace the quiet din that we had for a fortnight. The twilight seems to last longer than I remember and the temperatures dip into the 40's on the Fahrenheit scale.
My writing continues to keep it's pace and I am up to 17,500 words and poised to hit 20,000 by Saturday night. My writing remains honest and I have had to use the second voice far less than I had thought I would at the onset. I am learning things about writing and about follow through, although some times I just want to play a game of Go instead.
I think forward to Thanksgiving and then on to the Yuletide holidays. I look beyond that time and wonder what the new year will bring.
Working hard not to fall behind
The writing is going well for the most part and I am trying hard not to fall behind. It requires a certain dedication to kick out 1700 words every day but the alternative is either falling behind or giving up, two things that I am not going to let myself do.
I received a really nice email from my friend Kile and it has helped to boost my drive. After making little progress yesterday I wrote almost 3000 words in the last two hours. This brings me back to close to where I am supposed to be, but I have to write another 1900 words before midnight on Wednesday to be caught up. I feel good about this. I just have to be patient and not rush my characters along their path. Let them stop in each town they have to stop in and talk to the people there. I figure I should get them to New Orleans around 20,000 or 25,000 words, so there is no rush. There is plenty of time to tell the story.
I have been drinking water and slowly nursing a gin and tonic for the last two hours. Isn't there some stereotype about writers drinking a lot?
I should go to sleep soon and start fresh in the morning.
Closing in on 10,000 words
A few days ago I wrote about the fact that I have been participating in
NaNo 2005.
Work on the novel is going well and while my writing is very very rough, I am posting a link to the first three chapters of my work. You can find it by clicking the running man with the pencil.
Remember, this is just a
first draft of the first three chapters.
Choices and choosing not to make them
I sometimes wonder about getting swept up in the currents that swirl around me. I wonder if I am supposed to swim against these currents, with them, or just tread water.
It will be time to makes some choices soon, to return to Minnesota, to go somewhere other than Philadelphia and do something other than what I am doing now. I look forward to this and I will face it with open eyes and an open heart. I will not let on that I am at all afraid or intimidated.
Writing and not self-censoring
This blog functions as a place to put the good, the bad and the ugly in my life. I decided when I started it not to self-censor, at least to do my best not to self-censor, although it is tough to not edit out the occasional thing as a might unseemly.
I am also applying this principle to a novel I am working on. I am writing as a part of the "National Write a Novel Month" which might sound cheesy, but I have to take the motivation where I can get it.
I once told my father, "It is not my job to protect you from the truths of my reality." and so I take that as my mantra for this project.
Keep in mind that the goal of this project is to write 50000 words in one month, not to have a polished novel. I am going to give you a link to my work in progress, a work that is only about 4000 words long so far. Hmm, Actually Stay tuned, I 'll give you a link in the future, but I want to have 10,000 words ready for you to read by that time. According to my time line that should be on November 6th.
