Final stretch

Yesterday morning, I woke up to discover that my laptop had fallen into a coma. Despite all of my attempts to revive it, nada. So while this set back could have spelled disaster for this particular project, I had (luckily) gotten into the habit of emailing drafts to myself each day, so I did not lose any momentum.  This afternoon my laptop will undergo surgery; the prognosis is uncertain at the moment, but I am hoping for a speedy recovery. 

In the meanwhile, I am limping along on a temporary computer and have just completed writing the final remaining chapters in the novel. At just over 44,000 words, the outline is fully-fleshed out and the first draft of the novel is basically done. 

Cause for celebration, right? Not so fast. I need to come up with 6,000 additional words to meet the minimum 50,000-word requirement of nanowrimo. For those who are keeping track, this is about 30 pages of filler.

What to do? My options would include the following:

• add epic battle scenes filled with carnage and gore
  
• describe forests in such excruciating detail down to kingdom, phylum, class, etc.
  
• introduce more characters and complexity to the plot, only to purge them once they have served their purpose
  
• insert footnotes detailing the genealogy of each character (inserting 'begat' in every third word )
• write lyrics and have my characters spontaneously burst into song
  

And even though I am tempted to begin rewriting this novel, I am advised by published authors to abstain. Again, this is unchartered territory for me. Any advice?

Hey, would anybody like to know the color of the hem of the hero's garment during a battle?

I didn't think so.

Punchlines

Wow! Is that Mr. Rogers in your neighborhood? That is so cool...

...that he's updated his knitted sweater look for a Snuggie and a pair of Uggs.

Uluru

During NaNoWriMo, the organizers have arranged for published authors to write weekly pep talks that are emailed to participants. I find these pretty helpful, because here are people who know exactly what you're going through keeping you company and giving just the right dose of advice and wisdom to take you through your next 1,000 words.

Take for example the week 2 email from Maureen Johnson. She started her email talking about Australia, and how she's never been, always wanted to go, the fact that her friend has been trying to get her to go, etc. Of course, I'm thinking, "What does this have to do with writing? Doesn't she realize I don't have time for chit chat about travels?" But I bite my tongue and continue reading, only to discover that she is setting up Australia or more specifically Australia's geography as a metaphor for writing a novel.

You see, almost everything that's fun and exciting about Australia is located on the coasts. The novel equivalent of that is the beginning and the end. Once you wander past the city limits and the signposts disappear, the vast middle of Australia consists of poisonous snakes, sudden weather changes, and virtually no end in sight. It is a hard place to be. This is where Uluru is located, in the middle of the vast Middle of Australia and where I currently am in the writing process, which is where in fact 95% of a writer's time is spent... in the vast stinking Middle.

What's nice about NaNoWriMo is that at least I'm traveling with a posse of thousands, making our way through mountains, through the valleys, across the creeks, and fighting the beasties. And then I soon discovered that every day presents a new way of looking at my novel, a new adventure for the hero, a twist, a turn, and unexpected possibilities for my story. There are good days and there are bad days, as you can see below.

But in the end, I'm taking each day at a time. Taking each 1,000-word goal at a time, and embracing all that this process has to offer. Here are the chronicles of the past few days.

Nov 12: Once again, fell behind as life got in the way. There weren't any scenes that I could jump into quickly. (19,698 words)

Nov 13: After procrastinating a little this morning, I knocked out a great battle scene in the water. Hoping at least for an opportunity to put some more writing in at lunch. (21,429 words)

Nov 14: Getting a lot more fight scenes done, which I didn't expect I would enjoy. Need to get 3,500 words done today just to catch up. Goal is to get to 25,000 words today. Ugh. Just thinking about it 1,000 words at a time. (25,032 words)

Nov 15: Finally relaxing into the story and hoping there's enough complexity in the remaining chapters to keep the story interesting. Discovered that I shortchanged some prior chapters so I will definitely need to expand on some of them further. (27,158)

Nov 16: A cooking project sidetracked me this morning, so I only got an hour in this morning. This will require a big push tonight to make sure I stay on track. Did not get far at night. FAIL (27,897 words)

Nov 17: Goal is to get to 30,000 words today. It is strangely surreal to write when you're half asleep. Then to wake up and see what you typed in your stupor - fascinating! (30,095 words)

Nov 18: I'm seriously wondering if this story is too complex. Will probably also need to add more memorable settings as there seems to be too many generic mountains, forests and tunnels described, which could be confusing. (31,760 words)

Punchlines

You know, it's moments like these that I'm reminded of Cardinal Richelieu and his immortal words...

"I think we can settle this matter with a little tonsil hockey, don't you?"

Steady as she goes

Thought I'd give a little status update on the novel. It's been a roller coaster. I started out a little bit ahead of the daily word count minimum 1,667 words, but then fell behind which put the pressure on the weekend to make up for the slack. This week seems to be about the same, but it is something to claim having written 100 pages of anything 11 days. I kept a little log with some random thoughts each day as I concluded writing that day.

Nov 1: Feels like I can keep writing, but I want to save some excitement for tomorrow. Added some characters I didn't think I would, but not straying too far away from the plot. (2,080 words)

Nov 2: Half way through, the story is taking on added layers of complexity which is very cool. I have to stop now in the morning before work. Hopefully I can get some writing in at the office. Lots of OTN dialog which I hate. (4,186 words)

Nov 3: I should create more drama with the climactic death of Theia. The aftermath is a bit boring, but it helps to introduce the other Titans which I originally didn't think would play a significant role in this story. That's kinda cool. (5,761 words)

Nov 4: Work was super busy and I only had 3 hours of sleep. I squeezed in a couple hours at the office. The plot is expanding within the outline and I still haven't gotten to the Act 1 break. (7,509 words)

Nov 5: Ran out of time at work. Hate being behind now. (8,202 words)

Nov 6: Got a decent amount of writing in, but none of it feels good. A lot of scenes seem functional and I am introducing some story elements that don't make sense relative to the overall plot. (10,227 words)

Nov 7: Well, I don't hate it yet. There are some interesting arguments going on and I'm starting to get some of the stories back on track. Just need to keep focusing on writing two pages per beat and then move on. Just need to trust the outline. (12,054 words)

Nov 8: I am going to give in to the fact that this first draft will be really rough and a lot of things won't make sense. So I will have to refrain from overthinking things and worry about all of that in the editing phase. (14,044 words)

Nov 9: Got through a love scene that went by quickly and almost too easily. May need to tone it down depending on how this book will be marketed. Feels good to be back on schedule. (16,096 words)

Nov 10: Feeling good. Took care of a nagging plothole with a great torture scene that also revealed character. Love it! (17,461 words)

Nov 11: Really fleshed out some problem areas to smooth things over. Some interesting character development. Love when I get into a roll. (19,096 words)

Punchlines

"Take no prisoners!" He kept saying over and over to me. I understood what he meant, of course, but it didn't make any sense when all we were doing was...

...getting to fourth base in the back of his Miata.