Dear Shell,
I can't believe it. I actually finished the challenge. Final word count verification was 50,238 words. the last 5-8,000 words are very rough. I am going to set the novel aside for a couple weeks then I will bring it back out and start the first edit. I need to add more description, fix the battle scenes, and definitely fix the last 5-8,000 words. As someone said on the Nanowrimo forums...sometimes you need to have word vomit to just get the words spilled onto the page. Then you can go back at a later date and clean up the mess and make it pretty.
Now is the time to celebrate!
Shell
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy Turkey Day!
Dear Shell,
Happy Thanksgiving! The turkey is in the oven, the pies are in the fridge, the potatoes are waiting to be peeled, cooked and mashed.
Bring on the calories... err, food!
Shell
Happy Thanksgiving! The turkey is in the oven, the pies are in the fridge, the potatoes are waiting to be peeled, cooked and mashed.
Bring on the calories... err, food!
Shell
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Well...
Dear Shell,
I don't know if I'll make it in time. The nanowrimo challenge deadline is November 30th, only a few short days away. I have 5 days left (4.5 if you count time away from writing to prepare and eat a good Thanksgiving dinner), and I am at 37,103 words and counting. That leaves me with 12,897 words left to write between now and sunday night. I would need to write close to 3,000 words per day every day. I have had some days where the words just flow and I get 3,000 per day. And I have days where it's a struggle to get even 500 words out.
I did learn something interesting tonight though. I'm currently using Times New Roman 12-point font to type up my book, with 1.25" left and right margins. This is basically the default settings on Microsoft Word 2003. 37,103 words puts me around 120 pages total.
What I learned was, most publishers want a manuscript submitted using Courier 12 point font with 1" margins all around. So I saved my book under a new file and changed the settings to fit the publisher standards. My book ended up being 156 pages typed so far. I think I like Courier 12 point... it looks like i've written more!
Well it is after 4am, and I still have some writing to do, so I better get back to my writing.
Shell
I don't know if I'll make it in time. The nanowrimo challenge deadline is November 30th, only a few short days away. I have 5 days left (4.5 if you count time away from writing to prepare and eat a good Thanksgiving dinner), and I am at 37,103 words and counting. That leaves me with 12,897 words left to write between now and sunday night. I would need to write close to 3,000 words per day every day. I have had some days where the words just flow and I get 3,000 per day. And I have days where it's a struggle to get even 500 words out.
I did learn something interesting tonight though. I'm currently using Times New Roman 12-point font to type up my book, with 1.25" left and right margins. This is basically the default settings on Microsoft Word 2003. 37,103 words puts me around 120 pages total.
What I learned was, most publishers want a manuscript submitted using Courier 12 point font with 1" margins all around. So I saved my book under a new file and changed the settings to fit the publisher standards. My book ended up being 156 pages typed so far. I think I like Courier 12 point... it looks like i've written more!
Well it is after 4am, and I still have some writing to do, so I better get back to my writing.
Shell
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Short Scene from Dragon Eye
Dear Shell,
Here is another short scene from my nanowrimo novel.
He watched her from atop a small rise in the clearing above the lake, thinking she looked like a golden goddess offering herself to the moon. Unable to resist, his feet drew him down the rise toward the lake, toward the goddess he saw before him.
She sensed his presence before she saw him. Turning slightly, she watched as the tall handsome man gracefully made his way across the clearing to come stand next to her. He raised his hand, hesitating briefly before gently touching her face. His fingers traced along her eyebrows, her temples, before resting lightly upon her cheek. His thumb brushed carefully across her full lips. Her eyes flickered shut. She slowly opened her eyes to look into his dark gaze. His hand fell away from her face to reach down and grasp her hand. A question formed in his eyes, she looked away then back into his eyes again.
He led her away from the lake, following the short river to the vision pool beneath the waterfall. They didn’t speak as he led her behind the waterfall to the small inlet that lay behind the curtain of water. He stopped and turned her to face him, reaching his hand up to cup her cheek again. He leaned toward her, his face slowly coming closer to hers, his lips stopping within an inch of her lips. He stared into her green and gold eyes, searching for acceptance. She tried to tell him not to stop, that she was not afraid, but the words would not form. He smiled and moved closer to her. Her eyes slowly closed, waiting for his kiss.
“He will betray you.” The voice slid through her mind, the same voice she had heard in one of her dreams that night. She pulled back and stared at him, her eyes wide open and frightened. She shook her head and pulled her hand free from his.
“No, I cannot.” Ny’eass turned and ran from him, out from behind the curtain of water, across the clearing to her camp.
----
I hope you enjoyed it,
Shell
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
First Goal Met
Dear Shell,
Today I met the first small goal that I had set for myself, in my journey to write a Nanowrimo novel. I hit just over 15,000 words this afternoon, and still have more writing to do today. I am behind on where I should be for word count, technically I should have a minimum of 20,000 words by the end of today in order to stay on schedule, but I have to say, I am very happy to hit 15,000 finally. And the more I can get written today, the less I'll need to catch up later.
Most of what I have written in my life has been poetry and short stories, and some aborted attempts to write a novel. This current novel is the longest story I have ever written, and I'm not done yet! I still have plenty more to write about before I reach the end of the story.
Will it fill 50,000 words? I don't know. I may have to go back and do some editing to add more in to the earlier story, if I hit the end of the story before 50,000 words.
Will it be good? Well...no, it's a first draft. It's not supposed to be perfect on the first draft. That's why it's called (drum roll please) a first draft! But I think it has potential. I hope it has potential. I'm enjoying the story, even when I'm sitting here staring at the screen yelling 'do something' to my characters. And of course, they decide to do something finally, and it's not always following the outline I had set out.
Outlines can change though; I've altered, changed, and re-written my outline a few times so far. I know how I want the story to end, but my characters are deciding how they will get there.
Shell
Today I met the first small goal that I had set for myself, in my journey to write a Nanowrimo novel. I hit just over 15,000 words this afternoon, and still have more writing to do today. I am behind on where I should be for word count, technically I should have a minimum of 20,000 words by the end of today in order to stay on schedule, but I have to say, I am very happy to hit 15,000 finally. And the more I can get written today, the less I'll need to catch up later.
Most of what I have written in my life has been poetry and short stories, and some aborted attempts to write a novel. This current novel is the longest story I have ever written, and I'm not done yet! I still have plenty more to write about before I reach the end of the story.
Will it fill 50,000 words? I don't know. I may have to go back and do some editing to add more in to the earlier story, if I hit the end of the story before 50,000 words.
Will it be good? Well...no, it's a first draft. It's not supposed to be perfect on the first draft. That's why it's called (drum roll please) a first draft! But I think it has potential. I hope it has potential. I'm enjoying the story, even when I'm sitting here staring at the screen yelling 'do something' to my characters. And of course, they decide to do something finally, and it's not always following the outline I had set out.
Outlines can change though; I've altered, changed, and re-written my outline a few times so far. I know how I want the story to end, but my characters are deciding how they will get there.
Shell
Friday, November 7, 2008
Unknown Texter
Dear Shell,
It's that time again, time for another writing assignment. This one I thought would be fun, but it ended up feeling more like work instead.
Writing Prompt #6. You're sitting at work one day and receive a text message from an unrecognized number. The text says, "I have the money and hid the body." You think this is a practical joke from a friend, so you play along at first. But the more texts you receive, the more you realize that it isn't a joke. Write the text conversation you have with this unknown texter.
I glanced down at the display on my phone; I had an incoming text message from a number I didn’t recognize. Knowing how often my friend Mary changed her cell phone number, I hit accept.
“I have the money and hid the body.”
“Hey Janice, come check this out. Mary is sending me cryptic messages from a different cell phone number.” I called one of my co-workers over. She looked over my shoulder and laughed.
“Hm, how’s this for a reply.” I quickly typed out the words “Was the money where I told you?” and hit send.
“Yes. You were right; the old lady didn’t trust banks.” was the reply.
“Old ladies never do.” I replied in text.
“It was too easy.”
“Did she put up a fight?” I hit send again.
“No, I went in as you suggested, pretending to be a friend of her daughter.”
“I told you that would work.”
“Like I said, it was too easy.” The reply from the unknown number sent shivers down my spine.
“How long did it take?” I paused before hitting send.
“Not long. They shouldn’t find her body for a long time.”
I started to feel uneasy. “Janice, I don’t think this is Mary. She wouldn’t go this far for a joke.”
Janice and I looked at each other. “I’ll call the police. See if you can find out any more information. A meeting place or something.” She wrote down the cell number of the incoming texts and ran back to her desk to call the cops.
“Where are you?” I sent another text, my stomach churning at the thought of some poor old woman being killed.
“At home. Don’t forget, you’re meeting me here at 4 to get your half.”
“Janice! The killer says I’m meeting him at his place at 4. See if the cops can trace the text messages.” I yelled across the office.
“They got it! I gave them your cell number and the number that the text came from. They said they know where to find the killer at.” She ran back over to my desk.
Later that night, watching television, I saw a news clip where the police were dragging two men out of a home. The newscaster mentioned how an anonymous tip told them where to find the two men responsible for a series of murders across town. Their latest victim was a rich old lady from the better part of town.
As of 10pm that night, they still hadn’t found her body.
Shell
It's that time again, time for another writing assignment. This one I thought would be fun, but it ended up feeling more like work instead.
Writing Prompt #6. You're sitting at work one day and receive a text message from an unrecognized number. The text says, "I have the money and hid the body." You think this is a practical joke from a friend, so you play along at first. But the more texts you receive, the more you realize that it isn't a joke. Write the text conversation you have with this unknown texter.
I glanced down at the display on my phone; I had an incoming text message from a number I didn’t recognize. Knowing how often my friend Mary changed her cell phone number, I hit accept.
“I have the money and hid the body.”
“Hey Janice, come check this out. Mary is sending me cryptic messages from a different cell phone number.” I called one of my co-workers over. She looked over my shoulder and laughed.
“Hm, how’s this for a reply.” I quickly typed out the words “Was the money where I told you?” and hit send.
“Yes. You were right; the old lady didn’t trust banks.” was the reply.
“Old ladies never do.” I replied in text.
“It was too easy.”
“Did she put up a fight?” I hit send again.
“No, I went in as you suggested, pretending to be a friend of her daughter.”
“I told you that would work.”
“Like I said, it was too easy.” The reply from the unknown number sent shivers down my spine.
“How long did it take?” I paused before hitting send.
“Not long. They shouldn’t find her body for a long time.”
I started to feel uneasy. “Janice, I don’t think this is Mary. She wouldn’t go this far for a joke.”
Janice and I looked at each other. “I’ll call the police. See if you can find out any more information. A meeting place or something.” She wrote down the cell number of the incoming texts and ran back to her desk to call the cops.
“Where are you?” I sent another text, my stomach churning at the thought of some poor old woman being killed.
“At home. Don’t forget, you’re meeting me here at 4 to get your half.”
“Janice! The killer says I’m meeting him at his place at 4. See if the cops can trace the text messages.” I yelled across the office.
“They got it! I gave them your cell number and the number that the text came from. They said they know where to find the killer at.” She ran back over to my desk.
Later that night, watching television, I saw a news clip where the police were dragging two men out of a home. The newscaster mentioned how an anonymous tip told them where to find the two men responsible for a series of murders across town. Their latest victim was a rich old lady from the better part of town.
As of 10pm that night, they still hadn’t found her body.
Shell
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
3,621 and counting
Dear Shell,
I'm behind schedule on writing for the challenge. I hit 3,621 words last night, and I should have been closer to 5,000 words. But that's okay because I have plenty of time still to get caught up and on schedule. The story is going fairly well so far. The hardest part is stopping myself from going back and editing as a) the story progresses and things change or b) when I read back over what I wrote to make sure I'm on the 'write' path and realize I made a mistake.
Here is an excerpt from my story:
Well I need to go pick up some veggies to toss in the chicken soup, then get back to writing. I hope you enjoyed the little peek into my novel.
Shell
I'm behind schedule on writing for the challenge. I hit 3,621 words last night, and I should have been closer to 5,000 words. But that's okay because I have plenty of time still to get caught up and on schedule. The story is going fairly well so far. The hardest part is stopping myself from going back and editing as a) the story progresses and things change or b) when I read back over what I wrote to make sure I'm on the 'write' path and realize I made a mistake.
Here is an excerpt from my story:
The other man stared at the wizard, a curious look in his dark brown eyes. “Do you know who she is, or how will I be able to tell it is her?”
Jolenek spun around again. “She has the dragon’s eyes. She alone has the dragon’s eyes. Blonde. My seer tells me she is blonde, and tall for a female. He could not see her face.” He glared at his seer. “Namak! Why can’t you ever see what I want you to see.” Disgusted, he stalked to the table, picked up a goblet and drained the contents.
“So, I am to search all the tall, blonde females I find then, to see if they carry the dragon’s eyes?” the man said sarcastically before folding his arms across his chest and leaning back against the table. “While it would be fun, that could take forever. There’s something else you’re not telling me.”
Jolenek threw the goblet against the wall, shattering the cup, red liquid droplets splattered across the grey wall. “You don’t need to know any more. Just find her and bring her to me!”
Well I need to go pick up some veggies to toss in the chicken soup, then get back to writing. I hope you enjoyed the little peek into my novel.
Shell
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