So I'm doing NaNo again. So far, perfectly cromulent -- 2,346 words written in 25 hours, well ahead of the 1666 2/3 words-per-day pace that one needs to hit 50,000. And it's 2,346 words of nothin', too, because so far, it's resetting the scene and getting my characters caught up.
I'm continuing to blog over here because the story's the same -- I'm writing the sequel to The Valkyrie's Tale, and I'm calling it The Valkyrie's Quest. I actually have submitted the former book a few places (I'll let you know how it pans out) and I have at least reasonable hopes for this book. At the very least, in the next 29 days, I should know whether this is a story that needs a sequel or not.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, December 26, 2005
That's All He Wrote
85,485 words and 254 pages later, my first draft of The Valkyrie's Tale is complete.
And I'm exhausted. Now, I get to go rest my brain for a while, and then comes editing, which is extremely difficult. And then comes trying to sell the thing, and that's even tougher. But the good news is that the toughest part is done--I started a novel and wrote it through to completion. Yay me.
And I'm exhausted. Now, I get to go rest my brain for a while, and then comes editing, which is extremely difficult. And then comes trying to sell the thing, and that's even tougher. But the good news is that the toughest part is done--I started a novel and wrote it through to completion. Yay me.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Progress!
So when last I checked in, I was at 50,000 words or so, and pretty pleased. But I wasn't done, by my own admission. Indeed, I thought at the time I had 30,000 words or so to add to complete my first draft.
Well, 15,000 down, about 20,000 to go. I've just passed 65,000 words, and am about to set up the reason that my party has to invade the headquarters of the dastardly Cadre. Will they succeed? (Probably--I'd feel really bad if they didn't.) Stay tuned!
Well, 15,000 down, about 20,000 to go. I've just passed 65,000 words, and am about to set up the reason that my party has to invade the headquarters of the dastardly Cadre. Will they succeed? (Probably--I'd feel really bad if they didn't.) Stay tuned!
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Handsome Dan, Play the Victory Sound!
As Howard Dean once said: YEARGH!
I am officially, as of right now, at 50,120 words. By NaNoWriMo rules, I am a winner!
Of course, there's still...oh...about 30% of the book left. Plus editing. Sadly, I have many more weeks of writing yet before I can even declare the narrative complete.
Still, producing 153 pages of prose in under a month is nothing I'm going to scoff at. I'm proud of what I've accomplished so far. Now, I have to finish the work I've started--or this doesn't mean much.
I am officially, as of right now, at 50,120 words. By NaNoWriMo rules, I am a winner!
Of course, there's still...oh...about 30% of the book left. Plus editing. Sadly, I have many more weeks of writing yet before I can even declare the narrative complete.
Still, producing 153 pages of prose in under a month is nothing I'm going to scoff at. I'm proud of what I've accomplished so far. Now, I have to finish the work I've started--or this doesn't mean much.
Friday, November 25, 2005
Getting There
Well, it took 7,000 words in the last 30 hours or so, but I'm officially back on pace--a full 78 words ahead of it, in fact, at 40,078 words.
I actually had a fun moment last night, when it struck me that a character I'd mentioned two chapters back as an almost throwaway (she was meant merely as evidence that failed Valkyries didn't get killed, or even shunned--they were just sort of shipped away) is in fact playing a pivotal role in not just a jailbreak, but in the final assault on the Cadre's stronghold. I love it when stuff like that fits together, and indeed, it's almost like my subconscious knew this was coming four days before I did.
At any rate, over 80% to goal, and about 40% of what I expect the final wordcount to be. I expect when I'm done getting the narrative down I'll be in the 75,000 range--and there are definitely enough sections I wish to add to in the story that 90,000-100,000 should be the final tally.
I actually had a fun moment last night, when it struck me that a character I'd mentioned two chapters back as an almost throwaway (she was meant merely as evidence that failed Valkyries didn't get killed, or even shunned--they were just sort of shipped away) is in fact playing a pivotal role in not just a jailbreak, but in the final assault on the Cadre's stronghold. I love it when stuff like that fits together, and indeed, it's almost like my subconscious knew this was coming four days before I did.
At any rate, over 80% to goal, and about 40% of what I expect the final wordcount to be. I expect when I'm done getting the narrative down I'll be in the 75,000 range--and there are definitely enough sections I wish to add to in the story that 90,000-100,000 should be the final tally.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Ouch
So you may be wondering where I've gone (or, based on the hit count, you may not have been). Well, last Tuesday morning I woke up to a shooting pain in my right eye. I've had this before, but this was about as bad as ever; I drove to work with essentially septuple vision in that eye, and my vision didn't improve during the day. That evening, my eye started to feel like something was in it; by the next morning, it was red and swollen and hurt constantly, growing worse with each blink.
Well, several trips to the optometrist later, I can tell you that I suffer from recurring corneal erosions, which means that occasionally, part of the top layer of my cornea pulls off with my eyelid instead of remaining attached to the rest of the cornea. Which is about as fun as it sounds.
Of course, there are all sorts of fun things with that, as you may expect--when you feel like you've got something in your eye 100% of the time, it's hard to think two sentences down the line, much less plan out your novel. So I simply lay in pain for several days, letting myself get out of the flow of the story and allowing the inertia that had previously been my ally to become my foe.
Oh well. I can't get the time back, but I'm only about 6,000 words behind. That's not great, but a 2,300 word a day pace should get the job done. Considering my plan has always been to write 15,000-20,000 words over Thanksgiving weekend, 50,000 should still be very attainable.
Well, several trips to the optometrist later, I can tell you that I suffer from recurring corneal erosions, which means that occasionally, part of the top layer of my cornea pulls off with my eyelid instead of remaining attached to the rest of the cornea. Which is about as fun as it sounds.
Of course, there are all sorts of fun things with that, as you may expect--when you feel like you've got something in your eye 100% of the time, it's hard to think two sentences down the line, much less plan out your novel. So I simply lay in pain for several days, letting myself get out of the flow of the story and allowing the inertia that had previously been my ally to become my foe.
Oh well. I can't get the time back, but I'm only about 6,000 words behind. That's not great, but a 2,300 word a day pace should get the job done. Considering my plan has always been to write 15,000-20,000 words over Thanksgiving weekend, 50,000 should still be very attainable.
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