National Novel Writing Month

[ladyboy]

Okay, I think I've almost hit 10,000 words. I have done so, so little and had so much to do outside of this this past week. But I am hoping to continue with it and regain momentum next week (just in time for Thanksgiving! Yeah!)

[chonies]

Yay! I am still less than halfway finished, but I checked my stats from the year I won, and I'm ahead by almost 4,000 words, and that year I was very underemployed--I was teaching one college class online, so I was not even required to bathe, get dressed or leave the house, and here I am now, a full-time-workin' lady who is managing to peck out a terrible novel, lalalala.

Anyway, my story is trudging along and has taken a strange direction. I thought the backstory would be a footnote, but it's crowding out the original story. I suppose that means the central story is flimsier than I thought, but the backstory ballooned from four characters to 11, not counting an unnamed helicopter pilot (because hey, a Russian oligarch's henchman can't be expected to fly himself to the far-flung corners of the steppe). The rest of the novel reads like anthropology fan fiction, with Lucy the Australopithecine making an appearance.

I cannot believe I just earnestly typed that out. But--forward progress.

ETA: the main story is intact, but there's no conflict. I'm also concerned about some really dumb details. I know it's severely Mary Sue to describe a character's name, but I want to. Also, all the men in the story are self-centered scumbags, and i'm having a difficult time with character development to give nuance to the different shades of scumbaggery, or to make the scumbaggishness transformative.

[chonies]

Less than 72 hours left, more than 19,000 words to go--can she do it?

[narm]

Yes she can!!!!

[chonies]

*tear* thank you!

[Kaleidoscope Eyes]

Nov 28, 2015 12:02:01 GMT -4 chonies said:

Less than 72 hours left, more than 19,000 words to go--can she do it?

Why sure you can! Insert Rosietheriveter.gif here.

I used to have a bunch of Rosie the Riveter paraphernalia and kept a poster in the media room where I did most of my writing at the time. If I still had that poster and you were nearby, I'd give you that poster to put where ever you do your writing.

[chonies]

Thanks, KE. What I actually feel like is this story an ex BF told about his summer job at a brewery, where he had to wear hip waders and push broken bottles and spilled beer slime into a big drain, only replace broken bottles and mis-brewed beer with "dreams" and "words."

[Smilla]

Hey! I did it this year again, too, and I'm happy to see so many hard NaNoers here. (I thought the world had become too busy for Greecie writers to 'do' their writing that way.)

I'm barreling forward into December, actually. It's not going as well as last month, but I'm liking my productivity.

[Smilla]

Sorry for double posting, but this is the only relevant thread I could find for my dilemma. I'm thinking of throwing caution to the wind and doing this. I was going to last year, but didn't think either my plot outline or my idea was strong enough to keep me going for the 'three day frenzy.'

Normally, I'd think this was too risky, especially since my first NaNo flat-out burned me out for a year. But I've had this book inside me for a while and I'm getting a strong 'now or never' quality to its possible completion, so I'm starting to chomp at the bit. (Read: highly restless to at least see if it's possible to 'get it done.')

[trifle]

Go for it!