NaNoWriMo Day 28

November 28, 2019November 28, 2019 / Kristi / Leave a comment

The Words: 1893 words. Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate! My big family get-together is tomorrow, so today wasn’t as busy as it is for many. I did have some food to prepare, and my husband and kids and I had a small celebratory dinner for just us, but I had some free time this afternoon. Unfortunately, a collaboration of events kept me from getting any writing in until after my daughter went to bed anyway. But I still managed to get plenty of writing in at that time.

The Story: Storyline 1, which I thought was going to be the secondary arc but has apparently become the main arc, came to an end today. However, after I pantsed a climax, I realized that what I had left in my outline just wasn’t a great way to end the main arc of the book. So I decided to write a scene that would follow the thread that came up during my writing this month (so wasn’t planned ahead at all) through to where that would lead into the next book. I’m still not 100% sure that that is where I want to leave it, but I will worry about that during the first revision, after the book has had time to rest. Then I’ll have time to re-outline using this draft, and figure out what the story might be missing, and the best way to end the book.

I now have 2 days left to finish storyline 2. I am definitely close, but will be gone pretty much all day tomorrow, and will probably be pretty busy on Saturday. I have confidence that I’ll end the month with a completed draft though. I did sort of leave storyline 2b hanging, but it’s not nearly as important, most of what was going to happen there is written in enough detail in my outline anyway, and to be honest, I didn’t know how much of it was going to stay in the finished story, and how much will be edited out anyway, so it doesn’t bother me if i don’t have time to go back and “finish” it.

Total word count: 81,702

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 28, 2019

NaNoWriMo Day 27

November 27, 2019 / Kristi / Leave a comment

The Words: 2213 words. I had an afternoon alone today and an evening with just my husband and me home, so I made sure to spend some time writing in the afternoon, to open up my evening to spend with my husband. I wrote just past par and ended at a pivotal moment. My brain kept working on it after my husband came home, so I had to write just a little bit more to avoid forgetting what I’d decided to do. Then later, after the kids came home, I had a little extra time, but couldn’t focus well enough to get more than 80 words.

The Story: The secondary climax (which is the main climax of storyline 2) went quite well for a first draft, contrary to what I expected. Then after that, I got to write what I feel like is one of my best out-of-nowhere-but-it-works ideas for the later books of this series. There’s definitely not much left of storyline 2, and I have to figure out how to end it.

Total word count: 79,809

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 27, 2019

NaNoWriMo Day 26

November 26, 2019November 27, 2019 / Kristi / Leave a comment

The Words: 1837 words. I didn’t sit down to start writing until after 10pm today, but was able to get just past par, getting the last of these words right before midnight. The rest of the days of the month will not be a whole lot better for writing time than what I’ve had recently, so I will probably not have any more big days this month, but I will still try to write at least something every day.

The Story: The climax stalled a little as I struggled with where to take it (yay, pantsing!) and the characters just started discussing things. I finally had to stop them short and get the action back on track. I think I am at the end of the climax now, and have just the conclusion left for storyline 1. And the conclusion will be a pretty big thing for this part of the world, not to mention something that was only made possible by an “Aha!” moment that came out while writing earlier in the month. This is why I love NaNo!

Total word count: 77,597

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 26, 2019

NaNoWriMo Day 25

November 25, 2019December 5, 2020 / Kristi / Leave a comment

The Words: 1697 words. I went for par today, after a full day of work, and managed to catch some perfectly timed sprints with @NaNoWordSprints on Twitter. That’s all I have to say about the word count today.

The Story: Storyline 2 got a little mushy today, with 2 characters who have been through a good amount of hardship, both individually and in their relationship. It was nice to give them a chance to be happy together for a bit. And now we’re perched on the edge of the climax of this storyline, which is not the main climax of the novel, but I’m really looking forward to it. Which means it’ll probably fall flat in this first draft and need hefty revision.

Total word count: 75,758

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 25, 2019
And with 5 days left of NaNoWriMo, be sure to check out episode 5 of the NaNoMusical, where the stresses of the month catch up to the characters in my favorite song of the whole thing!

NaNoWriMo Day 24

November 24, 2019 / Kristi / Leave a comment

The Words: 643 words. Every month has those days where I just write a little to say I wrote that day. Today was one of those days. It was an early morning, as the 4th Sunday of the month always is, since my husband and I are on the worship team at our church on those Sundays, and we have to go early for practice before the service. I brought my Neo and wrote about 300 words in the downtime after practice.

Then, my husband and I headed to the larger city about 40 minutes away for some shopping and a date night. We got back late and had to take care of some things at home, so I cranked out another 300 words just to be able to get a few more words in.

The Story: Storyline 1 took a sudden turn today, heading right for the climax of this book, which I really only planned to include within the last week or so. I’ll be pantsing it, which may or may not work out well. My history of pantsing more than little bits of my novel throughout the month has been pretty hit-or-miss for me (last year, a huge success; 2015, not so much).

I let myself off the hook for how little I wrote tonight when I realized how close I am to the end of the story in both storylines, with 6 days still left of NaNoWriMo. It’s a delicate balance for me–I basically want to get to the end of the draft on November 30th, so I don’t run out of story too soon, or risk the draft not getting done.

Total word count: 74,061

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 24, 2019

NaNoWriMo Day 23

November 23, 2019 / Kristi / Leave a comment

The Words: 1843 words, again just happy to get at least par. More freelance work for my old job took up my morning and afternoon, and I have to get up really early tomorrow, so I’m going to bed early. I really hope to pick up the pace for the rest of the month, but it’s not going to happen today.

The Story: Storyline 2 saw a reuniting of two friends who spent the whole story before now apart. It was nice, but it’s nothing compared to the reunion that’s coming soon. The end of this storyline isn’t far away, which at this point is a good thing. While I hate running out of something to write before the end of the month, I’ve been a little concerned about finishing the draft this month, due to being so busy, so I’m seeing some hope for that now!

Total word count: 73,418

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 23, 2019

NaNoWriMo Day 22

November 22, 2019November 23, 2019 / Kristi / Leave a comment

The Words: 2040 words and happy to get that. I did some freelance work for my old job today (helping get an app built, which is really not my area of expertise) and worked on the cover of “Pithea” (which comes out on January 10th!) to try to make it look better on the paperback. By evening, my head just wasn’t in the first-draft writing space. But I dug down deep and did some sprints with @NaNoWordSprints on Twitter and at least wrote a bit past par.

The Story: Today was all conversation for storyline 1. I really like how the characters are developing in this storyline, but I will probably have to put more variety into it in the next draft. For now though, big news has been revealed that may or may not be as much of a huge revelation for the readers (someday far in the future) as it is for the characters.

Total word count: 71,575

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 22, 2019

NaNoWriMo Day 21

November 21, 2019November 25, 2019 / Kristi / Leave a comment

The Words: 3538 words. I did a few sprints with @NaNoWordSprints on Twitter this evening, and some writing on my own between sprints. It’s nice to feel like I’m making progress with higher word counts again, but I think tomorrow will end up being another shorter day.

The Story: I went back to storyline 2 today and gave the main character there a chance to release some frustration over some pretty crappy things that have happened to him recently. And I realized that I don’t really know what my climax is for this book, because there’s a potential for one in storyline 2, but I had never planned to actually show this scene happening for multiple reasons. So I think storyline 1 might have to contain the climax, but thanks to some fresh ideas I’ve had come up during writing, that might actually be possible!

Total word count: 69,535

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 21, 2019

NaNoWriMo Day 20

November 20, 2019November 25, 2019 / Kristi / Leave a comment

The Words: 1727 words. I had an afternoon and early evening without kids today, but still ended up spending most of my free time during it working on formatting for “Pithea”. Then I had to head to my church for worship team practice (I’m on once a month), and realized how late it would be when I got home. So I took my Neo with me and wrote in the car for the second time this month.

It was dark all the way there and back, so it was really rough at first, because I couldn’t check the screen to see what I’d last written, and even though I try really hard not to backspace to fix mistakes, it’s a habit. So I wouldn’t know if I’d actually erased enough or too much. I ended up turning on the light on the mirror of my visor.

All of the words came during the half hour drive there and back, which was really not too bad at all, and I liked being able to make use of that time.

The Story: I wrote more for storyline 1 today, and think I will need to do that more tomorrow, because there is more of that left in the outline than for storyline 2. I hit on a new idea today, which will likely be part of the next book, or maybe come up near the end of this one. It was a somewhat larger “Aha!” moment building on the smaller one that occurred on day 15 and involves politics, which I never really thought I’d care to get into much in my books, but in a way that actually interests me. Hopefully I can make it interesting to readers too.

I claimed my win today (thanks to an email explaining how), which is always exciting! Also, my winner’s shirt will be arriving in a few days!

Total word count: 65,997

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 20, 2019

NaNoWriMo Day 19

November 19, 2019November 25, 2019 / Kristi / Leave a comment

The Words: 4118 words. The weekly write-in at my local library was today. It’s a small writing group that meets throughout the year, and none of them really do NaNo. Some like to come to the write-ins, though, and work on whatever writing they’re doing. No one showed up last week, so I went home after waiting about 15 minutes. Today, I had higher hopes that some would come, because it’s the Tuesday we normally meet monthly. But when no one was there at the starting time, I decided to start a 20-minute sprint myself, and at least get some writing in while also giving others a chance to arrive late. No one did, but at least I went home with a 1139 jump on my words tonight. The rest I got in a #1k30min sprint and a regular 20-minute sprint with @NaNoWordSprints on Twitter. It felt really good to get a higher word count again.

The Story: For the sprint at the library, I wrote for storyline 2b, which I haven’t spent as much time on this month, but is also the shortest of all the storylines (it is a sub-storyline, after all). The main character in that storyline got a little snarky and called his counterpart out, which was not in my plans.

The rest of the time was spent writing for storyline 2. That included more stress and anger, from the same character, actually. And then I started pantsing a scene that will transition from where I was to the next plot point in my outline.

I don’t quite know if I’m still on track to reach the end of the draft by the end of the month. Going strictly by the numbers, I’m about 70% of the way through my outline, and we’re only 63% of the way through the month. I keep adding new scenes that come up organically, or that seem necessary to get from one plot point to another, though. I’m still hoping to finish with all the little formatting thins I’m working for “Pithea” soon, which will give me the ability to go back to spending more time on my NaNoNovel. Publishing a book is a lot of work.

Total word count: 64,270

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 19, 2019
This is a good time to watch episode 4 of the NaNoMusical, where things really heat up!

A Journey of Words

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