Nanowrimo 2010: Writing Progress, Day 5

Today's writing began later than I wanted, and now it's time for me to quit for the day, so I only got about half of what I wanted, maybe a little more.

My word count for today is 2,823, bringing the novel's current total to 18,737 words and 32 pages.

I've introduced another character victim today. The ghost has just killed off a jock the main character knew in high school. Yesterday, she killed off a girl he'd been interested in who'd mocked and ridiculed him. I won't be killing off another one for a little while yet, but I came up with the idea of the jock and had to run with it. Still, I wonder who's next! LOL!

The oldest brother (who's telling the story) and his wife just had a nice romantic evening together, too, so not all of my writing today was evil. Muahahahaha!!!!!

So, I didn't reach the 20K I wanted to, but I'm hoping to get there by the end of the weekend. I'm still beyond where I want to be for a 100K novel, so it's all good. :)

Lois

 

I've done it! I've breached the 15K barrier of my Nano Novel! *happy dance*

Today, I wrote a part that will get much scarier with revision, but which feels somewhat stiff, at the moment. It's odd, because I was really into the scene when I wrote it. I guess I was just in a hurry to get it down! :P

And then I wrote in a little accident for the brothers' mother. It was one of those things that often happens, though the oldest brother isn't sure if it was all that common or if it might have been connected with other strange events going on.

I also finished that scene I'd started yesterday!

So, my word count for today is 4,682, and the total for my novel, so far, is 15,889. It's now 27 pages. Not a bad day. Not a bad day, at all! :D

Lois

Nanowrimo 2010: Writing Progress, Day 3

It's been slow going today. I've written a total of 2,678 words today, but I could have written more.

On the bright side, I've had a pretty good time on Twitter (some of it was actually writing related)!

And I've discovered an awesome band. I don't know what took me so long to discover 30 Seconds to Mars, but they totally rock. Jared Leto has an incredible voice! :D

Anyway, After participating in two or three writing sprints on Twitter, working outside the sprints, and chatting with an actor friend on Twitter about writing a monologue for him to perform, I think I've done pretty good for myself today.

Tonight, I'm going to line out the next few scenes, then do some brainstorming for the monologue. If I'm lucky, I'll even do a little more writing. I was in the middle of a scene when I stopped, and I'd like to finish it tonight. We shall see...

All in all, it's been a good day.

How are the rest of you doing?

Lois

Nanowrimo 2010: Writing Progress, Day 2

I've written more than I thought today. I could have written more, but I wanted to go back and read what I had and get rid of any typos and stuff. ;)

My current word count is 3,619, and the total word count is 6,361. I'm at roughly ten pages.

I'm still giving background, but I've just wrapped up chapter one. It's a short one, which is okay. I like books with varying chapter lengths. :)

So, we have now officially met the oldest brother, and he's actually telling the story. He is an investigative reporter, and the story he's about to tell is unlike anything he's ever reported on before.

I've also officially introduced the youngest brother, the one driving the vehicle that caused the accident on the slippery mountain road. I've learned some things about him I didn't know before. I love being a writer! :D

I can't wait to introduce the middle brother, but that won't be until the day after tomorrow, maybe later. I know when he's supposed to arrive in town. I just don't know when he'll appear in the book. I have other things to write before I get to that.

I'll likely have the main character somewhere in chapter two, as well. I think he'll come along while they're having dinner...or shortly after. I just need to figure out exactly what it is he'll want...maybe for the older brother to go back to Houston and leave things alone. Yeah, that would add a bit of conflict! :)

And now I'm off to post this elsewhere, then take a shower and start dinner.

Lois

Nanowrimo 2010: Writing Progress, Day 1

Woohoo! I've surpassed the day one word count of 1,667. My current word count is 2,734! :D I'm at almost five pages.

I've begun with the prologue, and have written an event that happened in Hunter's life that cut him very deeply. The event was written as a flashback while Hunter was driving his wife to the medical center in the midst of a winter storm. The story takes place in the fictional Arkansas town of Garfield, which is in the mountains, and the winter storm is currently causing a lot of freezing rain along the mountain roads, causing travel to be treacherous, at best. Hunter is trying to get his wife to the medical center so she can give birth to their daughter, but he's fighting the weather to get her there.

As he's driving, his mind wanders, and he begins remembering his sister who died when he was only 20 (he's 34 now). When his wife cries out for him to 'watch out,' he suddenly sees a car coming toward him, and the last thing he sees before the collision is the image of his close friends, Jett and Jagger, who are in the other vehicle. Jett, the youngest, is the one driving, but Jagger is beside him, making him just as guilty as Jett in Hunter's mind (though no one is to blame...the collision happens because of the weather).

I've set Hunter, Jett and Jagger up for a very suspenseful story, I think! :D

Most of my progress posts won't be this detailed, but I'm so excited, I had to tell you all about it! ;)

Lois

Happy Nanowrimo the First!

All month, I'll be working on my new novel!I haven't plotted out the whole story, so I'll be doing some of that as I go, too. Yesterday afternoon and into the night, I made a bunch of note cards for some of the major elements my story needs, and I started making a giant checklist to help me stay on track. I still need to do some major plotting, as I'm nowhere near done.

Thankfully, I've got the backstory mostly lined out, and that's what I'll be working on today. :)

I was going to write an urban fantasy, but it started going flat, so I dropped that idea for now. Instead, I'm writing something different...for me, anyway. I have very little experience in reading, let alone writing, horror, so this will be very new for me. I look forward to it!

 

I haven't had very long to prepare, so my writing this year will be sort of a hybrid between pantsing and planning. We'll see how it turns out. I've won using both methods, so I don't doubt I'll win. It's a matter of wanting my story to make sense and to keep readers from putting it down.

I realize it's just the rough draft, but the element of suspense definitely has to be there. We shall see...

My goal for the novel (not for Nano) is 100K. If I reach it, it will be the first time ever. Needless to say, I'm downright excited about my novel!

Wish me luck! :D

Lois