# Nano 2016 Motivation and Confession Thread



## Caged Maiden (Nov 1, 2016)

Here's a new thread if anyone wants to give status updates, motivation, or whatever on a clean chalkboard. 


I've decided updating my word count here doesn't make much sense, since I'm probably just going to suck anyways, so I'm using smilies to convey how I'm doing. 

:cloud9:


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## Tom (Nov 1, 2016)

I...haven't even written anything yet. Ahahahaha. At school I was working on an overdue project during my lunch break, and right now I'm wasting time and texting a friend. Should probably get my ass into gear.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 1, 2016)

I got up early, and have been at it on and off throughout the day. I've written just over 2400 words of story, or two chapters. It's not as much as I had planned/hoped, but my eyelids are growing heavy.

It's not been a very efficient day though, and I think I could probably do more if I interrupt myself less with random crap I don't need to bother with.

I also cut about a third of a chapter - no more than 400 words - because I came up with a better idea for the narrative voice of the story. It's going to be interesting to see how that pans out in the long run. Will it work, or is it just a silly gimmick?


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## Ireth (Nov 1, 2016)

1839 words so far! We'll see if I can add to that number after supper, or when the siblings are in bed.


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## Fluffypoodel (Nov 1, 2016)

October certainly wasn't my month but I'm feeling very good about November. Just sitting down to write what I hope to be a very productive session. Wish me luck!


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## Garren Jacobsen (Nov 1, 2016)

Tom Nimenai said:


> I...haven't even written anything yet. Ahahahaha. At school I was working on an overdue project during my lunch break, and right now I'm wasting time and texting a friend. Should probably get my ass into gear.



I'm in the same boat. Worked from 8:30 to 5. Now just commuting home. I'll probably start writing at like 9.


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## Fluffypoodel (Nov 1, 2016)

Got 2,303 and calling it a night.


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## Chessie (Nov 1, 2016)

Wow, some impressive numbers! My husband just turned on the World Series so it's time for me to write now haha.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 1, 2016)

I forgot today was nano...so that's my excuse for not doing anything. I spent two hours at the Halloween store today, buying stuff I can only find this time of year. I think I'm going to be Rainbow Dash next year (if my 6yo daughter doesn't steal the pieces from me). Anyways...too much funner stuff to do atm, so writing is waiting till I get some peace when kids are in bed. 

As promised, here's my smiley:


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## Heliotrope (Nov 1, 2016)

Checking in! 

At my coffee shop with my $5.00 coffee. I dressed up and told my hubby and kids I was going to "work" lol. 

Down to business. 

Goal: 1700 words.


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## Queshire (Nov 1, 2016)

Ended up deciding to make my current project a NaNo mostly since I was starting it right around NaNo time anyways. Day 1 report: ended up wasting hours playing Skyrim instead of writing. Still, I'm back from work now so time to start in on it. Huzzah!


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## Ireth (Nov 1, 2016)

2186 words and counting!


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## Chessie (Nov 1, 2016)

Skyrim remastered just came out so that's a good excuse as any. 

I'm so glad I wrote ahead for this. Tonight only 250 words. One hotel room + a rowdy husband watching baseball= Chessie can't write worth a darn. I was interrupted numerous times...UGH! And I'm traveling 15 hours tomorrow but at least we're finally going home. I'm not the kind of writer that can work anywhere which is rather annoying. I miss my computer, my Scrivener, my home, my kitties who hang out with me when I write. At least I'm not behind and then I can start pumping out some words on Thursday. Writing ahead has me at 3450.


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## Tom (Nov 1, 2016)

1818 words!! I'm so happy! I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to write anything today--when I got home from school all I wanted to do was keel over onto my bed and sleep. This is really exciting.


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## Gribba (Nov 2, 2016)

3804 words so far... and I did not prepare... I see now, maybe I should have, but hey... my first time so what do I know...


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## Heliotrope (Nov 2, 2016)

Signing out: Success! Did just over my 1700 word goal. 

Excerpt from tonight: 

_There was something strange about it. Still pushing against the door I tried to examine the light, but the brightness made it impossible. Painful.

It was not real sunlight. This sunlight had substance. When I looked closely at the edge, where the light met the darkness of my bedroom, I could see each particle of light as if it were a grain of sand. 

Glowing sand, radiating a deep yellow glow that illuminated everything. 

It poured through the crack in the door and settled onto my soaking wet carpet. My desk. My dresser.

The tiny glowing orbs settled onto the floor like smoldering dust. 

I wanted to touch it. The glowing sand swirled around my bare feet. It felt like light. Warm. It was not grainy. It was not scratchy or soft like sand would be. It existed, yet didn’t exist. 

I reached out to touch it. 

“Andy, don't touch it.”  My dad. Screaming from the kitchen. 

I jerked my hand back. 

The particles pouring through the window started to pile up. The tiny balls of light reached my ankles. Invisible winds licked the tops of the shimmering sand and pulled it through my calves, around my shins, coating my legs in a dusting of light. 

But then the particles started to pull me down, into the carpet, like glowing quick sand. 

Panicking, I tried to raise my legs, but the light held fast, sucking at my ankles, melting me into the floor.

I found myself at the center of a maelstrom. Glowing white now, the dust battered my small bedroom. A tempest. 

The sucking light was up to my waist. My legs no longer existed. 

The kitchen was dead silent. 

Surrounded in glowing golden dust I couldn’t see anything. But I did feel something. 

Something like a freezing tongue protruded beneath the door where I lay, buried in quick sand, and licked me._


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 2, 2016)

Nothing fancy, but here's what I'm working on. My character is about to wake up in a field, naked. Some kids found her:




> “Go on, then. Give it a touch.”
> 
> “I bet she’s stone cold.”
> 
> ...


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## Garren Jacobsen (Nov 2, 2016)

Alright, that's it, calling it at 2003 words. Man just got conked on the noggin and his head is still scrambled as he chases after his son's kidnappers. It's crappy but here is the last paragraph of the chapter.



> The slick stones of his stoop and his scrambled mind combined to make him fall down the familiar steps and onto the street below. Wyet groaned as he crawled in the direction he saw the dark shapes go. But the dark of night and the now pouring rain soon obscured them from sight. Still he crawled, trying to stand. Yelling for help. Praying for help. Knowing that it wouldn’t come in time. Those men had taken his son. Those men had made their last mistake. Wyet continued to crawl.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 2, 2016)

Ugh.  I have an incomplete, badly flawed outline and a near total lack of motivation.  Plus I have RL issues and I further distracted myself with some books that arrived recently.  But...600 words, so far.  No idea how I'm going to resolve some major plot/sequence issues.  Maybe just write around them.


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## Tom (Nov 2, 2016)

Not sure if I'll have time to write at school today. I might have to finish up a design project over my lunch break, depending on how productive class time is. Hopefully I can find some time.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 2, 2016)

I spent part of my morning moving sentences around to squeeze a little more impact from the beginning of my scene. So...no words, just better sentences. 

:spin:


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## Thomas Laszlo (Nov 2, 2016)

Lack Luster is my progress. 92 words and I started just today, November 2nd. Hopefully i get to write more this evening and lower my word count to finish all 50,000 words on time. I think my Novel may take more than 50,000 words though so I may try to write closer to 24,000 or 25,000 per day. Whenever possible that isXD I will be posting excerpts soon when I've finished a considerable portion!


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## SeverinR (Nov 2, 2016)

I guess I have a story idea and it is Nov. 2nd. 
I could do Nano this year.
Nothing to loose.


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## Heliotrope (Nov 2, 2016)

I seem to do my best writing in the evenings, but I'm going to have to figure something out with my kid. It took me almost three hours last night to do my 1700 words, and I like to be in bed by ten pm... so it may mean hubs is putting the kids to bed this month lol.


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## Heliotrope (Nov 2, 2016)

Thomas, seriously? 24,000/ day? That's impressive.


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## Ireth (Nov 2, 2016)

Aaagh. I'm 3159 words into my project and I'm getting stalled. I need my MC's love interest to separate (temporarily) from the MC and villain, but she doesn't want to leave the MC in the villain's clutches now that she knows hints of what's going on between them. Grrr. Even if I have her vanish for her own safety's sake, she'd want to bring the MC with her, and that won't work. Not yet, anyway.


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## Tom (Nov 2, 2016)

As anticipated, I didn't get a chance to write at school today. Ended up working furiously on that design project and didn't finish it in time for critique. Bleh. I am so tired....I don't want to write, but I'm trying to guilt myself into it...


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 2, 2016)

Good day today. Ending on a total count of just above 5,900 words. That's with both today and yesterday off from work though, so it's not quite as much as I'd hope for (I'd have wanted to be at 6k words but the scene ended and I don't have the energy to statt a new one).

What's positive is that I've come to terms with some of the doubts I had yesterday. I'm more positive to the way I've chosen to tell this story and I think it might work out really well. Eager to get back to it tomorrow, which I also have off. Now though, time to sleep.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 2, 2016)

Ireth said:


> Aaagh. I'm 3159 words into my project and I'm getting stalled. I need my MC's love interest to separate (temporarily) from the MC and villain, but she doesn't want to leave the MC in the villain's clutches now that she knows hints of what's going on between them. Grrr. Even if I have her vanish for her own safety's sake, she'd want to bring the MC with her, and that won't work. Not yet, anyway.



MC's love interest gets abducted by an amorous third party?


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## Fluffypoodel (Nov 2, 2016)

Pushed up a little over 4300 today. I'm in the lull before the storm right now which is something that I don't thin I do particularly well with. It didn't help that I spread my writing out so that I couldn't really build up a good rhythm but I got it done and I'm where I want to be!


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## Heliotrope (Nov 2, 2016)

Checking in. 

Goal 1700 words. 

Go!


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## Tom (Nov 2, 2016)

Today I wrote over 1300 words. Not bad, especially considering that I didn't have a chance to start until about 8 PM. It's not my daily goal, but I'm still happy with it. School is just kicking my ass this week, man.


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## Heliotrope (Nov 3, 2016)

Success! 2027 words  

Happy day, and I still have time to go watch The Office


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## Gribba (Nov 3, 2016)

No writing done today. 
I am having second thoughts about the story I began to write, I am leaning towards a different story at the moment.


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## Garren Jacobsen (Nov 3, 2016)

Calling it at 1813. Go me.


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## Ireth (Nov 3, 2016)

Worked out my scene issue, got back into my groove. 1676 words today, 3882 total.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 3, 2016)

800 words tonight, 1400 total.  Maybe halfway through the first chapter.  I suppose that's an improvement, though my enthusiasm remains near zero.  

I tell myself the more I write now, the more I'll have to work with come rewrite time.  

I also tell myself that I managed to overcome major plot and timeline issues with each of the previous five novellas in this series.

But I really do not want to be working on this story come Christmas.


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## Nimue (Nov 3, 2016)

I've been writing, beat my goals so far.  October warmed things up for me.  Somewhat complicated by the fact that I'm diverting attention and words into another story, a completely indulgent scrap I've had going for a while with no intention of it ever becoming something other than cathartic drama.  Either way, I'm writing, but in that itchy, compulsive way, without much optimism or satisfaction in my work.

I love my little story.  I hate my habits.  I don't know that posting daily about those habits would do anything but drive that in.  Don't want to share snippets, because it's all raw as batter.  Certainly don't want to share word counts, as my word counts are shit and always have been.  Faced with something like this, my analytic brain immediately draws a graph with a line labeled "Expected Output" and one of those piddling lines along the x-axis labeled "You Are Here".  I suppose I'm doubting whether this is really the activity for me at all.  But there seems to be some current of motivation in it, just having a start and end point.  I'm writing, and that's all I really care about.  *shrug*


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## Chessie (Nov 3, 2016)

Nimue, I'm glad to see you posting here. It's great that you're writing and that's really all that matters. Crappy batter is better than no batter, right? Hugs.

Well, I'm finally back in AK. It's so good to be home in the cool mountain air with my cats and my bed. Sigh. However, I didn't get to finish redoing my outline yesterday while on the plane. I did watch some seriously good movies on that 15 hour trip that's actually helped me unkink some things in my brain. 

Anyway, movies don't put words on paper. My goal today is to redo my outline and put in 2k. Totally doable. I've decided that the story isn't working for me in certain ways and I can't figure out how to connect other things. For the sake of time and story, I'm redoing the theme and cutting out the whole reincarnation part of the story. I'm really struggling with it in a familiar way...ie...that idea isn't meant for this story. I'm going for simple and since fantasy romance is all about dudes that aren't fully human, I've got a serious way in here so it'll all work out. So...that's how I'm doing for now.


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## Tom (Nov 3, 2016)

YES! I've got a whole hour of free time during common hour! (Pretty much a miracle.) I'm going to listen to Hamilton while I write today--I'm working on Aeyu's introduction, and as I've developed her character she's become something of an Alexander Hamilton. Ambitious, brash, somewhat selfish, she knows what she wants in life and is determined to surmount any challenge that gets in her way. My Shot, especially, seems like an Aeyu song.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 3, 2016)

Well, crap... that's another unexpected romantic subplot intruding on my story. This is NOT going to plan.


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## Letharg (Nov 3, 2016)

1826 words today! Not bad considering the amount of workload I have at the moment but still lagging behind because yesterday yielded zero words. At least the weekend seems to be quite free so I might be able to squeeze some 3000 words out on Saturday and Sunday!


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 3, 2016)

Okay, first a word of motivation for Gribba: It doesn't matter if you switch, or if you write a heartfelt letter to your husband...all those words count, if you're writing. Cut and past those suckers into a blank document, if you need, to keep your spirits high. I do. And it isn't cheating. I do 50k words of "practice" every nano. Every word I write (including an article I wrote for the home page over two nano days last year) count toward my word count goal, if I need them. The point of nano isn't really to finish a novel in 30 days. It's impossible. But the reason we do it is to reaffirm that we can devote ourselves to the craft and dedicate our focus and time to getting words written and work done. So, do what you need to. I usually open a blank doc. Call it "Nano 2016 November" (to differentiate it from the two camps I've done, also), and every dang word i write gets pasted into that document. So, if I'm editing and rewrite a paragraph in the middle of a scene, that paragraph gets pasted in, and I don't erase the old one. Put it this way, I feel it's more honest than if I hem and haw over a paragraph for an hour and then only include 145 words at the end of that hour. I technically did a lot more work than that, so why shouldn't I at least give myself credit for both paragraphs? HA

Then, a hug for Nimue :grouphug: I'm so glad you're here.

And this for Chesterama :frog: because nothing says welcome home like a frog with its tongue hanging out

And my status update :smoke: because I'm quitting smoking again today, after two weeks free, and then two weeks of weakness...so that's pretty much how my day is going...a little shaky and a little anxious, but hopefully with a 30% chance of rain and writing...

and a little quote to keep me motivated:



> “Get away!” Raisa shouted. “Don’t touch me!”
> 
> Aunt Maeve once spoke of the dangerous nature of separating spirit from body. With the spirit free of its physical cage, a sleeper was able to wander and view the world, but the body was left exposed. Exposed to what, she never said, but she was clear that the link between spirit and body was a thin tether. If a soul was wounded outside its body, or if a body suffered trauma without its soul, the two could be separated permanently.
> 
> ...


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## Garren Jacobsen (Nov 3, 2016)

You know what's fun? Having Death call your MC a smart ass.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 3, 2016)

Right, done for the day. Fifth chapter completed and uploaded. Today's count is 2700+ words and the total count is 8700+ words.

Today, I uncovered an unexpected romantic subplot - like I already posted about earlier. I guess I should have seen that coming.

Here's the deal:

One of the major ideas for this story is that I don't tell it from the POV of the main character. Instead, I'm doing scenes with different people from the village where they talk about the main character, and where the reader can pick up about what's going on. I know the main story pretty well and I know what the random villagers will talk about. 

Unfortunately, I don't know the random villagers at all. The exceptions are the ones that play key roles in the story, but I can't use them all the time. Instead, I'm making up new characters as I go. It's fun. I've come up with some pretty good ones so far. 

These characters have to have some story of their own though, or they'll just be cardboard cutouts spitting out lines of conversation. That's where the romantic subplot showed up. The tricky part now is that one of the characters could potentially also be romantically involved with the main character and I may have some kind of triangle drama on my hands.

It could be fun. It could be disaster.

For now, I've decided not to worry about it, and to just keep writing and see what happens. I'm having fun with it, and the sgtory is progressing at a decent pace. 

Tomorrow I'm back to work and I'm going to have  lot less time for writing. The target for working days is 1k words so I might pull it off. I'm a lot more productive in the evenings after all.


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## Fluffypoodel (Nov 3, 2016)

A good night. Almost at the day four goal on day three, that's a nice feeling. 2,235 words down tonight.


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## Ireth (Nov 3, 2016)

Squeaked past par today with 1192 words written, 5076 total. Hopefully I'll do a bit better tomorrow.


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## Chessie (Nov 3, 2016)

Okay, so for today my count was 2,240 pushing me to 5,690. I suppose I could have written 10 more words but whatever. Also, no excerpts for me this time. I'm trying something new where I just write and don't correct my prose, editing as I go. That's probably why the story flowed easily today. I'm hoping tomorrow is good as well.

@Maiden: it's totally possible to write a novel in 30 days. There are authors in my Indie group who do it in that time with frightening regularity, and I've written a 52k manuscript in a month. It's definitely doable depending on a writer's individual goals.


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## Nimue (Nov 3, 2016)

I got drunk insteeeeeeaaaddd

Well.  I have an hour and fifteen minutes before bedtime.  I'll write something terrible


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## Tom (Nov 3, 2016)

Ack. 766 words. Not a very productive day. I have only one class tomorrow, so I'll try to catch up then.


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## Heliotrope (Nov 3, 2016)

Checking in. 

Goal 1700. 


Go!


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## Gribba (Nov 3, 2016)

Caged Maiden, oh thanks for that, for your words of motivation... as a first timer to NaNo, I was feeling a bit closed in by the story I chose. I can see how (especially for a first time) it might be a good idea to just do the writing, not necessarily one book or one story, just to write and get an idea of what it is like, and what one might be ready for as a writer, doing this kind of thing. 
Thanks for that, now I feel, like, I CAN DO THIS! 
Oh and good luck with the quitting smoking, I am rooting for you!!! 


Svrtnsse, I like your idea and it sounds like fun. 

Nimue, thats the spirit!!! Drunk writing, will be epic!!!


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 3, 2016)

I'm not saying it's impossible. I'm saying it's not the main focus of nano for the majority of participants. Most people do not participate in nano so that at the end of it, they'll have a finished story of 50k words that they will then publish. In fact, I sort of take offense at the amount they push that agenda, while simultaneously expressing the "cage your inner editor" sentiment. The two seem counterintuitive to me. 

Nano is an exercise in consistency, productivity, and for many participants, its the only time they devote a full thirty days to focusing solely on writing or finishing something. So, yes, I was simplifying, but I encourage every participant (especially those trying it for the first time) to think outside the box a little and not feel that the nano parameters need to be the ultimate goal. I'd rather give some encouragement and tactics to not getting flustered than rely on a relatively small percentage of writers who actually repeatedly churn out quick, short novels, to use as an example of what is possible. It absolutely IS possible. And our friend just expressed her worry for beginning a new project and needing planning, and I feel the right thing is to be supportive and say, "Hey, don't worry that you wrote 5k on one story and ditched it. In fact, don't worry if you write 10k on the next one and then realize it's not working. And if you spend the last 35k words writing a great short story that excites you, that's still a nano win, because you wrote it, you dedicated yourself to the challenge, and you did the words."


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## ThinkerX (Nov 4, 2016)

1100 words tonight, which puts me a bit closer to 'on track.'  Finished chapter one.  

Still can't say I'm enthused for this project, but some of the books I ordered are giving me ideas, and just maybe, possible solutions for the plot / timeline issues. 

Chapter two, though, is going to be a bit of a pain.  Albeit a fairly short pain.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 4, 2016)

Hmmm, I definitely hear the "not enthused" sentiment. You know, the thing is, I love this book...but I am not enthused about this chapter I'm tackling now.

I think the reason is that when I think of the book, I see all the really emotional moments and I get sort of squishy on the inside. The moment where the characters fall in love. The scene where they realize they can't be together because they're distant relations. And then when they decide to throw that out the window and carry on anyways. And before all that, when they hated each other and didn't voice why, but after some scenes of forgiveness and honesty, they admit their shame and apologize for the animosity...which is sort of after the romantic feelings have surfaced a bit.

But...I've realized that one of the biggest problems I have, is that I tried to write epic fantasy...and I sort of don't. I mean, I think my plot is crap, and the writing, too, so your guess is as good as mine, why I can't do the epic thing, but I LIVE for the moments of internal reflection, and sometimes it's hard to force those. Unless I have some inspiration for those moments, the writing becomes dull and utilitarian, and it's endlessly defeating as I try to move forward with the story.


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## Heliotrope (Nov 4, 2016)

I didn't sign out last night because I wrote until 10:30 then crashed. But I managed 1680 words  So I'm happy about that. 

Excerpt from last night: 

_“Her family take a hint and go back to where they belong? We don’t need that type here. You can’t trust them. All terrorists, my dad says.” 

I swallowed. The spit stuck half way in my throat, blocking my airway. I wanted to cough. My body convulsed. 

“You agree with me, don’t you Rackham? You aren’t standing up for her.” 

Shauzia glanced at me, her huge black eyes rimmed in red. 

“You didn’t come yesterday.” She said. “You said you were busy.” 

“Shauzia don’t be stupid.” I said. It wasn’t the right thing to say. 

“I’m not stupid Andy. You wouldn’t come in yesterday.” 

Jacob grinned. His teeth were uneven. He hadn’t brushed them. I could still see flecks of Shreddies stuck between the cracks. They were yellow. So big and so yellow. 

“You’re one of us, aren’t you Rackham?” He said. And I threw my fist at his uneven teeth. 

It hurt. 

It hurt a lot. I don’t think I did any damage to his disgusting face, but his face did a lot of damage to my fist. 

He also had quicker reflexes than I anticipated and threw a half decent punch back. 

I didn’t duck. 

Jacob Moncton swung and his fist met my cheek and I tasted blood. 

“Stop it.” Shauzia screamed, but I barely heard her. A ringing had begun in my ears so deafening I was sure he’d damaged my brain. 

That was all I needed. A broken hand and a broken brain. 

And then, between the ringing in my ears and Shauzia's screaming the only thing I could hear was Mr. Radish, telling me to steer my own ship. 

“Don’t get blown off course, Rackham.” He had said, sitting so calmly in his shorts and socks and sandals. And now here I was again. Bobbing like a cork. Following the tack off the edge of the earth._


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## Chessie (Nov 4, 2016)

Svrtnsse said:


> Well, crap... that's another unexpected romantic subplot intruding on my story. This is NOT going to plan.



Hah. Aren't they just so much fun though? That's finally why I decided to just write romance because it seemed to always be my focus anyway. <3

My work shift begins with some Aretha Franklin and Led Zeppelin. Probably not the best music to listen to while writing fantasy...j/s.


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## Tom (Nov 4, 2016)

When I got home from my morning class, I was planning on writing. What I wasn't planning on was falling sleep until 3 pm. I guess it's just been a long week. Checking in now, and hoping to reach at least 1700 words!


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## Ireth (Nov 4, 2016)

Not doing well today. Only 171 words so far. Trying to get a hold of my villain's inner turmoil is harder than I thought. My villains don't usually worry about whether their actions are evil or not. XD


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## Fluffypoodel (Nov 4, 2016)

Got 2,109 words done. Might go in for a round two later tonight but we'll see. Two hour drive to Cape Cod coming up!


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 4, 2016)

Well, the only reason I'm margin progress at all right now is because I slapped a weak chapter together and left it at that. If I go back and tinker, trying to make it great, I'm going to lose what little momentum I've got built up. 

However, I just completely redid a conversation in the next chapter, and feel like it's really going so much better than before. So, that's something. Not something great, just something.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 4, 2016)

380 words.
Went to hang out with some friends after work. Can't move. Too much cake.


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## Chessie (Nov 4, 2016)

2088 for me today, putting me at 7790 words total. Ludmila's fiance forced her to drink a poison as part of their plan to find this mysterious healer...it's weird, yeah. I suppose he didn't technically force her, he just refused to do it himself after he had agreed to help her. This story is getting funner by the day and I'm liking not worrying about beautiful prose. I'll make the script shine on the second pass through. For right now, my only focus is in getting the structure of the story right the first time.


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## Tom (Nov 4, 2016)

Wrote 1242 words despite taking an unexpected nap. Not too bad. 

I'm looking forward to getting started tomorrow--I've got a big scene coming up, some secrets to blow wide open, and some character development to take place. I'm also starting to see a definite shift in Aeyu's character, from the innocent village girl she was when I first wrote her, to the ambitious prodigy who wants to rise above her station that she is now. I can't believe how far she's come. It's exciting.


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## Gribba (Nov 5, 2016)

Work getting in the way... about 800 words yesterday and 500 today... 
and thanks Caged Maiden, switching project and just write is what I needed.


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## Ireth (Nov 5, 2016)

Made it past par, and just in time! Today turned out better than I thought.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 5, 2016)

Another night, another thousand words.  I figure 1000-1200 words a night will be the goal here, with greater spurts on my days off.  Don't know how long I can keep it up.  Hopefully for the month.  Hopefully until I have something that can pass for a completed rough draft.



Caged Maiden said:


> Hmmm, I definitely hear the "not enthused" sentiment. You know, the thing is, I love this book...but I am not enthused about this chapter I'm tackling now.
> 
> I think the reason is that when I think of the book, I see all the really emotional moments and I get sort of squishy on the inside. The moment where the characters fall in love. The scene where they realize they can't be together because they're distant relations. And then when they decide to throw that out the window and carry on anyways. And before all that, when they hated each other and didn't voice why, but after some scenes of forgiveness and honesty, they admit their shame and apologize for the animosity...which is sort of after the romantic feelings have surfaced a bit.
> 
> But...I've realized that one of the biggest problems I have, is that I tried to write epic fantasy...and I sort of don't. I mean, I think my plot is crap, and the writing, too, so your guess is as good as mine, why I can't do the epic thing, but I LIVE for the moments of internal reflection, and sometimes it's hard to force those. Unless I have some inspiration for those moments, the writing becomes dull and utilitarian, and it's endlessly defeating as I try to move forward with the story.



The more of this epic I write, the more I think of your experiences with that ten volume series, Caged.  'Empire: Judgment' is the sixth novella or short novel in this series, and four of the previous five are still rough drafts.  'Empire: Country,' first of the batch, is in the 2nd/3rd rewrite stage.  Next year is going to be dedicated mostly to rewrites, I fear.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 5, 2016)

Yeah, I've been rewriting for almost three years. I'm feeling pretty "done" with it. I want to actually get finished with something. But even if I finish this one novel...it's smack in the middle of a series of books that do build on each other, despite being set generations apart sometimes.  It would make me feel weird to query this book and not mention the ones that came before, that aren't edited enough to submit. Or the ones that follow, because I love those as much as I do this one.

It's so much easier to write a stand alone book. And in my last rewrite...my stand alone novel blew up and when I scraped up the pieces of it off the floor...I realized I'm going to have to (trust me) write a prequel and sequel to it if I'm ever going to turn it into something manageable. 

What a mess. But unless I scrap everything and start completely over, I have to work with what I have, and sometimes the raw materials aren't top quality


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## ThinkerX (Nov 5, 2016)

Well, the 'Empire' series does have a fairly solid basis, though it took me a long, long time to get the core characters right, and it wasn't until late last year I began to get comfortable writing them.  

What keeps me sane is telling myself these are novellas of 35-40,000 words...though the last two (Metropolis and Spiral) blew that out of the water at 45 and 55 k respectively, and 'Country' is almost certain to pass the 50k mark when the rewrites are done.  For that matter, all of these 'novellas' bar one ('Estate') are probably going to be in the 55-65k range when finished - or longer.


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## Heliotrope (Nov 5, 2016)

Success on my 1700 words last night  It takes me sooooooo long (average about 3 hours to do 1700 words), but I accomplished 7000 words this week and that is a BIG deal for me. Amazing really. 

I officially finished my rough draft of my chapter five last night so I have that to play with now. 

_“Are we stopping at my house?” I asked, even thought I knew the answer. Mary didn’t respond. As soon as she sat in the passenger side she pulled down the cosmetic mirror and reapplied her mauve lipstick. 

“At my house.” A monotone voice repeated. “At my house. At my house.” 

The car jerked forward, then stopped abruptly before I had a chance to do up my seatbelt. I was sent sprawling into the seat adjacent and caught sight of something green and yellow on the dash. 

“Blimey Mary, shut that bird up. 'es been talking me ear off all morning.” The driver put the engine back into gear and eased the car forward a few feet before gaining speed. 

“Blimey Mary.” The voice repeated again. “Blimey Mary. Blimey Mary.” Mary turned to the driver. She had a massive purple lipstick streak from one corner of her lip down her jaw and into the white starched collar of her silk suit. She extended the golden tube toward the driver and mashed the remainder of the purple stick into the driver’s ear. 

“Get off Mary, what you do that for?” 

“You call yourself a driver?” She snarled. “What do I pay you for?” 

“You ever tried to drive with a wooden leg, you bracket faced wench?” The car lurched forward again. “Me stump keeps sliding off the pedal.” 

Mary pulled a packet of moist towelettes from her purse and began wiping the lipstick from her throat and chin with one hand while reaching for the green and yellow thing with the other. 

“Come to mama darling,” she said in the same oozy voice she had used the first time I heard her in my kitchen.  The green and yellow thing hopped from the dash to her hand and for the first time I saw it was a parrot. The parrot jumped from her hand, up her arm to her shoulder where it perched with its back to the front staring at me. _


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## Chessie (Nov 5, 2016)

Today is double-word count day, so my goal is 3400. So far I'm at 460. We'll see if I actually get there although it might take me all freaking day.


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## Tom (Nov 5, 2016)

Let's see if I can get to 2500 today!


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## Fluffypoodel (Nov 5, 2016)

Wrote almost 3k today! could have pushed out the extra 80 or so words but I really like the place i ended at here. Hope to do the same tomorrow!


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 5, 2016)

@ Thinker X: Here's my issue with finishing things:

Book 1-Untitled, first draft--should never see the light of day

Book 2-Untitled, first draft--should never see the light of day

Book 3-Untitled, first draft--should never see the light of day

Book 4-The Silk Scarf/ Unseen Wisdom--First draft edited slightly, needs full rewrite, about 100k words

Book 5-The Satin Dress/ Unspoken Truth--Lost handwritten copy, needs full rewrite, about 100k words

Book 6-The Velvet Slipper/Unwritten Words--Outline only, needs full write, about 100k words

Book 7-Sayan Soul--Rewriting now, editing to completion, 150k+ words

Book 8-Dragon's Blood--Needs rewrite, 200k words

Book 9-Spirit's Shadow--Needs first draft finished and editing, 150k+ words

Book 10-Warrior's Heart--Needs complete rewrite and editing, 150k words


Then...

Dressed in Red--prequel to a novel I finished, needs first draft finished, 100k words

Written in Red--needs thorough edit, 150k+ words

Something else in Red--needs to be written to complete the trilogy, 100k+ words


And...

Novella:Overwound--needs first draft finished, 50-80k words

Novella:Villainous Princess (working title)--needs first draft finished, 50-80k words

Novel:Anamnesis needs research and first draft finished, 100k words


So...yeah, it sort of sucks trying to do epic adventures that all go together, because how can I just pick book 7 and say, "Oh, this one's worth submitting to an agent," if I have stories that come before it and after it? So tricky. So, for right now, I'm going to finish Sayan Soul, and then I'll decide what's next most important to work on and devote time to. Another major concern I have is that some of the novels are very adult in nature, while others are sort of fun adventures with lower key love stories. So...I worry fans of one won't like some others. I'm not quite sure how to overcome that problem or whether it is in fact a problem at all. 

Ah, so time to get writing today. I had a pretty good day yesterday (as far as word count), but I left things pretty raw and know I need to go back at some point and jazz those up more than a little.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 5, 2016)

Got around 500 words today. Did not finish a chapter. Got one started though and now it's introduced and under way it should be smoother sailing tomorrow.


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## Tom (Nov 5, 2016)

609 words today. Bleh. Today turned out to be less productive than I thought--leftover homework ate more time than expected. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get a lot more written.


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## Chessie (Nov 5, 2016)

So exactly 1800 for today, putting me at 9590. I seriously struggled through that. Everything written was crap until probably the last 3 paragraphs.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 5, 2016)

yeah, Chesterama, I hear that! I'm not doing great with what I'm writing, but every day I go backward a little and change things to get a run-up for the next. Just keep going!


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## ThinkerX (Nov 6, 2016)

> So...yeah, it sort of sucks trying to do epic adventures that all go together, because how can I just pick book 7 and say, "Oh, this one's worth submitting to an agent," if I have stories that come before it and after it? So tricky. So, for right now, I'm going to finish Sayan Soul, and then I'll decide what's next most important to work on and devote time to. Another major concern I have is that some of the novels are very adult in nature, while others are sort of fun adventures with lower key love stories. So...I worry fans of one won't like some others. I'm not quite sure how to overcome that problem or whether it is in fact a problem at all.



A rule of thumb I developed or picked up and decided to adhere to:

'Do not publish or submit for publishing the first book in a series until you have at least a rough draft of the last book.'

Which is why I am tapping away at the rough draft for 'Novella 6' in the 'Empire' series rather than polishing the last draft of the Novella 1.

Another rule of sorts, adopted from carpentry of all things.  (I have done a fair amount of construction through the decades).

'If the foundation is half an inch out of square, you will fight that half inch all the way to the attic.'

Or in writer terms, if the first tome in your series is flawed, you will fight that flaw through the remainder of the series.

I said earlier it took me a long time to get the core characters right for the 'Empire' series.  Yes, I wrote the second novella a little over a year and a half ago, when their characters began to crystalize.  But the first draft of the first novella was written three years prior to that.  That was how long it took me to get the foundation squared - and its still not quite right.  

Caged, I have read a fair bit of your work - both short stories and excerpts from your novels.  Without intending offence, two things have stood out:

First, your writing could stand a tighter focus.  I noted multiple asides and unneeded deviations.

Second, you seem to use about twice the words needed to get the main point across.


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## Gribba (Nov 6, 2016)

2160 words today, so far so good. 

Excerpt from my current writing: 
I know now, that my mother was not in a good place when I was little and she definitely needed some help but I also know now, that as a child, I took the anger and the mean words and the loathing she had for me as one sign, she did not love me, did not want me and I was nothing to her. 
She did care and she did show love, as well, but often with conditions, not all the time, but with time those tended to get lost in the mess of things, I was receiving. Believing she loved me or cared for me, was like believing that there was, this big guy, in the sky, all knowing and all that, one can hope but I don't believe in bullshit, so it was a no brainer for me. 

She had a tendency to tell me that I would end up like my father, the man that was an alcoholic and drug user, the man that she only spoke unkind and mean words about, that did make my future look somewhat grim. 
The words she often had for me were unkind and my little heart, early on, was shattered into pieces. 
Being bullied in school was no less brutal, as my heart was already fragile. 
One day, few of the girls from my class, had opened the window so the boys could look into the showers and they did not warn me, that moment when I see the boys looking at me in the shower and the girls laughing, shattered the remaining parts that had held together. It broke me to pieces, the realization, ‘Why would anyone ever like me, why would they be kind to me, if my own mother can't even love me’, that is what followed me for so many years. That day when I came home, broken, crying and humiliated, my mother burst into the school ready to tear any head off that said a wrong word to her but at that point, I was so broken, that I was unable to see her action as something of value.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 6, 2016)

Calling it at 1200 words for the night, 4700 total.

Finished Chapter 2 and started on Chapter 3.

Tomorrows goal - a bit of a marathon stretch, but maybe doable since its my day off - finish Chapter 3, which I expect to top 5000 words.  (A Rebecca Chapter.  First four books her chapters were few and short.  Now, they're almost novelettes in their own right.)   Had to dig into some of my oldest extant notes for background info for this chapter.


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## SherwoodViking (Nov 6, 2016)

Since the start of NaNoWriMo, I have written a little over 300 and am feeling unmotivated and uninspired. :/
Anybody else feel or have felt this way? If so, any advice?


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 6, 2016)

@ Thinker X I don't take it as an insult. I agree I use a lot of words. My goal in this rewrite is to make each word count. I don't think I can fight the impulse to tangent, but I can at least make those moments mean something, which is what i'm trying to do now. I suppose my ultimate goal is to write books like Scott Lynch, who I only discovered last year. I've been trying to write that style for years, but never pulled it off. It isn't a style everyone will want to read, but every book I've ever loved has fallen more in the "Lies of Locke Lamora" category than the LOTR category, so while I began with epic things, I've scaled that way back to instead focus on characters and their lives and personal struggles. Yeah, not for everyone, but definitely for me! HA!


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## Heliotrope (Nov 6, 2016)

So I haven't done any writing this weekend, as per my promise to my husband who still needs to have his wife around a little bit. But, what I was able to do this weekend was flesh out some character bios. I have introduced three side characters in my manuscript that I think could play very important roles later on and I wanted to explore them a bit more. It was very helpful and I'm so excited to keep moving forward to surprise my reader when's these characters make another entrance in unexpected ways


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 6, 2016)

Today: 670 words
Total: 9,850 words.

The evening's writing session came with some interesting distractions, which is something I'll have to learn to deal with.
The new chapter is still not done, but it's getting there.
I'm probably doing too much mood-building and it will be a bit dull to read (like, seriously turbo-dull), but that's something I can fix in editing.


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## Fluffypoodel (Nov 6, 2016)

Came close to a 3k day. I could have pushed it through but the chapter ended... Probably a good thing cause that gives me time to actually plan out what is going to happen next! 14,372 total!


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## Tom (Nov 6, 2016)

I am staggered. Astounded. Today I managed to write over 5K words. Most of it was notes, but still...that's pretty impressive. I had a notebook page full of short notes for Southerner that needed to be expanded on and worked out, so I decided to count it as part of my NaNo project.


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## Chessie (Nov 6, 2016)

1901 today. I could've kept going but I'm in a place where brainstorming is essential so I don't get stuck. So I'll just work on that tonight so writing will go more smoothly in the morning.


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## Garren Jacobsen (Nov 7, 2016)

2149 for today.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 7, 2016)

I might tap away some more later tonight, but for now I'm calling it at 2500 words (a lot for me) and 7200 words total.

Only about halfway through Chapter three, which almost reads like a freaking AD&D dungeon crawl.   Oh well, Tolkien, Feist, and Erikson all had somewhat similar episodes in their epics, so I guess its acceptable...


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 7, 2016)

the smilies don't appear to be working. I'm ready for bed. Great job everyone. I almost made my 10k words. Just shy. See you tomorrow!




> A deep voice said, “I was wondering if I might ask a favor of you.”
> 
> “Yes, my darling,” Raisa purred, spinning in her chair. “What is it?”
> 
> ...


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## Heliotrope (Nov 7, 2016)

Gah! Here's the thing, it's easy to write 1700 words. I can do it in half an hour if I want to. But they are crappy words. The next day I realize why they are crappy and I end up having to go back and rewrite all 1700 words. For me it is a constant struggle of two steps forward one step back. So I'll write my 1700 words, but then the next day I have to rewrite them plus add another 1700 words... 

Exhausting. 

However, I'm telling myself it's just for four weeks...

It's just for four weeks.


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## Chessie (Nov 7, 2016)

May I suggest something, milady? How about leaving yourself a trail of notes on what to fix later after NaNo ends? Don 't stress yourself out with perfection when getting the words down is the main objective. It's hard not to edit yes, but it shouldn't come at the cost of fun, don't you think?


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## Gribba (Nov 7, 2016)

Yes, totally agree with Chesterama!!! 
So no words for me, I am out sick atm...


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## Heliotrope (Nov 7, 2016)

Yeah, it's not so much about editing as much as it is about actual plot ideas which would then lead the story into a much more interesting direction. I hear you on editing stuff, and yes, if it is not going to change the direction of the next scene then I do leave that stuff for later... but when it comes to large ideas when Im trying to do my 1700 words fast I write the first thing I think of, and then a day or two later I'm all "Oh snap... this new idea would have been waaaaaaay better." So then I have to fix it or it is like a domino effect on the rest of the story. 

Does that make sense?


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## Chessie (Nov 7, 2016)

Yes! It does! I see the main goal of a first draft as the story's skeleton. I want to get as much right as possible. So what helps me to continue going (and this is not just a NaNoWriMo thing, it's how I work), I just highlight notes on the actual manuscript and have a master list of things to change later. 

For example, I decided to simplify a lot of things in Ludmila's story. It's a good thing I'm only in the beginning of chapter 3 because the notes look something like this:

*change Elya and Ludmila's relationship to co-workers, he's interested but they aren't together yet*
*change season from winter to summer*
*magical attack in forest needs a clearer narrator description*

And etc, all highlighted and written in bold to make them easier to see. And then I just keep working with the new information in my head and a starting point of when things change. So at the top of chapter 3 it says: **the season is summer, change all above** and then I write the narrative with summer as the main season, still putting in the basic structure of the story.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 7, 2016)

Today: 740 words.
Total: 10,500 words

Finished chapter 7, which was a bit of a sleeper. It picked up at the end though and hopefully there will be a bit higher pace in the next one.


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## Fluffypoodel (Nov 7, 2016)

Written everyday for a week! haven't been able to say I've done that in a while. Great Job on the word counts everyone! Keep up the great work!


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## Chessie (Nov 7, 2016)

So far today I'm at 1,227. I don't want to keep going...I really, really need to flesh the next two scenes out because they're pretty important. I know what happens and have the events in my head, but I'd like to get the imagery as close to right as possible. So I'm sitting down to do brainstorm and then will return to writing in the morning. This is where Ludmila meets Baba Yaga for the first time and gets held there for a few days. The love interest is also there because he's one of the witch's horsemen...so this needs to be a well thought out couple of scenes.

EDIT: I just want to share what a blast I'm having writing this story. I'm still following my outline but have had some good ideas come to me while writing. Hopefully I can make this joyride last until 75k. The revision process won't be easy for the first 3 chapters on the minimum, but at least it's not the entire manuscript this time. 

This is my first time rewriting a fairytale and I really hope to do it justice (but probably won't ehhh). I took out all of the reincarnation/eternal love bull crap and simplified many things and now I'm obsessed with this story. The possibilities are endless.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 7, 2016)

I wrote about 1500 again today, so keeping in line with my average. I'm a little below the target mark, but i'm sure I can get things rolling faster as I get back into writing every day. I mean, after three months off, this feels like light speed. 



> Entering from the alleyway, Raisa was surprised to see Cherie. “What are you doing in the parlor?” she asked.
> 
> “Having my breakfast,” Cherie answered, nibbling a muffin.
> 
> ...


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## Tom (Nov 7, 2016)

2931 words today, most of it notes (again). This is actually working for me. When I get stuck on the story I'll just switch over to notes.


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## Heliotrope (Nov 7, 2016)

4900 words today  I caught up from taking the weekend off. Good thing my daughter had a super long nap lol.


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## Nimue (Nov 7, 2016)

I'm squeaking by on my goals.  And at the same time, _somehow, mysteriously_ have the words & energy to write _twice_ as much on my stupid daydream story.  (Before anyone thinks that might be impressive, I've only added 8.8k combined to the two stories this month.  I set the bar low and I keep running into it.)

It's just incredibly frustrating that my only consistent motivation is writing for my own goddamn entertainment.  An awful motivation.  A good book comes along and I'm uninterested.  At least this way I'm still making some progress on my main WIP, but still...

Here, I'll barf up bits of each to illustrate why it's such a stupid idea to bounce between these stories... Not edited.  Probably makes no sense.  But the f*cking tone!



Spoiler: stilted nonsense



He took a moment to speak. “I know nothing of any laws of witchcraft.  This I know: that my father, thane of Tirannon, was cursed at the equinox, and has lain bedridden this past month, without strength or wits.”

Sabhenna knew what the accusation would be before it was made, and fear came coursing back into her throat.  It did not matter that this news surprised her, that she had never laid eyes or hands upon the thane–it did not matter, to men who knew nothing of magic’s working.

“You were there when he fell,” he went on, his voice deep and relentless.  “You were the last of that isle, sorceress or witch.  And when we discovered you in the tower, you had cast some spell–a circle around you, and a cup of some potion.”

“That!” Her incredulity cut through the rising fog of despair.  “That was nothing but salt and bay leaves.”  As the men glanced at each other again, she shook her head.  “For protection, all that I could manage, against the storm of black magic Maelach was raising…”  She swallowed the foul taste of his name on her tongue, and tried to see a way forward. “Something you might sweep away does not have the power to carry a curse over days or sennights.  For this, if it is true, if this has outlasted Maelach’s death…  It would be bound into a powerful vessel.”

“We have searched every corner of that ruin, and burned whatever would catch.”  Lothar regarded her, his eyes like a wolf’s under those dark brows.  “There is nothing left there of the sorcerer’s craft.”

“There were…  There are hidden chambers in the ruin,” Sabhenna said softly.  She had not wanted to think of that place again, much less speak of it.  “Shut by magic, opened only by it.  Ancient magic, anchored in the stones themselves, that would remain through fire and wind and rain.”  She closed her eyes for a scant moment before caution pulled them open again.  “I know nothing of this curse, if that is what it is.  What do you ask of me?  Could it not be a mortal illness that has taken the thane?”

Delusion in the face of a loved one’s mortality she had seen before.  Though, by all accounts, if Thane Cathair was truly loved by any under his rule, it would surprise her.

“He fell in the attack on the sorcerer.  It was sudden and complete.  He has not been able to stand or speak more than a few words since,” Lothar said shortly.

“This is very like a fit or seizure,” Sabhenna said, frowning.  “Which can take away the faculties of mind and body in a moment.”

“He has recovered nothing, as the physicians thought he might,” Lothar replied, with impatience in his voice for the first time. “And whole words he speaks, clear and meaningful, until something grips him and seems to drown him again.”

Sabhenna was silent.  If he was convinced of this, how could the word of a witch sway him?  It was simpler, as so many had done, to burn the witch and turn to hunt for another when the curse did not lift with her murder.





Spoiler: chatty nonsense



The detector came free of its protective wrappings as Daichi pulled it out, and bent to fasten a loose wire.  Ai knelt beside it, tucking her feet under her, and touched one of the connector plates, looking into the dark sphere on top, the cryptic glimmers of metal underneath the glass.  “Can I?” she asked, glancing up at him.  

There was a small pause, in which she saw him doing calculations of the possibilities.  Now that was familiar.  “Go ahead,” he said, easily enough.

She let out a deep breath, pressing the air from her lungs, and let her eyelids close.  Just a sliver of power, first, spilling from her fingers into the machine.  The wires drew it in at once, siphoned up into the glass sphere like a fountain.  Slowly she poured more into it, pushing into the nooks and crannies of the construct.  The workings of it were a mystery, but she felt the shape of the parts as her magic illuminated them, the wholeness of the pattern once it was filled.  And it felt good, so good, to be releasing some of the power that prickled at her head and her nerves.  Her breathing grew calm and steady.

When she opened her eyes at last, the sphere was glowing like a silver moon on its pedestal of wires.  Every part of the construct was alive and flowing sweetly.

“Beautiful,” Daichi said, putting a hand on the glass like a father feeling a child’s temperature.  Warmth spread over Ai’s cheeks; she bowed her head to examine one of the control panels.

“How do you work it?”

“On the output end, it’s nothing complicated,” he said, circling the construct.  “Any dark impulses sensed by the energy field are mirrored here, in the screen.”

“How far out can it sense?”

“About ten leagues, so almost all the city.”  There was a distinct tinge of pride in his voice, but he followed it with doubt.  “We think so, at least.  The problem remains that it might be picking up other things, like foreign magic, burial land, or any number of anomalies in the earth’s magical field.  We needed to be able to run it longer, get a more stable signal, and isolate what we’re seeing against reported events…”

Her eyelids fluttered shut for a moment as she investigated the construct’s insides, not by vision but by the light of her magic.  “There’s a power coil in here, isn’t there.  May I fill it?”

Daichi’s eyebrows lifted.  “If you want to.  It’s much larger than the standard, though--don’t stretch yourself.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Ai murmured.

A minute and a flood of magic later, she pulled her hands back and stretched, cracking her shoulders and her neck.  Now there was a relief.  She felt pleasantly tired, body warm as though she’d just run some distance.  Why couldn’t the Sage’s exercises ask only power from her, not concentration?

“Done?”  Daichi peered at the energy indicator, and seeing the white line glowing at its fullest, shook his head.  “That would put anyone else flat on their back, Inoue, you know that.”

“Oh, I know.” She smiled at him.

He gave a breathy chuckle, but his brow clouded as he stared at something on the other side of the sphere.  “Come look at this.”

She obeyed, rubbing the stiffness from her legs as she did.  Under the glass screen, there was a small dark point in the luminous field of magic, pulsing softly outwards every few moments.  Ai’s heart skipped a beat.

“There is something,” she whispered.

Daichi looked askance at her inflection, but didn’t hesitate to go on. “It might be something else, as I said, but that… that’s likely.  Stable, too.  We were having extraordinary problems keeping the signal from going out, the location jumping madly, but this is really clear.  I think...your magic responds unusually well to the polarization, and may just be more sensitive…”

Ai propped her chin on her hand and regarded him.  “Are you trying to tell me, Chief Artisan, that the divine magic of a Sacred Mage reacts against dark energies?” she said, dryly.  “Can it really be?”

He laughed.  “Well, of course, I just never thought of that in terms of the project.”  With a moment’s thought, he coughed and added, “Not that if I had, I would have asked for your power, that seems…”

“This is a thousand times more useful than any of the bloody ceremonies they have me doing,” Ai muttered.  “How long will that coil last?”

“With continuous power?  About a week.”  The glance he snuck at her was unmistakably hopeful, though Ai pretended not to notice.

“I’ll come back then, and ring me if it dies sooner.”

“That’s very good of you, Inoue.”

“It really isn’t,” Ai sighed, and looked down at the tiny ink-spot of darkness.  “Can you tell where this is coming from?  Where in the City, I mean?” she asked, a little recklessly.

But Daichi was too caught up in the construct’s success to suspect her motives.  He grabbed a connecting wire and fastened it into a port by the door, impatiently tapping on a tech screen embedded in the wall to wake it up.  After a few moments he had an aerial map of the City and was wrangling the signal from the detector.  Ai stared intently over his shoulder.  At last he had it narrowed down to a few streets in the Jiongpan neighborhood, that Ai did her best to memorize.  The blot of darkness rippled over the still image of roofs and paved courtyards like a thundercloud.  “The location doesn’t mean much to me.  But if there turns out to be a sorcerer there…”  Daichi stroked the day’s worth of stubble on his chin.  “It’s a data point.  And if we run this for a while, cross-check it with the City reports, we should have enough to prove that this is dark energy we’re looking at.”  His eyes were alight.  “The Guard would be interested in that.”

“I imagine so,” Ai said evenly.  “In due time, tha could prove very useful.”

--

An hour later she stood on a temple roof overlooking Jiongpan, her heart pounding triumphantly.



Sorry those are so long.  Twice as much of the indulgent story, appropriately enough.  Probably taking the "confessional" part of this thread too seriously, but I can't do a single thing right.  Better to be writing than to be not writing, I suppose.  If I could just not be so distracted for two ****ing seconds of my life...


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## Heliotrope (Nov 7, 2016)

I'm just wondering, Nim, why do you consider it an indulgent story? Why don't you write the story you want to write instead of forcing yourself to write the one you think is 'better' but not nearly as interesting for you? 

If it is interesting for you don't you think it would be interesting to other people too? I thought it was fascinating.

PS: Your unedited writing is better than my finished draft writing. I don't even use words like _incredulous._


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## ThinkerX (Nov 8, 2016)

Daylight Savings Time left me wiped today.  Still, I managed another 1600 words on Chapter three, 8800 total.  Dang thing really is reading like an AD&D module.  Todays scene included zombies.  Gah!


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 8, 2016)

Nimue, don't hate me...but I read the name as Cat-hair. Not that my troubled brain need be any indicator of anything, but could you change it a little to Ca'thair, or Cathaire? Just some suggestions. 

BTW, love Lothar as a name. And I liked the "that was just salt and bay leaves" bit. So funny. I'm writing about a woman with witch powers right now, too. 

Thanks for sharing! I really loved the first segment you posted. It felt like a naturally tense moment that I felt like I understood right away.


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## Ireth (Nov 8, 2016)

I'm struggling to write my villain's interaction with the MC's parents. He's turned out to be unexpectedly cordial, at least when not dealing directly with the MC herself. I suppose it ought to be par for the course given he's a deacon, but it still feels strange after writing him physically and emotionally abusing my MC. And he's currently searching for her (and her girlfriend) in her parents' house. This is a weird scene. I might end up cutting it later; it's just not jumping off the page for me. For now though, I need the wordcount.


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## Thomas Laszlo (Nov 8, 2016)

I'm at 379 words... I would blame it on school but excuses are excuses. I just have been tired and decided not to write which is horrible.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 8, 2016)

I went and wrote a blog post about the signature songs of my main character: Soundtrack for a Frozen Soul ? s v r t n s s e

This is one of my favorite parts of setting up a story, but because reasons I hadn't gotten around to it until now. For a long time I had only two songs picked out, but then the other day I put a bit of effort into it and finally get all five selected. Technically, it's nearly 800 words written for that post (work was really slow today).

It's fascinating how much quicker it is to write random ramblings like that than actually story content.


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## Nimue (Nov 8, 2016)

Heliotrope said:


> I'm just wondering, Nim, why do you consider it an indulgent story? Why don't you write the story you want to write instead of forcing yourself to write the one you think is 'better' but not nearly as interesting for you?
> 
> If it is interesting for you don't you think it would be interesting to other people too? I thought it was fascinating.



It isn't that I'm not interested in my main story--if anything, I'm too interested, too invested, that I need every line and snippet to be good (against all odds).

I think it's so much easier to write the dumb story because it's never going to be read by anyone.  (Which differs from the other story how? /snark) You can't get more low-pressure and comfort-foody than a 3-year-old google doc about 9-year-old characters that I throw words at only when I feel like doing so.  And with that dumb story, I can skip exposition because the intended audience (me) already knows what's happening, gloss over the plot and action (really) and go straight to scene after scene of dissecting the main characters' emotional struggles and giving them Significant conversations with each other.  Yes, that's what constitutes a juicy bit for me, okay.

In that light I guess it isn't surprising that I fled to the google doc story when the neon light of "NOVEMBER" flashed on.  Low pressure, high pressure, etc.  But it's frustrating because 8.8k in a week is among the best rates I've ever been able to do, and if I had done that on my main project alone, I'd be ecstatic.

Hopefully I'll be able to shift that balance after I come unstuck on a vague travel portion (my nemesis!) of my main story and get into some really meaty scenes that I've been looking forward to for a while.  Trying to steer myself away from the pissy mood.  Writer's group NaNo write-in edition is tonight, so hopefully that will help.

Anyway.  Thank you Helio and also CM for your words of encouragement (and yes for sure, CM, the Cat-hair issue did occur to me--I also named a guy Searchas? This is the problem with naming on the fly.  60% of my names are fluid atm).  You guys are a couple of cinnamon roll moms.


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## Ireth (Nov 8, 2016)

My villain is either acting wildly out of character or exposing a legitimately sympathetic side I didn't know he had. I can't tell which, and it's kinda baffling, because either way would drastically change the rest of my story.


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## Heliotrope (Nov 8, 2016)

Did my 1700 words today  Yay! I'm so happy with my progress.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 8, 2016)

Added 700 words to the story as well. Don't know the total. Then I went to have a few pints with my old boss who's leaving for the states and had a few pints. Now it's technically a new day - since 15 minutes. I'm dragged my laptop over to the bed and will try to add a little bit more to the story. 
It's cold as a really cold thing in here and I don't have the heating on because I'm cheap like that. I'm freezing my toes off.

Gonna take advantage of being a bit woozy and try and tap some words out. Hopefully I won't feel forced to delete all of them tomorrow morning.


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## Chessie (Nov 8, 2016)

Today's total is 2,650 bringing me to 15,506. I'm still in chapter 3 but things are speeding up now. Ludmila has been taken captive by the witch Baba Yaga for stealing an important herb from her garden in the woods. She's being held in Baba's hut for 3 days doing a variety of chores and tasks as payment for her crime. If she tries to leave then the horsemen are ordered to kill her. Lucky enough for Ludmila, the Horseman Of Bright Day (the love interest) is assigned to guard her. Of course she misbehaves and tries to escape. Nothing like real tension to add on to sexual chemistry, eh? 

And now I better go before my husband divorces me...


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## Tom (Nov 8, 2016)

2018! Aeyu and Miekkhal have established a wary respect for each other that I didn't expect them to have. In the first drafts, they simply hated each other.


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## Gribba (Nov 8, 2016)

3962 words today... jeii...


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## Ireth (Nov 8, 2016)

1652 words today, once again just squeaking past par. Hopefully my numbers will improve during the weekends. But hey, at least I'm on track!


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## ThinkerX (Nov 9, 2016)

Long day today.  Let myself get distracted by election news after I made it home, which didn't help.  Still: 900 words tonight.  Still not finished with Chapter three.

But tomorrow looks to be even longer.  Maybe I can make ground again Friday.


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## Gribba (Nov 9, 2016)

added some 1199 words while letting the TV run in the background, to find out who would be the next president in USA.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 9, 2016)

I'm forcing myself to do something really uncomfortable, so I can keep up my nano progress...I'm skipping ahead. Oh, and it makes me feel dirty.

I have the skeleton for a chapter in place, but it's a first draft and not the quality I want to see out of this edit. But I can't spend more time staring at it, hoping inspiration will suddenly strike me. It's not horrible as it is, but it's a bit ragged around the edges. So, I'm moving on. I'm going to write another scene today, one that i'm really excited about. this, I've learned from nanos past, where I let a tricky scene get me stuck, and then I fell too far behind in the word counts, and had to finish with four 5k word days. Don't like being in that position, so i'm trying a new tactic that's really horrible for me. I get guilty feelings if I don't fix things up pretty, so hopefully I can stick with this and just get the work done, and come back and dress things up in a few days or weeks.

:eek2:



> “How is your new ship coming along, Lion?” Strange asked.
> 
> “Almost done.”
> 
> ...


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## SeverinR (Nov 9, 2016)

Ireth said:


> My villain is either acting wildly out of character or exposing a legitimately sympathetic side I didn't know he had. I can't tell which, and it's kinda baffling, because either way would drastically change the rest of my story.



Doesn't matter go with it. It'll all work out in editing. Treated 10 times worse in the states...(Oh, sorry, that's what you say when you drop, kick, or run over a box when you work supply in the military) Just go! Go! Go!

lol

1900 words and holding. Hopefully more time to write over the weekend.

Charge! Write it, Write it.  (ok, not really this gung-ho, but trying.)


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## Chessie (Nov 9, 2016)

Since it's imperative I stay off Facebook for a few days because otherwise I'll snap...think I'll be getting a lot of writing done. Made it short of ~350 words shy of 3k last night and got politically distracted. SO...today I'm aiming for 3k. I have the next couple of scenes fleshed out pretty well so hopefully this will help immensely. Also got the concept art cover for this story back and it's pumped some new life into me. I've got to get this book to good. It won't happen during NaNo, but if I lay the right foundation down now then revisions will be easier. Go!


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 9, 2016)

I did not manage to stay of FB. Managed roughly 2k words for a total of 13.5k words. Shortened down a long and complicated conversation into a handful of paragraphs about someone serving hot water to two silent men.

Now sleep.


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## Tom (Nov 9, 2016)

1730 words. I am so tired today, but I managed to power through.


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## Chessie (Nov 10, 2016)

Made it 1,604 today. I wanted to do more but I've been nursing my sick husband.  My words were crap. Absolute utter crap. But they're there. And I'll care about it later. Building the foundation is my only goal for now.


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## Heliotrope (Nov 10, 2016)

Not me. I worked for three solid hours on trying to get chapter 7 right... but didn't add any new words. I added alot of new words lol... but nothing to add to my total.


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## Gribba (Nov 10, 2016)

2835 words today...


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## ThinkerX (Nov 10, 2016)

1700 words tonight, 11400 total.  Finished chapter three, which is 7080 words in its own right.  (Or maybe not.  There is another scene or three I am considering adding.)

The NaNo counter says I should finish December 10th, but at this point the final word count is a guess.  (45,000? 55,000?  Somewhere in there.)  Could be higher, could be lower, or I could lose my motivation and quit.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 10, 2016)

Got about 1800 words today, which is just slightly more than half of what I'd hoped for. 

I did start on a new and interesting event though and we finally get to encounter the main character of the story again - for the first time since the beginning. Also, exploring the art of shamanism in my setting from a practical point of view which is something I've not had the opportunity to do before. 

Total word counts (finished chapters) 14.5k


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 10, 2016)

I'm working, but still a couple thousand words shy of the goal. Hopefully I can make up ground. Honestly, this is as close to the daily word count goal as i've ever come. Usually, I have to finish out with a few 5k word days to win. I guess, then, I'm actually doing all right! 



> Eyes wild, Aunt Maeve dashed from the house, in about the fastest run an arthritic old woman could manage. She carried her skirts up above her knees, and on bare feet she hobbled to a stone slab set near the tree line. She called it her altar, but Raisa suspected it was a natural formation, something uncovered by whomever built the little stone cottage. Too big to move and too beautiful to break, perhaps.
> 
> Aunt Maeve kneeled at her altar and with a knife she must have grabbed on her way out the door, she cut the tops of her fingers. Just above the nails. All four on her left hand.
> 
> ...


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## Ireth (Nov 10, 2016)

I like the excerpt, CM. Makes me wonder what's going on and what's gonna happen. But the hurt-hand-to-get-blood trope has always bothered me, to be honest. Injuries to all four fingers, especially with blades, would hurt a LOT, regardless of whether or not they'd scar. (Take it from someone who hurt both pinkies at once thanks to the Blizzard mixer at Dairy Queen during her last summer job.) Fingers and hands have a ton of nerve endings in them; that's why we have nail beds (which are the pink bits under your protruding fingernail. Not to be confused with the cuticle, which is the dead skin right at the base of the bed). Are these characters going to have trouble using their hands afterward? They might be better off cutting the back of their arm or something.


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## Chessie (Nov 10, 2016)

The Blizzard Mixer? Oh, you poor thing.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 10, 2016)

I was a cutter, and when I wanted blood, I cut my fingers the same way as in the book. So...while I agree, slicing a hand is silly, I've had plenty of cuts on my arms and hands (with razor blades) and arms don't bleed like fingers, and you have to do a lot more damage, and fingers take longer to clot, so for the sake of a small wound, you get a lot more bang for your buck. Which I realize makes me sound sick, but it was a long time ago, and I was a troubled teen.


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## Chessie (Nov 10, 2016)

Is it okay for me to have a day where I just don't care? Because that's today. I've fought with some friends, having a bad day, and I haven't seen the sun in close to a week. Winter in Alaska is deeply dark and I'm feeling a bit moody. So I only wrote 1065, which is ok because I'm still set to finish 2 days early. My husband has also been sick and it's hard writing when I feel that he needs me. 

Since I haven't shared a slice of my work, here it is raw and unedited:



Spoiler: Excerpt



_ 

White light glowed underneath his palm, brightening up the dimly lit cellar. She felt the immediate surge of magic seep into her body, warm and alive, healing the burned tissues of her skin, evaporating the pain, and even causing her cheeks to tingle. She closed her eyes for a moment, basking in the warmth of his care, losing herself in the scent of his musk and the richness of his energy so close to her. Intoxicating. Nothing like any Mirovinian healing she had ever experienced and far from the shamanic traditions of the indigenous Tsy. 

Ludmila decided that Sergei was purely magical and she needed to learn whatever it was that he knew, or find out how he had ended up a ward of the witch. He couldn’t be of this world, however. Not at all.

When he removed his hand only two golden letters remained imprinted in her flesh, the furious rashes gone. Her skin was smooth, milky in its natural tone, although the branding concerned her.

“Will she always know where I am?” she asked, rubbing her wrist in partial disbelief at the power of his healing touch.

“Baba knows everything,” he responded, and took back her arm in order to wrap gauze around the letters. “Do her bidding and she’ll release you. Disobey and not even I will be able to save you.”

“Hmm…” 

Ludmila groaned in delicious relief. She was drunk on his beauty, drawn to his power. All of her life she had been surrounded by magic, by healers, by potions and alchemical formulas that cured diseases and poisoned enemies. But the instant nature of his skill called to the part of her which craved deep magical knowledge and recognition as a master. She needed for him to teach her how he worked, how he healed more effectively than any mage she had ever known. 


_


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 10, 2016)

So the fire alarm went off in my building and didn't get shut off for half an hour and now it's two hours later and I still can't sleep and I'm getting up fro work in three hours.

I realized I haven't shared any of my story here yet. Here's a sample:


Spoiler: Kala Is Alone - Chapter 8 (snippet)



So Kala went home and everyone else went up on the hill where the village lit its fires.

And as it burned — wood and flesh — the villagers sang and remembered. A song not unlike wolves’. Slow and sad. Loud and lonely. A song to soar above the ice and snow. A beacon of sound to guide the leaving soul towards the stars.

It was a good fire.

It’s what the village needed. They’d had a tough start of the winter. Death, madness, and suspicion. The fire helped. There’s nothing quite like standing around a big fire in the dark of winter howling at your fears and your sorrows with your close ones.

You just stand there, and the flames warm your face, and perhaps you hold someone’s hand or you cradle your daughter in your arms or you lean on your brother’s shoulder — and you’re part of something that’s bigger than yourself and your family and old as time itself.

Or you can lock yourself up in your house alone.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 10, 2016)

Chesterama said:


> Is it okay for me to have a day where I just don't care?



Yes. Gives me a chance to catch up.


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## Chessie (Nov 10, 2016)

Svrtnsse said:


> Yes. Gives me a chance to catch up.



Heh. Come at me bro!


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## visually_alert (Nov 10, 2016)

Caged Maiden said:


> Nothing fancy, but here's what I'm working on. My character is about to wake up in a field, naked. Some kids found her:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ok, you've hooked me  I'm new to this forum but I read through this and I'd keep right on reading.  Thank you for sharing that. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


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## Heliotrope (Nov 10, 2016)

Yay! A decent working draft for chapter seven is done. I lost some time the past couple days  trying to get that together, but I just couldn't move on until I got all the working peices in order. 

Now ready to move on to Eight 

_“Enough fairy tales.” He grunted. “You really want to know what’s happening? You want to see the truth? You want to find your pa?” He turned from us, his heavy boots a dull echo on the cracking wooden deck. When he reached a ladder at the far end of the railing Bastion shook his head. 

“She isn’t ready Teach.” 

“They’ll all be lost before she’s ready.” Teach spat, “And so will you.” Bastion didn’t respond. Instead he sucked in his cheeks like was trying to hold is tongue. Finally he muttered, 

“Don’t go with him Andy, you’ll only get yourself caught.” 

Teach looked up through bushy eyebrows and took a deep breath. 

“Better caught than dead."_


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## ThinkerX (Nov 11, 2016)

1200 words so far tonight, 12600 total.  Might add a few hundred later on.  Or I might not.  Added three scenes and a thousand words to Chapter three (8100 words!)  Got started on Chapter Four.  I have tomorrow off, and chapter four shouldn't be that long, so maybe I can get that pounded out. 

Guess I'll jump into the excerpt thing.  A sort of scene setting street scene. Warning, it might be a tad un-PC.



> And with that Rebecca and Barry were bundled off the Seeker with half their coin (thirty-two dinar and change) and following vague directions through narrow cobblestone lanes between grim stone warehouses and decrepit longhouses.  Plump blond-haired women in long dresses and oily youths in fur and leather eyed her as they navigated the streets.
> 
> Their course took them along a wide avenue choked with wains moving east and west.  The eastbound wagons were mostly empty, but heavy barrels smeared with oil from the Porpita Pools west of the city filled the others.
> 
> ...


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## Gribba (Nov 11, 2016)

3135 words today... it is going ok... thanks to you guys, I feel motivated to keep going!


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## Tom (Nov 11, 2016)

Forgot to update my word count yesterday...oops. I was so tired I fell asleep during common hour, and then I had homework in the evening. Maybe today I'll be able to catch up.


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## Ireth (Nov 11, 2016)

Exactly 1667 words yesterday. And I realized I might have to rework most of them, because my idea of werewolf transformations is raising questions I'm not sure how to answer. Hrm.


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## Nimue (Nov 11, 2016)

Haven't written anything since Tuesday, but I'll try again tonight.  Everything seems pointless; the characters and world are made out of wet cardboard.  It's impossible to believe that I'll ever recreate the life & polish of the books I love.

Not sure what the problem is...maybe I need to sharpen the scenes in my mind, figure out what the immediate goals are.  I keep getting pulled out of the story & I want to be pulled in.  Might be wrong about this but it feels like trying to add words & words, go quicker, isn't giving me the time to immerse myself and reflect on the story...much less produce something I'm happy with.  These were supposed to be good, compelling scenes, and I'm not feeling it at all.

**** it.  Stop whining, Nim.  I'll clean house tonight, light some candles, and try again.


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## Chessie (Nov 11, 2016)

Recreating the life and polish of the books you love takes years of practice. Keep at it. Go at a pace that's suitable to you. And also, have you considered some plotting/craft books? They might help you identify some of the problems you're sensing are there but not able to see. I think I suck everyday. In fact, I know I suck but the only way to get better is to practice. That's what all of this is.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 11, 2016)

No new words added to the story.

Friday is RPG night. Me and a few friends play PnP rpg over voicecom. Along with work it doesn't give any time to get into writing. I do keep a record of the events of the play session in a text file, but that's a different story (literally and figuratively). 

What little time I had I used to indulge myself and I went back over yesterday's words and did some tweaks and edits. It feels good to polish the text a little bit. Makes me more confident about putting it out for people to read.


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## Heliotrope (Nov 11, 2016)

Nim, 

I know for a lot of writers the editing and re-drafting phase is not about taking stuff out, it is about clarifying and adding stuff in. One of my critique parterns wrote her novel eight years ago and is the process of rewriting right now. Over the past year she has added four or five entirely new chapters, and just the other day she went back and added almost a thousand words to chapter one. 

Drafts are living document. Expecting them to be perfect during the first round is going to drive you crazy. It is impossible to focus on everything all at once. I know for myself my first drafts are basically just getting the people into a setting and moving them around. Characterization, setting description, all that stuff that makes a world alive and vivid doesn't happen until the structure is there. Sometimes a character will suprise me with something wonderful in chapter five and I have to go back to chapter one to add the new personality trait in. Sometimes a new character will pop up in chapter eight and I realize it would have been better to have them there from chapter two. 

You can't possibly know all the ins and outs of the story until you finish the story. You know that from writing all the short peices you are so wonderful at! 

So please don't get discouraged by a first draft!


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## Tom (Nov 11, 2016)

1936 words today. Incidentally, instead of writing more of the main draft I decided to spend some time on the short story from Miekkhal's POV that I've been working on. I have a very deep affection for my bitter, sarcastic, scholarly, former-slave mage/warrior. I also love writing about the height disparity between him and everyone else (it's only made more hilarious when, in Southerner, they reach the Vazkyrohko city and Tomrin realizes that no, Miekkhal was _not_ lying about being short for a Vazkyrohk--the majority of them stand about six-five to seven feet tall).


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## Heliotrope (Nov 11, 2016)

Did my 1700 words today of mostly dialogue lol. I love when that happens.


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## Chessie (Nov 12, 2016)

1,557 for me today. Sigh. It's been hard today. I have some personal shit going on that's affecting my creativity and my husband complained about not being able to spend time with me. It normally wouldn't bother me but he's been home sick from work all week, interrupting me and whining about me writing even though I'm doing it the same way I do when he's at work. I know he tries to understand. I know that he wants to see me succeed at this. But he still doesn't get that every ****ing interruption is death to my already choppy manuscript. "Babe, this" "Babe, that" 

****! Let me work! Because this is my work and you know it. Come on, dude. Argh. Nothing but shitty rushed words today. 

-end rant


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 12, 2016)

I'm still falling behind. I'm at 15529 words, so about 3k behind. 



> Cyril woke in a sunny room, with his face buried in a blanket, laying the wrong direction in the bed, and with one hand resting on the floor. His shirt was draped over the footboard, his dusty coat lay in the doorway, and his trousers were unbuttoned, which left him rather intimately acquainted with a straw mattress in his waking moments.
> 
> A few minutes to compose himself, and he dressed and headed down the stairs, calling her name. “Gretchen!”
> 
> ...


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## ThinkerX (Nov 12, 2016)

Government holiday (Veterans Day) which is one of the few non-Sunday's I can sleep in.  So I did so.  Had a rough time getting motivated this morning, finally sat down, wrote a few hundred words, then took advantage of the relatively warm temps and sunshine to take one of my last bicycle rides of the year.  Learned the gearbox for my Jeep isn't fixed yet. Came back, wrote some more words, then cruised the net for a while. Read a bit, wrote some more, ate, wrote, then the daughter came by with my three month old grandson, which ended progress for a while.

well, I'm calling it 2000 words today, 14600 total.  Midpoint of Chapter four, right at the very start of a major fight/kidnap scene that will require some careful thought.  The annoying thing is despite a long detailed 'stealth approach' scene, I completely forgot to a minor character who was supposed to be with the kidnap team.  Maybe I'll write him in (he most likely dies in the battle) or maybe I just delete him from the preceding chapters.  

Other thing is, Chapter Four might become Chapter Five.  The MC with the kidnap team needs motivation, and there is another nasty scene that needs scribing.

Maybe I can finish this chapter tomorrow (doubtful) and then tackle the 'skipped' chapter Sunday (also doubtful).

But heck, I figure I'm entitled to an occasional delusion.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 12, 2016)

Enjoy that baby, Thinker X, novelling can wait! HA! Today, it's a sunny Saturday, and we're cleaning the garage. Not as much fun as babies. If it's hard motivating oneself to write, it's harder to motivate oneself to clean up a bunch of things kids and hubbies couldn't put away in the garage....

I got into my main character a little bit last night (my previous post), but it has a long way to go before I know him completely. That's always the roughest part for me, where I have to simultaneously get to know a new POV character AND write his scene. I usually put in the bare bones of what's happening and then add in some character voice later, in rewriting. I think that's why my word count is behind, I'm rewriting my rewrite. Everything gets at least two passes of editing, and while I try to give myself credit for the words, if i'm only changing a sentence here or there, I forget to include them in my word count. Ah well, progress is progress, and whether i win nano or not, my novel is growing. And I'm really excited to see it come along. 

I recently registered for a writer's conference in the spring, and having just spent $700 to go (not including flight and hotel), I'm pretty committed to getting this thing finished by then. I've spent about 6 months just on the first act, but progress is coming along, and hopefully the rest will move faster, now that I've abandoned some of my most time-consuming habits and at least set the tone I want to carry through with. 

Hope everyone else has a productive day, while I clean out my garden and organize a garage (and basement if there's time). Weekdays are my productive time, I guess. Weekends are family time, and since we're planning to take the kids to a waterpark Monday and Tuesday (because we can't go visit family for the holidays due to my husband's work schedule this year), it's a little family getaway next week, and i'm sure my word count will suffer for that, too.


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## Chessie (Nov 12, 2016)

That sounds like fun, Maiden! Our weekends are pretty low key although we're going for a walk in the woods today. It's pretty warm, around 45F although it's still pretty dark. But it's warm enough the cats are outside and the rest of us are foaming at the mouth to get up into the mountains, so that'll be today. 

I just want to say that I'm glad to read you also have a problem with getting to know POV character and writing them at the same time. I've always had that difficulty. One of the least helpful pieces of advice I received on my writing was to get it right the first time. Ok...I'm not there yet and don't know if it'll ever happen. Historically my novel drafts are very messy. Shorts are cleaner. But with novels I write them as fast as I can, leaving notes along the way and I also have a master list of things that need changing. With all the changes and clean ups...I do about 4 drafts of a complete manuscript. And let's not even begin to count all the false starts in chapter 1.

Speaking of which, the last 2 books I've written I've basically skipped chapter 1 and started in chapter 2. It worked out very well for the historical romance because I was spending a ton of time trying to get the hero's voice right. Nothing felt right, so I moved on to the heroine's intro chapter, when they met...and then went back to the OP. In doing the same thing for My Ludmila, I'm realizing that I've gotten to a place in my writing life where things have shifted and treading through water doesn't last long. I search for the rightness, the voice, the intuitive thing that feels like I've hooked on to it...then boom...there it is! And the story takes off enough for me to learn and understand the characters. Only after that can I write the intro chapter. It's weird but working good.


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## Heliotrope (Nov 12, 2016)

Chesterama said:


> One of the least helpful pieces of advice I received on my writing was to get it right the first time.
> .



Yeah, that sounds like a recipe for self loathing. 

I'm not sure how that is even possible? Like, how are you supposed to know everything as you go through the first time? What if you get an idea that is better? You aren't allowed to change anything to make the story better? 

I don't get that.


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## Chessie (Nov 12, 2016)

To be fair, I was given the advice by a writer that has like 25+ years experience on me. :/


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 12, 2016)

Total: 16.2k words. 11 chapters done. I guess they're pretty short-ish. The most recent one is a bit so-so. It starts out well enough and then warms up too much and becomes way too cheerful towards the end. I guess that's what happens when I get tired and start relaxing instead of thinking about what I'm doing in. I'll fix it in editing.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 12, 2016)

hm...dubious advice, regardless of experience level. 



> When Lucyna fell pregnant, she came to Cyril in the jeweler’s shop and told him her father had struck her. She had a red welt on the side of her face, and Cyril let her sleep on the floor of the shed with him that night. By morning, they had a plan. Lucyna wanted to finish out her last four months in the university, and Cyril was going to travel to Brazelton and find them a shop to rent with his saved money. They were going to sell charms.
> 
> But they never made it out of Mist. Well, not together.


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## Chessie (Nov 13, 2016)

1,800 today putting me at 21,328. Another hard day but at least I made it.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 13, 2016)

Long, brutal day at work.  Add to that a good book, a nap, and even less motivation than usual...well I suppose 700 words isn't terrible, even if it's only half of what I'd hoped for.  



> One of the least helpful pieces of advice I received on my writing was to get it right the first time.



That would help with the rewrites.  It took me years before I finally started to grasp the nature of the MC's in this series.  The first novella in the series sucked big time because of that lack of understanding (among other things).


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 13, 2016)

kill me now :skull: falling further behind...




> He stepped closer. In a hushed, knowing tone, he said, “Insult my dress, my wealth, my manhood all you like. I know exactly who and what I am. But there’ll come a time when you’ll have to come to terms with who and what you are. Will you be so content with your own truth?”


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 13, 2016)

Put together just above 600 words today.

There's no way I'll hit the 50k goal by the end of the month. I'm still aiming for the "write every day" goal though, and so far I'm looking pretty good as far as that goes.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 13, 2016)

I have a date tonight with "Blow" and "Wolf of Wall Street" so, probably not much going to be added to my word count. I'm at about 18k words.


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## Chessie (Nov 13, 2016)

I have 400 words in so far that I wrote early this morning. Went on a date with my husband after church, got the house cleaned, everyone squared away and now I'm ready to keep going. I finally made it to chapter 4, the "falling in love + antagonist revealed" part. Exciting? To me, yes. This chapter is going to be a good time to write.


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## Chessie (Nov 13, 2016)

Caged Maiden said:


> I have a date tonight with "Blow" and "Wolf of Wall Street" so, probably not much going to be added to my word count. I'm at about 18k words.



Wolf Of Wall Street was a shock to my system. I had some of those images burned into my memory for days. Blow, on the other hand, is one of my favorites. I seriously love that movie.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 13, 2016)

I didn't know what either of them was about when I got them from the library...I'm almost finished with "Blow" so I guess I figured that one out. I haven't read the back of "Wolf of Wall Street" yet, so no clue what it's about, but a friend recommended it when we were talk gin about story-telling.


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## Heliotrope (Nov 13, 2016)

*Sigh*..... so a key on my computer is broken.  

The key between k and ; Which means I coud do my 1700 words but then I woud have to go back to fix a the words that use the etter . 

Which is sort of a pain. 

So I'm going to ca it quits for tonight unti tomorrow when I can go to Best Buy and get my keyboard fixed.


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## Ireth (Nov 13, 2016)

Ack, I'm sorry, Helio! I guess it would be a lot of bother to just copy an L from somewhere, then paste it into the doc as needed?


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## Tom (Nov 13, 2016)

1463 words today! I wrote notes today, mainly on Yianlai folk magic, religious customs, and mythical creatures.


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## Heliotrope (Nov 14, 2016)

Yes, I could go that. That's a good idea actually. 

I've already had a bath and am watching a show in bed so if I don't get to Best Buy tomorrow I will use that! Thanks.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 14, 2016)

I might do more later tonight, but for now I am calling it at 1900 words, 17200 total.  It doesn't make up for yesterday, though.

Chapter four is now chapter five.  Set up a stub for the new chapter four and chapter six.


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## Chessie (Nov 14, 2016)

Today was good, really good with 3k exactly, pushing me to 24,328. This novel is going to be over 75k, I'm starting to get the feeling. Ugh. What a massive undertaking. However, every story is different. Some are longer than others. This one, clearly, has plenty to say. I'm having a blast, too. There's nothing funner than having two antagonists in this one. #1 antagonist is hella feared while #2 antagonist is way more dangerous and threatens Ludmila and Sergei's operation. His jealousy is driving him mad and I'm laughing all the way to the loonie bin.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 14, 2016)

Went and did 600 words of Chapter six, 2500 for the day, a lot for me.  Bedtime now.


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## Heliotrope (Nov 14, 2016)

Success! Just got back from Best Buy with my new wireless keyboard! It was going to be waaaay to expensive to have my laptop fixed. My husband is not impressed  

But now.... lllllllLLLLLLLllllll! 

Ah, I never knew l could be so exciting for me. 

My daughter is bed so I have some words to catch up on.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 14, 2016)

Here's an "in" for you to help you on the way: _in_ - barely used.

Just kidding. Good to hear you got yourself up and running again. 

I wrote a 600 word chapter and started on another, but the flow just wouldn't come. I'll have to have a think about what I want to do with and then start over again. I suspect I reached an unexpected milestone and that it caused me to relax and stumble, making it hard for me to get back up to speed again. It's almost weekend on my planet though, just one more day.


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## Heliotrope (Nov 14, 2016)

Do you ever suprise yourself with a brilliant idea and then think "Damn. That idea was worth at least 2000 words. I deserve to call it quits for tonight." 

That's me tonight. Totally brilliant idea I had never considered just popped into the story and I feel now like I deserve the night off. lol.


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## Tom (Nov 14, 2016)

Wow...didn't think I'd be able to get anything written today, but surprised myself with a word count of 1500-ish. I had a late day at the digital art lab, finishing up an assignment, and then had a short paper to write when I got home. After I got the paper done I pulled The Road to El Dorado up on Netflix and wrote while I watched. It was relaxing after a stressful day.


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## Chessie (Nov 15, 2016)

It was a super busy day for me so only 1,242 today, bringing me to 25,570. At least I got my halfway badge yay!


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## ThinkerX (Nov 15, 2016)

Long rough day at work that left me exhausted.  1100 words, 18900 total, almost to the end of Chapter six.


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## Gribba (Nov 15, 2016)

Good job, writing, everyone... *jealousy dripping off every word*  

So, no internet for 2 day. 
The oldest son moving out in a 5 days, which means the 2 younger boys are getting their own room. 
So far I have emptied 2 rooms, painted 2 rooms, put new floor in one of the rooms and moved the youngest into his new room. Tomorrow, moving the middle son into the room I just painted (after round 2 of paint, later today)... then paint the 3rd room move stuff into that room and then finally, help the oldest son move out... 

Writing ZERO the entire week... stuck at 18k words... soooo far behind...


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## Ireth (Nov 15, 2016)

I broke 25K last night, a day early! Buuuut I'm also running out of story. D= My MC just saved her girlfriend from a minor antagonist, and realized too late that it was a setup so the main villain could capture them both. This is leading into the climax of the story, so I might be able to reach 30K, maybe 35, but not 50. Not without a lot of padding. Unless I find a backup story to keep my wordcount up.


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## Fluffypoodel (Nov 15, 2016)

hit a dual roadblock of crushing my finger between an air compressor and a door and a serious case of where am I going in this novel. This week off has hopefully healed both. with 3k words tonight I'm leaning towards fixed it but life is always ready to throw its surprise parties...


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 15, 2016)

Today: 1,200 
Total: Just over 18k.
I'm a bit behind, but I'm nearing the end of the first act and that's going to be magnificent!


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## Chessie (Nov 15, 2016)

I'm actually on a roll today with where the story is but have to pry myself away because my family/house need me. 2,137 and now the manuscript is at 27,737. I'm having fun writing this book and the outline is helping tremendously. I never thought that I'd be a transformed pantser but that appears to be the case.


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## Ireth (Nov 15, 2016)

I'm currently distracted by younger siblings, and fighting with plot issues as in this thread. Lucky I reached today's par last night. Thus far I'm at 25,326 words in all.


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## DragonOfTheAerie (Nov 15, 2016)

I'm reading this thread to feel better about myself, lol. Nothing like distracting yourself from your own struggles with others'.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 15, 2016)

I just spent two days at the waterpark, so nothing new happening here. I've got some real writing to get done tonight, if I want to have a chance of finishing on time. And by "finishing" i mean the 50k word goal. My novel is 150k+ words...so it's not getting done anytime soon. I'm hoping to have it completely rewritten by April, when I go to the writing conference. But, only time will tell. I spent 6 months rewriting the first two chapters (new material that wasn't in the first draft back in 2008). So...fingers crossed I'll be able to get my nano won and THEN finish the actual rewrite by April.


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## Tom (Nov 15, 2016)

Today I wrote 1700 words and hated every one of them. I have such a bad headache. Plus I have a huge assignment due tomorrow in my graphics class and I've spent the last hour uploading and printing giant-ass JPEG files that take five minutes each to download from my google drive. Arghhhh. I hate my life.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 16, 2016)

Work and associated matters was even more annoying today than yesterday.  I did get home at a reasonable time, but drew an utter blank when I sat down to start chapter 4.  So I finished chapter six, did a wee bit of polishing elsewhere (much more required later), surfed the net, read a while, ate and thought for a time.  Then I wrote most of 1300 words.  20200 total.

Solutions begin to appear for the gaping plot holes that plagued me at the start of this project.


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## SeverinR (Nov 16, 2016)

I did a good start but only written 400 words since my last post.


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## Heliotrope (Nov 16, 2016)

Starting to slow down... 

Getting into saggy middle now. To avoid saggy middle I'm finding that I really have to pump up my game to keep the story fresh and moving forward in interesting ways... which means I'm adding in stuff I hadn't anticipated and didn't set up or foreshadow, which means it is slowing down my process considerably. I've gone from doing 1700 words easily to managing about 1000 words in the same amount of time. 

Which is fine, I guess, just a slower slog.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 16, 2016)

1,900 words today. Passed the 20k mark. I don't think I'll have a realistic chance of reaching the 50k word target by the end of the month so I'm lowering the target to 40k
On the one hand it feels a bit weak to lower the target, but on the other I feel like I'm better off having a target I have a chance to reach, even if I adjusted it halfway through.


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## Fluffypoodel (Nov 16, 2016)

A little over 2k tonight puts me above 23k. still got some catching up to do but I should be back where I need to be by the weekend!


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## Tom (Nov 16, 2016)

1453 today. I feel a lot better about what I wrote today, and now that Wednesday is over hopefully I'll be able to finish out the week strong.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 17, 2016)

I spent al day rereading the 50k words I've written in this novel before starting nano. I just had to review what was already begun, so that I could continue strong by progressing some of the things I started and answering some of the things that needed tying up. Hope everyone is cruising along on their progress. This is the hardest part of the month, I think. We got past the "inspired" beginnings, and are now into the real story development phase, where things should be moving, all the players established, and some answers coming to the characters. Definitely a tricky part of story-telling. 

SO here's a quote from chapter two. It's not new, but I like it anyways. 



> Raisa pounded on the apothecary’s door. Loud enough for even an old woman to hear. Four crones tended the shop, reputed sisters, but so far gone with wrinkles it was hard to decide whether they looked alike at all. The tall one, with the jack-o-lantern grin, admitted Raisa, saying, “We aren’t open yet. You either got one hellish husband, or he’s built like an ox, if you need more nightroot already. Can’t keep ‘im sedated forever. It might be time to just castrate the lusty wretch.” She cackled. “We got herbs for that, too!”
> 
> Isabella, the bubbly, plump sister entered the back room of the shop, where they kept the interesting and expensive herbs. “Nightroot’s unavailable. No more till spring.”
> 
> ...


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## Ireth (Nov 17, 2016)

Aaaagh. I've written 2132 words today, and I'm right in the middle of the climax only to find I'm STALLED. The dramatic speech from the abused heroine who's finally standing up to the villain just isn't working right. *pulls hair* Hopefully sleeping on it will help.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 17, 2016)

Another day, another 1300 words.  21500 total.

(Sort of) finished Chapter Four (not quite happy with it), did a stub for Chapter Seven.  That chapter will be pretty much a one man show...but then again, Kyle is a dang big fellow.  After that, back to Rebecca.

My plot hole solution involves another really long Rebecca chapter...but that's a ways in the future.  As it is, I figure Rebecca's adventures will account for almost a third of the book.


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## Nimue (Nov 17, 2016)

I promised myself I wouldn't post again until I had something positive to say...that hasn't really happened, but yesterday I did get through my first substantial chunk of writing since the 8th.  Snip:



> The sea breeze hit her like a wave as the raw line of the coast pulled nearer, as though the white fingers of the sea slowly washed over the earth.  And on that dull blue horizon lay a shadow: crooked, black, and bare in the sun
> 
> Sabhenna had not been sure whether fear or weariness would pull her from her form, but at the sight of that distant skeletal ruin, all the blood in her tiny pulsing heart turned to ice.  She fought with wing and tailfeather against the wind, unwilling to hover for even a moment over the tainted tide that washed in from that island.
> 
> ...



At this point it's pretty clear that I'm not even doing the super-watered-down version of a NaNo...more like a "try slightly harder to write more than usual" month, like I did in October.  So yeah, I'd like to bow out of this....whole idea.  Don't even want to think about word count.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 17, 2016)

I'm currently pantsing so hard I've got pocket lint coming out of my ears. This is not like me. I always have a plan of some kind when I write, but this...
The actors of the romantic subplot that showed up unannounced in the fourth chapter are currently facing down each other at gun point and I have no idea where I'm going with that.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 17, 2016)

Today: 2k words
Not sure about the total. Probably 22k-ish

Managed to resolve the romantic drama without anyone getting shot - but not without shots being fired. The scene isn't over, but I'm done for the day. This could probably be a good scene in its own right, but the story isn't a romantic action comedy so I don't know that it really fits the mood I was going for. But, words are words. I'll enjoy it while it lasts and I'll cut it out later.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 18, 2016)

Between the weather and other issues, work today remained a pain.  More, my ideas when I sat down to write Chapter Seven were hazy and few.  900 words.  Probably about halfway.


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## Chessie (Nov 18, 2016)

I crossed the 30k barrier last night and have been writing for most of today although I haven't tallied my word count yet. Done with chapter 5 finally and have moved on to chapter 6. The falling in love part of my book has moved into a new direction. Here, I thought I had it all figured out and that there was no way the characters would be that into each other so soon. It seems they rather start their affair sooner than expected. Who am I to judge? After all, it feels right and my intuition is saying "yes, I approve".


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## Heliotrope (Nov 18, 2016)

Whew! 

Nine chapter in. Just over 30,000 words. 

Time to go back through and do some streamlining of stuff that is not as important as I once thought and fleshing out the stuff that is. Not to mention adding in stuff earlier that I invented later... lol. 

Going to be a big night. Hopefully I add more words than I cut.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 19, 2016)

1300 words.  Finished Chapter Seven.  Might or might not start in on the next chapter tonight.  Tia or Rebecca?


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 19, 2016)

Yay, I actually got some things done today. I'm having a hellish time trying to get into this character's head, because he wasn't in the first draft, at least not as a POV character. He's an antagonist and I'm using him as a POV now, and it's been super hard to figure out how to introduce him right.



> One of the funny things about dying is that people do it every day, but don’t really think about it. Does the porter dress for work, expecting to be crushed that afternoon under a slipped crate? Is the milkmaid anticipating she’ll be kicked in the head by a moody cow and spend three days unconscious before the swelling in her skull finally proves fatal?
> 
> For many years, Cyril was prepared to accept his likely fate. Part and parcel for those who worked as mercenaries. If anything, he’d lived longer than he should have. But he’d always had confidence in his magical healing to see him through the day-to-day threats most swords for hire faced. It was only when that power was beyond his reach that he found cause to worry. And the more it slipped away, threatening to be the thing that did him in, the worse the worrying got.
> 
> ...


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## Ireth (Nov 19, 2016)

I was out of town all day yesterday and only got 114 words written. Now I'm 3K below par. :/

On the upside, yesterday was an early birthday celebration for me, and now I have two new books! _The Last Unicorn_ and _Tales from the Perilous Realm_. <3


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## Heliotrope (Nov 19, 2016)

Caged Maiden I love it!!!!!


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## Heliotrope (Nov 19, 2016)

Oh man, it took me a good four hours last night to go through all nine chapters (I read them aloud, slowly) and clean them up and streamline them so all the information is uniform and not contradictory. 

Whew! 

I only managed to add 600 words. 

But! I managed to hit a breakthrough on characterization of a main character. This character is a real life historical character, and I did quite a bit of research over the past little while into his life in order to get a good idea of what sort of person he was. I think I can play around with him in some fun ways.


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## Chessie (Nov 19, 2016)

Ireth said:


> I was out of town all day yesterday and only got 114 words written. Now I'm 3K below par. :/
> 
> On the upside, yesterday was an early birthday celebration for me, and now I have two new books! _The Last Unicorn_ and _Tales from the Perilous Realm_. <3



I love The Last Unicorn! Is this a new read for you? You're going to loooove it. 

Last night I was a bad girl and caught up on The Walking Dead episodes I missed. Hubby and I had zombie time. I regret nothing. 

Today though, I have some words to catch up on and some big scenes to write. I also want to hike and go grocery shopping, so I better get a move on. 3k is the goal today.


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## Ireth (Nov 19, 2016)

Chesterama said:


> I love The Last Unicorn! Is this a new read for you? You're going to loooove it.



I read it once when I was in high school, and I agree it's fantastic. Hopefully my little sis will let me read it to her. She wanted to read it first, but I told her I have first rights to it cuz it's my gift. The animated movie (which I sadly don't own but requested for Christmas) is wonderful too. Christopher Lee is an awesome King Haggard.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 19, 2016)

Well, it's better than the first draft, anyway. I'm just trying to get things "good enough" so I can move on with the main points I want to make in place. I'm 7k words behind in nano, so my goal is a 5k day. My husband is putting up shelves on our bedroom wall, and the kids are running around the living room with a stuffed Peep in a bag stuck to a piece of cardboard (for some weird reason it's absolutely adorable), and I'm trying to find quiet corners since I can't go in my reading room (a three-seasons room that I renovated to be super cute and put a little stove in to keep it temperate) because it's freezing cold today. Yeah, 71*F yesterday, 46*F today and hailing this morning. I don't care what people say about their home, that the weather is unpredictable. I've seen it living in Wisconsin, where I grew up. I saw it when we lived in Missouri, for the short stint we did there, 95*F every day with 90% humidity all summer and then trees encased in the ice storms in the winter. I saw it in Albuquerque, where snow fell in the morning and then was gone at 11am when the sun came out and turned it into what in Wisconsin would have been called "a fine summer day". Now it's the same in Ohio. Screw where you live...it's all a mess! Unless maybe you live in Southern California (where there are earthquakes, no thanks, or Florida, which has hurricanes, again, no thanks).

People used to tell me how rotten it was living in Wisconsin, right on Lake Michigan. Our first two years married, we got 9 feet of snow in December both years, and my husband from England about died of shock when he saw what winter was really like. I tried to tell him that there were whole years when there was no real snow and it just rained all winter, turning the yard into a mud pit. But we moved anyways, for a job, and since then, it's been weird wherever we've lived. HA! In Albuquerque, we'd get snow in September, all the way to May...not a lot, but just that it happened shocked the crap out of me. And people always tell me how it must be nice to live in a warm climate. Well, sure, there were plenty of days I wore a t-shirt in the garden while I pulled weeds in January, but it gets to -20*F and kills the plants just like up north. 5000 ft. above sea level is sunny and bright, but it's cold as a well-digger's ass, too.

Winter is coming, folks. 

Time to find a blanket and get my nano words in. HA! And if that doesn't work, I'm turning my bathroom into a sauna and working in my "office". Keep rocking it, folks. You're super stars!


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## Chessie (Nov 19, 2016)

46F is warm! Try 18F and it's only getting colder + sunset at 4pm and getting darker. Welcome to the hellhole that is Alaska in the winter, which is why we lead the nation in suicide.  We've also not been getting ANY snow the last several winters. It's been 3 years since I've used my brand new (at the time) snowshoes. That really sucks considering many people here do winter sports so skiing, snowboarding and the like just isn't possible anymore unless you go to Alyeska resort with their fake snow. 

Then again, in the summer it's pretty awesome but the sun is up non-stop until September, making it difficult to sleep. Alaska is pretty extreme. Many folks can't hang. We have one family member up here and many of our friends have moved or are depressed because of winter. It's no camp, unfortunately.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 19, 2016)

Cruising along now...



> “How is your new ship coming along, Lion?” Strange asked.
> 
> “Almost done.”
> 
> ...



I need a better name to use at the end. Something more angry.


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## Chessie (Nov 19, 2016)

Gooooaallll! Ahem. It's not soccer. Word count met although it's taken me all freaking morning. A bit of shitty prose and yes, I'm not writing so well because I'm trying to get the story down as fast as possible. It's certainly been working:

(myata is a mint-like herb in this world with great healing powers that's very difficult to obtain, only found in Baba Yaga's garden patch in this particular story)



Spoiler: excerpt



_“It’s not that I think you would...but you might place yourself in harm’s way just to get to what you want. Because really, Ludmila, you’re just as selfish as I am.”

Those words penetrated sharply into her mind, into her heart. He might be right about some things, wrong about others. Her personality, however, he seemed to always have figured out.

“Is that so?” She challenged his idea of her anyway.

“We belong together, you and I.” He sounded so sure of this it frightened her a bit. “There’s no one else in this world like us. No one as selfish and desiring of power like us. It’s why we heal. To be esteemed.”

“Maybe this is our responsibility,” she said, growing ever disgusted of him by the moment. “We were sent here to help prevent this from becoming an epidemic. It’s in our best interest to see Vikna rid of this plague.”

Elya smirked. “Perhaps, my dearest little liar. Remind me again why I shouldn’t spread rumors of your witchcraft.”

Ludmila scowled, giving into her rising anger. “I am certainly no witch.”

“Then how is it that your tonics have miraculously begun to heal the afflicted in such a timely fashion?”

“I already told you it’s the myata.”

Elya laughed. “Truth no longer graces your lips, I see.”

“Damn you.” She snarled. “If you spread such rumors you’ll have me killed by these villagers.”

“Be with me then. In body and soul.” He raised an eyebrow. “It’s the only way to ensure my silence.”

His offer hit her like the cold, bone-chilling waves of an angry ocean. For some time now she had been sure of his desire for her, ever lurking in the shadows of her mind. No man’s approach of her had ever been quite like his; protective and possessive like a starving wolf ready to eat the warm and tasty femininity of her flesh.
_


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## ThinkerX (Nov 20, 2016)

Calling it 500 words for tonight, though I may write more.  Hit some plot-blocks, went back, rewrote some earlier sections, so the WC is more guess than ought else.  

Because sequence issues remain with Rebecca, I'll probably do another Tia chapter tomorrow.  I may try to do the whole thing (Chapter eight, 2000+ words,) in one fell swoop.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 21, 2016)

2000 words tonight, unless I do more.  Did Chapter seven (Tia), got a fair start on Chapter eight (Rebecca).  Decided to just punch on through with the Rebecca chapter and hope the issues resolve themselves.  

At 26200 words, I can safely say I'm in the 'muddy middle.'


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 21, 2016)

Today: 760 words. 
Total: 25k

This latest chapter makes an absolute mess of my story. It adds depth and personality to characters that are completely irrelevant to the plot and which I hadn't even thought of when I began the story.


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## Chessie (Nov 21, 2016)

Today's total is 2,077 pushing me to 35k. I'm so far away from my 75k goal though but hey, better than nothing. First kiss scene: Ludmila's love interest, Sergei, flies her on his magical horse to the top of a ridge, where they spend some time bonding and overlooking the ocean. Lucky for me, this is one of my favorite views in all the world. One of our frequent climbs is a ridge directly behind our house, about a 2 hr hike, and it's majestic in beauty. There are several other ridges in the Alaska chain that connect to this one and it overlooks the valley where we live, the city, the marshes and ocean. I love being able to use my hikes in my stories.


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## DragonOfTheAerie (Nov 21, 2016)

Chesterama said:


> Today's total is 2,077 pushing me to 35k. I'm so far away from my 75k goal though but hey, better than nothing. First kiss scene: Ludmila's love interest, Sergei, flies her on his magical horse to the top of a ridge, where they spend some time bonding and overlooking the ocean. Lucky for me, this is one of my favorite views in all the world. One of our frequent climbs is a ridge directly behind our house, about a 2 hr hike, and it's majestic in beauty. There are several other ridges in the Alaska chain that connect to this one and it overlooks the valley where we live, the city, the marshes and ocean. I love being able to use my hikes in my stories.



Kiss scene! I love doing those, lol... Sadly my WIP's are romance free as of now...


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## Tom (Nov 21, 2016)

Still writing....Ugh. I'm so tired. We had a snow storm over the weekend so I didn't even go to school today, but I'm still exhausted. I managed to write a few pages of truly terrible dialogue. Maybe tomorrow I'll have the brainpower to get to the scenes I really want to write. (They're mostly angry, character arc-resolving scenes, with some worldbuilding and fighting thrown in. Should be fun!)


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## ThinkerX (Nov 22, 2016)

Long, brutal day today. Came back from work exhausted.  700 words, about half of what I'd hoped for.  Maybe twice that to finish the Rebecca chapter.  Then, it's on to Peter and the start of the real meat of the story - the arch-demon Li-Pang placing a captive human emperor (and others) on trial.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 22, 2016)

Still working on my poisoning event. It's hard to write when you're debating between a couple options. I picked on in the first draft, of course, but now I want to squeeze a whole lot of impact out of the scene, so I'm deliberating which way to go to up the ante.


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## Tom (Nov 22, 2016)

Stayed home sick from school today, so I've had more time than usual to spend writing. Today's work so far is showing a strong influence from Megan Whalen Turner's _The Thief_, which I reread last night (for at least the 20th time).


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## Chessie (Nov 22, 2016)

*Drags herself to the computer to write*

****! 

Ugh. I'm SO done with NaNostupidWriMo. DOOOONE ya hear me?! I want a day off! But noooooooooooo.....nope. No. 

I have a dentist appointment and Thanksgiving shopping to do today so not sure how much I'll get done but my bitch side is saying I can't play Fallout until all 2k words are done. So here we go.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 22, 2016)

Today: 1100 words.

The story is faffing abut and getting hung up on irrelevant details. New and interesting technical challenges are appearing though and it'll be interesting to see how this turns out in the end.


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## Fluffypoodel (Nov 22, 2016)

wrote 7.5k in the last two days. should be caught up by tomorrow! I've never had such cases of not knowing what to write next with a project. Even when I outline I'm just like "naw that's not really what needs to happen here." Luckily, I figure it out in a day or tow but its real discouraging when you sit down to write a scene and all you can thin is wrong, wrong, wrong. Here's to finishing difficult works!


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## ThinkerX (Nov 23, 2016)

Decided to call it at 600 words tonight, most of that a rewrite of yesterdays work.  Realized I'd forgotten to include a crucial character, had to redo things.  The bit I'm getting into now is actually a drastic reworking of something I wrote decades ago. 

With luck I can power through this chapter and on into the next tomorrow.  I'm falling behind.  Worse, my motivation wanes.  What's keeping me going is that I'm fast approaching the sections I deem most interesting, which are more philosophical and theological than ought else.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 23, 2016)

Today: 3,000 words - finally a productive day.
Total: a bit over 28k

Happy with the performance today. 
The story is still a mess, but at least there's a lot of words in it now, and that's good for the future.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 24, 2016)

progress is slow.



> The background scenery appeared mercurial in dimension and form–nothing constant except its foreboding feel. Like a carnival funhouse turned nightmarish, colors saturated walls and figures, as if shuttered lanterns were pointed haphazardly on everything. A guard laughed and drew back a curtain. Curtains? She hadn’t seen any in Dimata's office. Reality and dream separated for a brief moment before crashing back together like waves in a storm, pulling control away from dreamer and placing it in the hands of the dream. Behind the curtain, Logan, shackled to the wall and sporting a dozen or more deep cuts. His head hung and his body was limp.


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## Chessie (Nov 24, 2016)

I...pulled a muscle in my armpit of all places, have no idea how it happened. My pain med finally kicked in so I can get to working. Only have 700 so far today so I'll probably be writing late into the night. Guess I'll be ringing in Thanksgiving.


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## Chessie (Nov 24, 2016)

Alright: 2,625 upping me to 39,048. I might honestly just keep going. I'm comfortable on the couch now that my entire armpit/arm is lathered in Icy Hot...


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 24, 2016)

with Black Friday tomorrow, my bed looks like the perfect place to spend all day...typing.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 24, 2016)

Today: 430 words.
This new chapter is shaping up to be interesting though. I should be able to fit in a lot of world building here, as well as setting up the framework for the next few chapters.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 24, 2016)

plugging along. One sentence at a time, most of the way.



> If Brazelton were likened to a person, it was a wretch in a sad state. Choking on the stench of sewage, bleeding money out of every orifice, and rapt with the pleasures of sex and drugs. Dressed in finery, though it was, underneath its veneer of palatial buildings and gaudy festivals, the city, with bowels bound up by a self-serving government, limped like a retired courser. The real power was in the hands of trade guilds, and they preferred the dons’ designs for operating over the direction of an aging council and a hedonist mayor.


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## Tom (Nov 24, 2016)

Whew...did my best today and ended up at around 1300 words. Family holidays (and arguments with my grandmother!) always take a lot out of me. I did manage to write some stuff I'm proud of, including the first few paragraphs of one of the most emotional scenes in the novel. It was tough, but so satisfying to see all that characterization and interaction coming together on the page.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 25, 2016)

700 words yesterday and 1900 today, though I might tap away more later tonight.  Just barely broke the 30K mark.  

Dratted characters are acting up again, causing problems with my latest plot fix.  Grrr.


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## Chessie (Nov 25, 2016)

I took yesterday off because of Thanksgiving and also hurt my _other_ arm somehow. Groan. If my 30s are like this....

So its a bit hard to type today but it's going to be a quiet day around here. I'm going for 3k let's see if I actually get it this time.


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## Tom (Nov 25, 2016)

Rewatching Avatar: The Last Airbender and writing. I'm also shooting for 3k today, let's hope I can make it!


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## Chessie (Nov 25, 2016)

We can do it, Tom! I'm about to eat breakfast and then power through these words!


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 25, 2016)

Barely three hundred words. Not good. Too many other things to do. Should have more time again soon.


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## Tom (Nov 25, 2016)

I hate dialogue. Why do I write so much of it?!


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## Fluffypoodel (Nov 25, 2016)

Wrote close to 5k words tonight, WHOO! haven't done that in a while. that also puts me ahead of schedule for winning Nano. Thought I would have caught up before now but eh, that's life for you


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## Chessie (Nov 25, 2016)

Goal accomplished: 3,236 for today, bringing the total to 42,286. I might try more later after my cat nap. If not, then I'll do another power session tomorrow and see how close I can get to the 50k. It doesn't matter since the draft won't be anywhere near completed at 50k anyway. Things are still getting heated instead of resolving.


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## Ban (Nov 26, 2016)

Not participating, just here to cheer you on.

You guys are doing great! I think you've written more words in a day than I have in a week (2 weeks maybe).


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## Heidi Hanley (Nov 26, 2016)

I say you've done well! Don't forget, sometimes it's in the midst of the "random crap" that inspiration appears! Keep on writing!


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## Thomas Laszlo (Nov 26, 2016)

I'm dying with a few hundred words all month so far. I'm a horrible procrastinator 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
NaNoWriMo WIP!


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## Tom (Nov 26, 2016)

It's almost noon and I'm bewildered, barely awake, and sporting a truly fabulous case of bedhead. Time to get started! My goal for today is 3k again (because it worked _so_ well last time).


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## Chessie (Nov 26, 2016)

I'm in a pillow fort with my laptop and kombucha. It would be nice to get to 50k today but I'm not so sure I can manage 8k in one day. I'll get as close as I can though.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 26, 2016)

Wrote nearly a full page today. Perhaps 300 words.

It's weird. This chapter has taken the shape of a very obvious commentary on real world politics and I'm really not sure how I feel about that at all. I don't mind if that kind of thing shows up in my stories, but I want to try and be nuanced about it, and I think this is just way too blunt. I'll try and push through it tomorrow and move on to more interesting stuff then.


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## Chessie (Nov 26, 2016)

Svrt, are you pantsing this story? It seems that you're trying various ideas in one.


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## DragonOfTheAerie (Nov 26, 2016)

Chesterama said:


> I'm in a pillow fort with my laptop and kombucha. It would be nice to get to 50k today but I'm not so sure I can manage 8k in one day. I'll get as close as I can though.



Pillow forts! Yay!


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## Fluffypoodel (Nov 26, 2016)

Still ahead of the game but I was expecting another big word count day. 2k is nothing to scoff at but I don't want to lose steam for the end of the month. Don't think its going to happen but the suspense is a good motivator.


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## Tom (Nov 26, 2016)

9:40 here and my eye is starting to twitch. I'm done for the night. In other news, I think I need to lay out an actual timeline for the history of this world...so many inconsistencies...


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 27, 2016)

Chesterama said:


> Svrt, are you pantsing this story? It seems that you're trying various ideas in one.



It probably seems so, but I have a pretty detailed outline - I'm just not sticking to it very well. I think it's related to how I've decided to try and tell the story. It's not through the main character herself but through the people around her. I hadn't realised just how much additional detail that would require.

I know what happens to my main character, and the information that I need to put through to the reader about her. The issue is that I can't just have two random voices talking about that (I guess I could but...). I need to introduce the voices and the persons behind them, and that's not something I had planned for at all.
This is what's caused all of the additional subplots that I didn't originally think about, and it's what causes the scenes that are almost completely unrelated to the story. 

So, in a way there's a whole lot of pantsing going on between the milestones.


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## Chessie (Nov 27, 2016)

Svrtnsse said:


> It probably seems so, but I have a pretty detailed outline - I'm just not sticking to it very well. I think it's related to how I've decided to try and tell the story. It's not through the main character herself but through the people around her. I hadn't realised just how much additional detail that would require.
> 
> I know what happens to my main character, and the information that I need to put through to the reader about her. The issue is that I can't just have two random voices talking about that (I guess I could but...). I need to introduce the voices and the persons behind them, and that's not something I had planned for at all.
> This is what's caused all of the additional subplots that I didn't originally think about, and it's what causes the scenes that are almost completely unrelated to the story.
> ...



Sounds like a good time. It's like she's the mystery and you're the person investigating, asking people questions about her.


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## Fluffypoodel (Nov 27, 2016)

I'll admit that I've always kind of scoffed at the idea of momentum in a story. I've just written what i thought was best, sometimes I outlined sometimes I didn't and I've generally been happy with the results. Having to write the beginning of the story after the end though, wow, really throwing me off my stride. after doing a few 3k+ nights I'm back to 2k and I think I'm just finding my legs in the beginning of the story now. weird but I think I'll get over it. Anyone else ever do this?


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## Tom (Nov 27, 2016)

Okay, so after years of dragging my feet I just joined pinterest. ...And now I'm going to get nothing done. Someone needs to take the internet away from me.


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## Chessie (Nov 27, 2016)

I've been pretty sick to my stomach today, waiting to feel better but doesn't look like that's going to happen. I've probably written a couple hundred words, not much. There's always tomorrow.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 28, 2016)

3000 words so far today, 35200 total.  Finished Chapter Ten, which is about 80% dialogue, about half of that a sort of info-dump/justification given by the big bad guy (except he's short, scrawny, and not all that healthy).  Basically, he's established the framework by which the captive Emperor (and others) will be tried.

May or may not write more later.  Current goal is 40K by the end of NaNo.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 28, 2016)

Added another 600 words, 35800 total.  Decided to call it for the night.  Started chapter 11, though it might become chapter 12 or 13.  Kyle impressing his demonic boss.


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## Chessie (Nov 28, 2016)

I'm pretty sick. Why wouldn't I be when I'm so close to 50k?  Looks like it's going to be another day on the couch with the laptop and Nyarlathotep:


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## Gribba (Nov 28, 2016)

Life got in the way, I have not been able to find any time to write, for little over 2 weeks now, not even been able to come on here... so, I have to admit defeat, this time around... but the work I got done so far has been great and inspires me to continue.

_So, *now* for the cheeing you guys on!!! _

*You guys are champions!!! *
Keep writing, I know you guys are going to kick NaNo in the :yellowcarded:


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## Ireth (Nov 28, 2016)

Am I gonna reach 50K by the 30th? No. Is that gonna stop me from writing? Heck no. I am gonna let my project sit for a while before I revise it, though. Need to finish up Winter's Queen at some point.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 28, 2016)

I lost my motivation to keep pushing.
I hit 30k yesterday and the month i s nearly over.
I finished the chapter I was working on, and today I've mostly been procrastinating.

I finally got around to starting on the next chapter though, and I realised that this is where the first act ends - or begins to end. It's time for the Fire of the Lonely Ones, which is going to be both dramatic and excitring - at least that's my will.

I should be able to finish this chapter before the end of the month. 

Once done, I'm going to have to have a think about my writing process. It seems that trying to push for writing as much as possible doesn't quite work out for me - at least not in the long run. I think if I combine it with the method from the recharge mont (write one hour every day no matter what) it will work better. I can set off one hour after work without issue, and if I want to I can write for longer, but just sitting down as soon as I get hom to push out as many words as I can doesn't feel like something I can sustain.

I'll think it over more closely this weekend. I want to finish the story though. It's had some fun parts, but the best bnits are yet to come. Also: always finish.


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## Chessie (Nov 28, 2016)

Made it by the skin of my teeth to my 4pm cut off. The tally for today was 3,130 bringing my total to 46, 767. I'll finish by the deadline but it's going to be tough. I'm getting lazy...


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## Heliotrope (Nov 28, 2016)

Svt, I'm with you, buddy. 

I gave up on word count about two weeks ago. I just can't plow through 1700 words every day. Too many plot holes, to much inconsistancy, too much detail that is not necessary. It is like swimming laps... I could go to the pool and try to swim 20 laps in an hour, or I could go to the pool and focus on quality skill development and speed, even if it means less laps accomplished. 

Trying to focus on an hour of quality writing a day is a better plan for me.


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## Gribba (Nov 29, 2016)

NaNo, my final number is 21336 words! Not the goal but more than what I had when I started.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 29, 2016)

Drat.  3600 words flew off the keyboard yesterday.  Today, I struggled to punch out a tenth of that.  500 words.  But Chapter 11 (or whichever one it ends up being) is a wrap.

I might not even hit 40K when NaNo ends.  




> I'm pretty sick. Why wouldn't I be when I'm so close to 50k?  Looks like it's going to be another day on the couch with the laptop and Nyarlathotep:



Not what I envisioned Lovecraftian music to be.  Almost classical.


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## Caged Maiden (Nov 29, 2016)

Well, I pulled the plug on my project. This is a confession thread, so here goes:

I lost my mind. I mean, that must be it. 

My character took a blow to her sense of self, and that led her to a weird scene with her crime boss. She confronted him after learning that he'd lost confidence in her. It was impassioned and had a cumulative effect of several scenes that led up to this moment of tension and nowhere for it to vent to. Then it got away from me a bit. He gave her a hand job, they got high together, and then they went and smashed portraits in his gallery.

Yeah, I'm not sure what happened there. I no longer have a plan. I'm not even sure where to delete back to, because I actually like the scene....

I'll refrain from posting an excerpt from this latest development :redcarded:


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## Chessie (Nov 29, 2016)

That sounds like a blast, actually. I vote to keep the scene.


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## Chessie (Nov 29, 2016)

Svrtnsse said:


> I lost my motivation to keep pushing.
> I hit 30k yesterday and the month i s nearly over.
> I finished the chapter I was working on, and today I've mostly been procrastinating.
> 
> ...



I'm glad you joined in! I do believe this was your first one, yes? We popped your NaNo cherry! 

And you probably learned something valuable about your writing process throughout all of this. Not everyone can work at these speeds; Lords knows I have a terribly hard time sustaining it. The reason why I like NaNo though is because of the social parts like this where we have confessions and share snippets. Writing is a lonely endeavor (probably why we all do it) so it's nice to have a change where more buddies are included.


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## Nimue (Nov 29, 2016)

5.5k.  Not even kidding.  Writing last night got it past 5k, even.  I gave up a while ago, I suppose.  Over the years my "NaNo's" have just gotten sadder and sadder.  16k the first year, then 10-12, then 8k, and now 5.  Not sure how much lower I can set these goals.  I'd just like to chuck my laptop off a pier and jump in after it.


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## ThinkerX (Nov 30, 2016)

700 words tonight, 37000 total.  My interest in the current chapters provides just enough will to proceed, but not enough to excel.


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## Chessie (Nov 30, 2016)

I'm coming in for the NaNo end! Whew! I'm glad to have finished early but my work with this book is far from done. I still have a ways to go before getting to the actual end and then, of course, there are the revisions. 

I've been pushing a strong word count though and hope to finish the book by mid-December, not later like I recently speculated. This means I better get a move on with outlining my next story. I've even been having dreams about it, which is unusual for me and probably a sign that this idea is my best one yet lol.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 30, 2016)

I'm done with the month, but not with the story.
Total: 30,964 words.
I did finish the first act though, so that's something. I also wrote almost every day, and that's also good for me.

I'm going to need a little bit of a breahter before I move on with the next act, but hopefully not too long. I need to learn to keep pushing and to keep writing or I'll never be able to get anything to the point where I can actually charge people money for it.


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## druidofwinter (Nov 30, 2016)

This is my third year doing Nano, and it has been by far the easiest. No all-nighters, just an hour or two every day, and the result was 51K in 29 days. Amazing how that deadline can push you to write when under normal circumstances you'd read a book or browse the web. Exhausting? Yes. But but a nice work out once a year. 
   Now to go and finish the novel.


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## Fluffypoodel (Nov 30, 2016)

Hit the 50k mark tonight! a 4k night to be sure, one that I was a little worried about completing but hey, i did it. Time to spend a few days brainstorming then off to the next novel. Still working on the title of it, which is bugging the crap out of me, but I'll get there. Congratulations to everyone!


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## ThinkerX (Dec 1, 2016)

37658 words...according to the NaNo counter.

37526 words...according to MS word.

Its actually a few hundred words more, because of the rewritten sections - didn't save the old versions.

About 10 K less than I did during the last November NaNo - but still my second highest total ever.


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## Tom (Dec 2, 2016)

This is a bit belated, but I reached 50k! I had a paper due the next morning so I was working on that while also finishing up NaNo, and I was up until like 2 am. I'm going to cry tears of joy when this semester is over.


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## Caged Maiden (Dec 2, 2016)

> I've even been having dreams about it, which is unusual for me and probably a sign that this idea is my best one yet lol.



I had a dream that I yelled at my husband for wearing my Deadpool socks, because his big fat feet were going to ruin them.

I'm so putting that into a story...


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## Chessie (Dec 2, 2016)

Caged Maiden said:


> I had a dream that I yelled at my husband for wearing my Deadpool socks, because his big fat feet were going to ruin them.
> 
> I'm so putting that into a story...



I love husband dreams where weird shit happens. 

Congratulations to everyone who participated. Seriously, writing everyday isn't easy. So *high fives* all around!


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## DragonOfTheAerie (Dec 2, 2016)

Caged Maiden said:


> I had a dream that I yelled at my husband for wearing my Deadpool socks, because his big fat feet were going to ruin them.
> 
> I'm so putting that into a story...



Oh my gosh. That's perfect XD


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## Gribba (Dec 2, 2016)

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Oh my gosh. That's perfect XD



2nd that!


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## Caged Maiden (Dec 4, 2016)

Okay, no, now I have the winner.

It was like the old west or something, and Sweringen (Ian McShane's character from Deadwood) was there (or at least the way i felt about him while I was watching the show was), but he talked like one of my old friends, who's from France. And I was some part of a group who were tasked with killing these three guys who were standing between "us" (whomever that was) and that bad-feeling guy.

So, someone botched the job earlier, apparently, because I'm witnessing a scene where some cowboy dude is talking to us like Katniss' coach guy? Like all serious and not really helpful, but like, "Now you just gotta get it done. No choice about it." I'm not sure what he was really referring to, though, I just had a sense that we'd already failed once and now we had to be sure we succeeded.

His great plan? Three brown glass cups and a foil-sealed bottle about the size of a pint glass...full of poisoned/ rufied whisky. But we had to make sure they drank enough each to put them out so we could get to the bad guy.

The plan was shaky at best. I was concerned. But then he said he'd already sent one of the ladies from the bar down there to tell them a drink was coming. Sure, I thought, that isn't at all suspicious.

But then we had a bit of a sub plot develop, and this is the real kicker. I didn't have an appropriate dress to wear to go poison these guys, so i had to make something (of course). So I made this thing (that's based off a shirt I own, in my closet) that was stretchy smooth gray fabric, and I used a binding tape to cover the armseye seam where it connects. And the sleeve top was bigger than the armseye on the bodice because I had made a change, and there was a gap at the bottom that would sort of hang open (but it was a really big, baggy garment, where the bottom of the sleeve was like at my waist, not armpit. My husband looked at it and frowned. He didn't think it looked good, nor that it would do the job (WTF?) But somehow, we got over our differences of opinion over the binding tape debacle, and were on the road for murder again!

The weird thing is...(ha, like it hasn't already been weird) the bad guy, who feels like Sweringen and talks like my french friend didn't seem offended we'd tried to kill him. He put his arm around my shoulder and showed me some things, like the scenery and stuff, and said, "If you like this, you'd LOVE France!" (and I got the feeling he'd said that to me many times before, like so many people who constantly insist "the old country" was better than the new). He opened a gigantic fridge and showed me all kinds of glasses filled with beverages. A margarita, with the lime still on the top, a clear glass barrel of something clear, etc. etc. and on and on, just full of previous attempts on his life. His last words..."Yes. If you like this, you'll love France." And then...

...my husband woke me up and goes, "I just had a really weird dream."

"Me too," I answered. "Want hear mine?"

And then he did.


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## Heliotrope (Dec 4, 2016)

I was in a tiny apartment building. Everything was really utilitarian. My husband was on a ship fighting off an alien species who was coming for earth. All resources had been put into fighting off the invaders, so everyone who wasn't fighting lived in working compounds. I was wearing a blue jumpsuit. During the day I worked in the plant that made freeze dried meals for the soldiers. 

I lived in the "mothers" compound, which meant my kids weren't with me during the day, but they shared the tiny apartment with me at night. I let them play in the hall because the apartment was a single room and I was trying to cook dinner. I could hear them playing. And then I couldn't. 

I went out to the hall to find them and they were gone. I pounded on doors. No one had seen them. I went down to the office and the robotic information lady told me I didn't have children. I screamed at her that I did. I do have children. She told me there was no record of me ever having children.

Through the whole dream I frantically tried to find them. 

I discovered my husband had them. He had come back in secret to take them. The alien invaders were humans from the future who had come back to save us from the robots on earth trying to destroy us. He had joined forces with the very people he had tried to kill had come back on a covert mission to rescue us.

So that's my next story.


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## Caged Maiden (Dec 4, 2016)

Okay, well, I have no plans for my dream. So, if you want mine, too, Helio, you can use it. I don't mind :insertevillaughhere


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