Up in the sky, middle
I saw some folks posting about this today:
And I decided that what this blog needs for the last month of the year is more photos!
On the first day of December, I give to you a lovely photo of the physical books in my December TBR, along with the Kindle book I just started this morning as a mini “TGIO” NaNoWriMo celebration.
Stay tuned for a NaNoWriMo wrap-up later today, or maybe tomorrow.
Well, we’re just over half-way through this year’s NaNoWriMo. So, I thought I might check in and let you know how things are going. This year, unlike last year, I am staying just at or slightly behind daily “par” word count (1667 words per day).
I “won” the past two years (“win” = wrote 50k words in 30 days). But, both years I fell behind early and then had to pull some major writing days over Thanksgiving weekend just to get caught up. To compare: at this point last year I had 21.8k words, and the year before that I had 24.3k words. Right now I have 29.1k, and I need to be at 30k to be at “par” for the 18th of the month.
I think having more of an outline going in this year is helping. I also have a little more practice now at sitting down and getting the writing done. It’s great that I’m on track to finish 50k by the end of the month. But, according to my outline, I think this book is going to be more like 60-65k when it’s done. I promised myself I wouldn’t stop writing until I got to “the end.” So, I’m either going to have to keep writing for the first ten days of December, or I’m going to have to pick up the pace a bit.
Right now I’m bridging a gap between two events that set up my ending. This gap appears to involve a bunch of kissing. It’s sort of the calm before the storm. I have a feeling that once I get past the middle bits and start writing the “crisis” and “climax” sections of my outline, the writing will go faster. Unfortunately, I sort of stopped outlining when I got to the “crisis” point in the book. By my calculations, that should start somewhere after 38k words (~2/3 thru the book). So, I have about 10k more words to write before I am going to be switching to full on “panster” mode for the last ~22k of the book. I know, more or less, how I want it to end. So, it just depends on whether I think I need a map to get there, or not.
Overall, the writing has been going pretty smoothly so far. There have definitely been a few days were I just did not want to write. And, for the most part, I didn’t push it. To recharge, I’ve been taking some time to watch TV shows (mostly Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the new Supergirl show, and Last Week Tonight). I haven’t had time to get into any new books. Last month, when I had time to read whatever I wanted to, I was in a bit of a reading slump, but now, when all my spare time is writing, I miss books like crazy. I’m dying to get lost in a good book, or even a trashy book. Any book. But the books will still be there in December. November is for writing.
I’m mostly happy with how things are going so far with the story. I already know I’m going to have to go back and add more description and maybe flesh out a few scenes more. And I’m not entirely sure if my romance is believable enough, yet. But, I’m definitely making a story that I would want to read, and that makes me happy. Right now it feels like the rough sketch you might make before creating a painting. It feels like I’m only hinting at the color and the atmosphere. But all that can be dealt with in revisions. The point of NaNo is to just get the story out on the page.
I should quit procrastinating with the blog and get back to novel writing. If you’re curious, you can check out my “author page” on the NaNoWriMo website for a little blurb about my book and the first few paragraphs of the story.
Can’t wait to dive into a few of these this weekend — as a reward for meeting my NaNoWriMo word count goals, of course. 🙂
Comics purchased:
Also, purchased another Funko Pop for my desk: Cheetara. Thundercats, ho!
In honor of the first day of NaNoWriMo, I decided to post the first chapter of the novel I finished in August to Wattpad. I’ve had an account there since they launched, but I haven’t really posted anything (just a little writing exercise I did for a class).
The current working title for this novel is Stormcat. But, it’s not about cats. Or storms. So, that may be a bit misleading…
Here’s what it is about:
Isla is the youngest daughter of the leader of one of three tribes tucked away in an isolated kingdom protected by mysterious creatures called Injini. When Elan, the young and newly appointed leader of this kingdom, visits Isla’s tribe in the hope he might gain their favor through marriage, he throws off everyone’s plans when he chooses Isla instead of her older sister. Once exposed to the world outside her tribe, Isla realizes that the magic that has kept their kingdom isolated and safe for generations is disappearing, and the only ones who can repair it are the Injini. Isla must help Elan find the Injini before their kingdom is invaded. But someone she thought she could trust is plotting against Elan, and he appears to be one step ahead of Isla and her allies.
Anyway, I originally started playing around with this idea back in 2009. Then I tried to write it for NaNoWriMo in 2011. I didn’t “win” that year (only wrote about 30k). And I didn’t think I’d ever go back and finish this novel. But I did. So, if you want to check it out, head over here and let me know what you think. If folks are into it, then I may keep posting chapters to keep you entertained while I write this other thing… (2500 words today! Yay!)
I’ll start with the weekly inbox/outbox post and end with a recap of my October reading… Spoiler: I didn’t read much in October…
Inbox (books acquired)
Outbox (books finished)
Queue (what I’m reading next)
Here’s how October wrapped up for me, overall:
October reading stats
I’m not planning on doing weekly updates in November. I’ll probably just do a recap post at the end of the month and blog in-between if anything interesting happens.
Best of luck anyone participating in NaNo!
Three years ago today I started this blog with a completely random post. That makes today my blog anniversary. My Blogiversary.
I started this blog thinking that only my mom and maybe a handful of friends would read it. I honestly wasn’t sure I’d keep it going for the rest of the week, let alone the rest of that year. But I did. And it’s still going.
So, I just want to say: Thanks! Thanks for reading and following my blog! Thanks for the likes and the comments! 🙂
The fact that I know people are reading is one of the main things that keeps me posting here. So, if there’s stuff you like and want me to write about more, just let me know.
And, just for fun, I’ll end this post with a selfie of me (wearing completely unstylish sunglasses, standing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge, and showing I’m badly in need of a haircut) from almost exactly three years ago…
Hello friendly and faithful blog readers!
In case you missed it in previous posts… This year, in addition to participating in NaNoWriMo, I’m volunteering as a Municipal Liaison for my home region.
If you’re also participating, you can add me as a writing buddy by clicking through to my author profile on the website.
And, if you’re not participating, you can support the efforts of this not-for-profit organization via my donation page (which also includes a short video of me talking about why I love NaNoWriMo and why you should donate).
For those of you that have donated already, THANK YOU! 🙂
If you are not participating and have not yet donated, please consider making a small donation to support this program. You can find out more about where the money goes here. And, as an added incentive, I’ve promised to provide those who’ve donated (and provided contact info), an opportunity to be a beta reader of my finished novel.
Curious about what I’m planning on writing this year?
This year I’m plotting a “new adult” fantasy romance. The story takes place in the English countryside during the winter holiday season and starts off with a contemporary “gothic romance” feel. There will be mysterious fairies and magic and creatures from the underworld. There will be kissing. There might be sexy times (if I’m feeling brave).
I’m pretty excited about this one, readers. And I can’t wait to get started.
Now, maybe go watch my video and consider a small donation while I get back to plotting…
Again, not a big reading week for me. I spent most of my free time this week doing NaNo Prep. So, I didn’t get much reading done. But, I think I’m recovering from my reading slump.
Inbox (books acquired)
Outbox (books finished)
Queue (what I’m reading next)
That’s it for this week. Next week is the last week in October. I’ll do a summary post on Sunday. But I’ll probably skip the weekly updates in November since I’ll be frantically noveling in all my spare time…
Hope you are enjoying your fall!
I bought nothing. I finished nothing. I don’t think I even read anything this week…
I think I needed a break from reading this week. I ended up re-watching a lot of Gilmore Girls instead of reading. It was a nice break. Maybe that cleared my head enough to get back to reading this week.
We shall see…
Sorry for the late post… I had this almost done and then forgot to post it yesterday. I had a big swim meet this weekend and was competing all day Saturday and Sunday. But now I’m back. So, here’s my recap of last week’s reading…
Inbox (books acquired)
Outbox (books finished)
Queue (what I’m reading next)
Hope you are enjoying your week! Happy reading!
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