Category: NaNoWriMo

I hope you like To-Do lists

I hope you like To-Do lists, because I seem to write a lot of them. But it’s a safe bet that if I’m not thinking about the book I’m writing or the book I’m reading, I’m thinking about things I have to get done.

Today: I just finished my word count for the day, so I’m at 45,45o; that’s only Chapter Ten remaining. And now I have to grade papers in an uber-serious way. Like about four hours of grading. And then I reward myself with Terry Pratchett.

Tomorrow:

  • 8:00-8:50. Teach.
  • 9:30-10:45. Grade papers.
  • 11:00-11:50. Teach.
  • 12:00-12:30. Lunch.
  • 1:00-2:20. Teach.
  • 3:00-5:00. Write 2,000 words.
  • Dinner.
  • Evening. Read and relax.

Tuesday: Write 3,000 words. Win NaNoWriMo with one day to spare. Celebrate and decompress for the rest of the day.

That was a lot of food

1. Many Food. I just got back from a trip to see friends and family during which time I was either eating out or eating in. Turkey and ham. Mexican and Italian. Two kinds of apple pie.

2. Plus Some Shopping. I also did Black Friday shopping, although no doorbusting. I bought I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett, though it is not yet clear how the protagonist Tiffany Aching, witch, intends to do so. No matter. There are Nac Mac Feegle, so the book is spectacular. If you don’t know who the Nac Mac Feegle are, you need to read The Wee Free Men right away.

3. But Mostly Words. Oh yeah, and I also wrote nearly ten thousand words during the duration of the trip. Despite having been in the car for almost six hours today, I’m exactly on schedule with my word count, at just shy of six thousand words to the end of the novel. That’s the end of Chapter Nine and all of Chapter Ten. Four days left. I plan to finish on the twenty-ninth, but if not, it’ll be the thirtieth. Either way, I will have written a novel that I quite like and for which I have serious and exciting revision plans in December and January.

HALFWAY

We interrupt your regular broadcasting to announce: HALFWAY, PEOPLE!

I’m feeling really good about Edgewood. From where I’m standing now, I’m absolutely going to finish on time. And the novel’s going quite well, in spite of / because of some minor unexpected events. The general contents of the next two chapters are largely assembled in my mind, and I’m excited to find out the exact details of what happens.

Supposedly, Week One is supposed to be the easy adrenaline-filled week and Week Two is where the writing gets hard. But I was sick during Week One and had to force myself to write, whereas Week Two has seen my plot and energy pick up significantly. I hope that means that Week Three, which is supposed to bring you to the magic 35,000-word mark, will be even easier.

P.S. If you ask really nicely, I might let you read the first half.

In which characters die

That should be the subtitle for three out of the four-and-a-fraction chapters that I’ve written so far.

Alongside said gruesome character deaths (drowning, mauling, supernatural disappearance), I’ve also perpetrated the following items:

  • Stolen a chest of gold
  • Kidnapped a young boy
  • Burned an old man
  • Killed a friendly dog
  • Described parental abuse
  • Dug a mass grave
  • Unexpectedly shifted shape
  • Screwed with the time-stream

Hello, everyone. My name is Kelly, and I write young adult fantasy.

Fifteen thousand

That’s 15,000 words in nine days!

I just finished Chapter Three on the wave of excitement from my highly productive word war with Chera. Half an hour. Nonstop typing. High stakes, or at least stakes of some kind. It was terribly fun.

I’m exactly on track to finish on the last day of the month.

Now I’m going to go eat something. Because that’s what writers do when they meet goals: they feed.

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