Even nanowrimo losers are winners, right?
I finished with only 18K. But that's 18K more than I had.
I forgot exactly how busy the end of November was for us at work... The week of Thanksgiving was busier monetarily than any other week I've been at the carriage company. So that's a small reward for my nanowrimo failure.
I do intend to continue with my novel, and will post updates here.
Showing posts with label nanowrimo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nanowrimo. Show all posts
6.12.07
19.11.07
Day 19: 16946 words
Plugging along, but if I write 3000 words a day, I'll still make it.
Here's something I wasted more time on:
Here's something I wasted more time on:
16.11.07
Day 16: 13833 words
I'm still way behind, but its another 3300 words or so. If I keep writing 3000 words a day, I'll make the finish line.
I made a lot of progress today by outlining (making outrageously lengthy chapter titles) through the rest of my (general) plot.
Speaking of outrageously lengthy titles, this would be the title of my novel if it appeared in the eighteenth century:
A True Account of the Romance Recently Entered Into At The Circus Located at Twelfth and High Streets, John Bill Ricketts, Esq., Proprietor, Wherein Our Heroine, A Miss Elizabeth C____, Finds Matrimonial Bliss With Mister Jean M'Gowan, After Enduring Arduous and Terrible Trials and a Series of Most Unfortunate Misunderstandings During The Great Yellow Fever Plague Lately Affecting Our Fair City, An Historic Accounting Of Which May Be Currently Found In The Several Booksellers Of Philada.
I made a lot of progress today by outlining (making outrageously lengthy chapter titles) through the rest of my (general) plot.
Speaking of outrageously lengthy titles, this would be the title of my novel if it appeared in the eighteenth century:
A True Account of the Romance Recently Entered Into At The Circus Located at Twelfth and High Streets, John Bill Ricketts, Esq., Proprietor, Wherein Our Heroine, A Miss Elizabeth C____, Finds Matrimonial Bliss With Mister Jean M'Gowan, After Enduring Arduous and Terrible Trials and a Series of Most Unfortunate Misunderstandings During The Great Yellow Fever Plague Lately Affecting Our Fair City, An Historic Accounting Of Which May Be Currently Found In The Several Booksellers Of Philada.
15.11.07
Day 15: 10550 words
Oh, I'm seriously behind after not having written for the week straight I worked without a day off. I've got to figure out how to write on days I work. But I've passed 10K, and am rolling along now, I think.
I am reminded why NaNo is so much fun. Writing on the fly creates some wonderfully and sometimes weirdly beautiful things. For instance, I have one of my MCs nearly run over by a Conestoga wagon on the Penna Turnpike because he's on the "wrong" side of the road. And so I leave him there, standing on the wrong side of the road, which becomes a metaphor for his life. It needs refining, of course, but that's what December is for.
Favorite line of the day: “Dolly Todd is not a proper lady,” Anne snapped, crossing her arms. “She is from North Carolina.”
I am reminded why NaNo is so much fun. Writing on the fly creates some wonderfully and sometimes weirdly beautiful things. For instance, I have one of my MCs nearly run over by a Conestoga wagon on the Penna Turnpike because he's on the "wrong" side of the road. And so I leave him there, standing on the wrong side of the road, which becomes a metaphor for his life. It needs refining, of course, but that's what December is for.
Favorite line of the day: “Dolly Todd is not a proper lady,” Anne snapped, crossing her arms. “She is from North Carolina.”
7.11.07
Day 7 - 7168 words
Today was productive. I wrote 3294 words today, which is a fair clip. Now I'm only 4500 words behind! Ta ha! We'll see how it goes tomorrow when I actually have to work. But this is fun!
6.11.07
Day 6 - Still 3874 words
So instead of writing today (shame on me!) I took Chubba Bubba out for a spin around the yard under saddle.
But Wednesday is my day off, so back to work on my novel!
But Wednesday is my day off, so back to work on my novel!
5.11.07
Day 5 - 3874 words
So I wrote 3500 words today, and the novel is off to a good start, though I'm still only on the first scene/chapter. Onwards!
Back on track...
Things have slightly held me up at the beginning of this NaNo: The Italian Stallion and I held a party on Saturday night which required preparation on Friday, plus weekends are my busiest days work wise, so I didn't do any writing on Nov. 2-4. But now I'm back to work on my day off, and things are starting to chug along.
So, without further ado, here's my official excerpt (as seen on nanowrimo.org):
Hey, hey, hey, ho, Guin, ho! Ho, girl!”
Elizabeth felt a sudden sting across her cheek only a moment before she was knocked off her feet by a huge dark form, landing hard on the round cobbles. Spokes of a carriage wheel fluttered past, inches away from her legs, running whisper quiet over her skirts. Only then did she register the sharp ring of iron on stone, the unmistakable clip-clops of fine trotting horses.
In the dim glow from the street lamps, a mahogany bay horse wheeled around in the street she’d been crossing. The horse, harnessed to a light gig, was prancing and snorting, eye whites like crescent moons standing out against its dark head, breath in twin jets of steam from its nostrils. The sound of a second horse trotting disappeared down the street into the shadows, the even strikes of diagonal hooves fading away in the distance. The horse in the middle of Sassafras Street where Elizabeth lay clearly wanted to give chase to the other, but the driver in the seat talked incessantly in a low murmur. The horse’s ears flicked back and forth from the driver’s voice to the retreating hoofbeats.
“Easy, Guin, it’s alright.” The horse didn’t seemed convinced and let out a loud whinny, straining with pricked ears in the dark to hear a reply from the departed second horse. “Just relax. Ho. Ho.” The driver’s voice was male, deep, sonorous, soothing. Finally Guin the horse seemed to relax.
Elizabeth started to push herself off the cobblestones. Both horse and driver turned to look at her with concerned interest.
“Are you harmed, my lady? May I be of assistance?”
Elizabeth winced at the dull pain in her hip as she experimentally gathered her legs under her. “I think I’m uninjured, except for my pride.”
“Well, as they say...” the man in the gig trailed off as he set the long driving whip in the socket on the dashboard and in a fluid motion stepped off the cart, not bothering to climb down the wheel, landing gracefully on the balls of his feet. He strode towards her.
“As they say what?” Elizabeth asked apprehensively as he offered her a gloved hand.
“’Pride goeth before a fall.’” He smiled. “You said you were unharmed, but did not give a reply as to the assistance part.” Eyes twinkling in the moonlight, he nodded at his outstretched hand.
His smile reassured her, and she took his grasp.
So, without further ado, here's my official excerpt (as seen on nanowrimo.org):
Hey, hey, hey, ho, Guin, ho! Ho, girl!”
Elizabeth felt a sudden sting across her cheek only a moment before she was knocked off her feet by a huge dark form, landing hard on the round cobbles. Spokes of a carriage wheel fluttered past, inches away from her legs, running whisper quiet over her skirts. Only then did she register the sharp ring of iron on stone, the unmistakable clip-clops of fine trotting horses.
In the dim glow from the street lamps, a mahogany bay horse wheeled around in the street she’d been crossing. The horse, harnessed to a light gig, was prancing and snorting, eye whites like crescent moons standing out against its dark head, breath in twin jets of steam from its nostrils. The sound of a second horse trotting disappeared down the street into the shadows, the even strikes of diagonal hooves fading away in the distance. The horse in the middle of Sassafras Street where Elizabeth lay clearly wanted to give chase to the other, but the driver in the seat talked incessantly in a low murmur. The horse’s ears flicked back and forth from the driver’s voice to the retreating hoofbeats.
“Easy, Guin, it’s alright.” The horse didn’t seemed convinced and let out a loud whinny, straining with pricked ears in the dark to hear a reply from the departed second horse. “Just relax. Ho. Ho.” The driver’s voice was male, deep, sonorous, soothing. Finally Guin the horse seemed to relax.
Elizabeth started to push herself off the cobblestones. Both horse and driver turned to look at her with concerned interest.
“Are you harmed, my lady? May I be of assistance?”
Elizabeth winced at the dull pain in her hip as she experimentally gathered her legs under her. “I think I’m uninjured, except for my pride.”
“Well, as they say...” the man in the gig trailed off as he set the long driving whip in the socket on the dashboard and in a fluid motion stepped off the cart, not bothering to climb down the wheel, landing gracefully on the balls of his feet. He strode towards her.
“As they say what?” Elizabeth asked apprehensively as he offered her a gloved hand.
“’Pride goeth before a fall.’” He smiled. “You said you were unharmed, but did not give a reply as to the assistance part.” Eyes twinkling in the moonlight, he nodded at his outstretched hand.
His smile reassured her, and she took his grasp.
2.11.07
Nano Day 1 - 369 words
Well, I didn't exactly get off to a blazing start last night, but I've got the day off today, so we'll see if I can't get back on pace.
Does anyone want to adopt my Inner Editor for a month?
Does anyone want to adopt my Inner Editor for a month?
13.4.07
The Inaugural Post
Well, I've set up a blog to go with my "new" website, www.thedrafthorse.com.
Back in January-ish, over on the National Novel Writing Month forums, Chris Baty started the Year of Doing Big, Fun, Scary Things Together (YoDBFSTT). One of my goals for 2007 was to set up my own website. It's still under construction (i.e. not started other than having a nifty "Under Construction" page.
For the sake of introduction, though, here's my original posting over on the NaNo boards for my goals for 2007.
Well, it turned out that 2006 was my year of doing Big, Scary, Fun things...For instance, since November 1, 2005, I have:
1. Won NaNo 2005, though I didn't FINISH my novel, I just wrote 50K words. Nonetheless, participating in the amazing experience of writing a novel in 30 days changed my life. Becase after that, I decided to do other Big Fun Scary things, rather than putting them off for that proverbial "Someday." Hence, I:
2. Decided I did NOT want to be a history professor, so I dropped out of graduate school--3.5 years in to graduate school and close to being ABD, but who cares if it's not what you want to do! Major life change. Now what?
3. Moved to eastern France to be with my husband, who was doing research, for 3 1/2 months .
4. Walked between my city in France and the town two towns over (about 13.5 miles). Just because.
5. Lost about 40 lbs.
6. Returned to U.S. and took a hourly wage job developing photos so we could afford to have:
7. Moved to Philadelphia.\
8. Decided to follow a lifelong dream and work with horses. Consequently, I found THE MOST AWESOME JOB IN THE WORLD. I drive a horse and carriage in downtown Philly for a living now. Full time. Year round. And I give the best d**n history tour in town. But this is all kinda scary because A) I'm naturally a shy person who now has to approach total strangers all day and talk to them...I'ma performer now, and B) it's a commission job, so income is very variable and let's not even talk about taxes, and C) I've spent my entire life thinking I couldn't do physically demanding things. This winter I'm mucking stalls and am in the best shape I've been in my life.
So, what are my goals now? Where do I go from here?
drumroll
NAPOLEONDANCE's 2007 ADVENTURE LOG (In no particular order):
1. Actually finish that first draft of a novel I started for NaNo 2005. It's at 60K, but wants to be twice that long.
2. Spend more time not only taking my ceramics classes but spending time outside of class during open studio on them. I need to not be so afraid of people seeing my work.
3. Finally set up my own website with my own domain name for me and my DH.
4. Stop dreading financial things so much. That way I can be more proactive about paying off debt and building savings.
5. Cut back on the ol' calorated beverages. I'd like to lose 10-15 lbs more to be at my goal weight (probably closer to 10 lbs... I've gained a good bit of muscle...). Just because I burn so many calories grooming my 2000 lb. horsie that I can drink seemingly gallons of Coca Cola doesn't mean that I should. (OK, so I suppose that this means I have to put batteries in the digital scale we have...)
6. Write that article about urban horses that my friend has been suggesting I do, Figure out what to do with it then.
7. Keep in better touch with my friends from college and grad school. Generally try to be a little more social.
8. Find a 2 bedroom apartment that is in our budget and in Center City to move into. Though I HATE the thought of packing up everythign AGAIN and hauling it around, my DH deserves a nice place to do his work (and get all the books out of the general living space).
9. To avoid having to haul so much around again, finish sorting through my old papers and notes and GET RID OF STUFF. Do I really need notes from PE 101 from college 8 years ago? NO!
10. Although I was too busy finesse-ing the finer points of standing down SEPTA buses and Jersey drivers from atop a carriage to participate in NaNoWriMo 2006, participate in NaNoWriMo 2007.
11. Start on the research I've been meaning to do. That means going to the library.
12. Take more artistic photos.
13. Figure out how to make money from my artistic stuff and then make it.
14. I love to cook. My husband loves my cooking. So I should do it more.That's about it for now... Stay tuned for updates.
Yes. Stay tuned for updates. And more.
Back in January-ish, over on the National Novel Writing Month forums, Chris Baty started the Year of Doing Big, Fun, Scary Things Together (YoDBFSTT). One of my goals for 2007 was to set up my own website. It's still under construction (i.e. not started other than having a nifty "Under Construction" page.
For the sake of introduction, though, here's my original posting over on the NaNo boards for my goals for 2007.
Well, it turned out that 2006 was my year of doing Big, Scary, Fun things...For instance, since November 1, 2005, I have:
1. Won NaNo 2005, though I didn't FINISH my novel, I just wrote 50K words. Nonetheless, participating in the amazing experience of writing a novel in 30 days changed my life. Becase after that, I decided to do other Big Fun Scary things, rather than putting them off for that proverbial "Someday." Hence, I:
2. Decided I did NOT want to be a history professor, so I dropped out of graduate school--3.5 years in to graduate school and close to being ABD, but who cares if it's not what you want to do! Major life change. Now what?
3. Moved to eastern France to be with my husband, who was doing research, for 3 1/2 months .
4. Walked between my city in France and the town two towns over (about 13.5 miles). Just because.
5. Lost about 40 lbs.
6. Returned to U.S. and took a hourly wage job developing photos so we could afford to have:
7. Moved to Philadelphia.\
8. Decided to follow a lifelong dream and work with horses. Consequently, I found THE MOST AWESOME JOB IN THE WORLD. I drive a horse and carriage in downtown Philly for a living now. Full time. Year round. And I give the best d**n history tour in town. But this is all kinda scary because A) I'm naturally a shy person who now has to approach total strangers all day and talk to them...I'm
So, what are my goals now? Where do I go from here?
drumroll
NAPOLEONDANCE's 2007 ADVENTURE LOG (In no particular order):
1. Actually finish that first draft of a novel I started for NaNo 2005. It's at 60K, but wants to be twice that long.
2. Spend more time not only taking my ceramics classes but spending time outside of class during open studio on them. I need to not be so afraid of people seeing my work.
3. Finally set up my own website with my own domain name for me and my DH.
4. Stop dreading financial things so much. That way I can be more proactive about paying off debt and building savings.
5. Cut back on the ol' calorated beverages. I'd like to lose 10-15 lbs more to be at my goal weight (probably closer to 10 lbs... I've gained a good bit of muscle...). Just because I burn so many calories grooming my 2000 lb. horsie that I can drink seemingly gallons of Coca Cola doesn't mean that I should. (OK, so I suppose that this means I have to put batteries in the digital scale we have...)
6. Write that article about urban horses that my friend has been suggesting I do, Figure out what to do with it then.
7. Keep in better touch with my friends from college and grad school. Generally try to be a little more social.
8. Find a 2 bedroom apartment that is in our budget and in Center City to move into. Though I HATE the thought of packing up everythign AGAIN and hauling it around, my DH deserves a nice place to do his work (and get all the books out of the general living space).
9. To avoid having to haul so much around again, finish sorting through my old papers and notes and GET RID OF STUFF. Do I really need notes from PE 101 from college 8 years ago? NO!
10. Although I was too busy finesse-ing the finer points of standing down SEPTA buses and Jersey drivers from atop a carriage to participate in NaNoWriMo 2006, participate in NaNoWriMo 2007.
11. Start on the research I've been meaning to do. That means going to the library.
12. Take more artistic photos.
13. Figure out how to make money from my artistic stuff and then make it.
14. I love to cook. My husband loves my cooking. So I should do it more.That's about it for now... Stay tuned for updates.
Yes. Stay tuned for updates. And more.
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