NaNo - Day 30. Done.

So, it's just gone 9pm, and I've struggled over the finish line, at 54,037 words.

I have 123 pages in front of me, hot out of the printer. I will bind this, and probably never look at it again. The story might be salvageable. I dunno. Can't think about it now.

I do feel like doing some celebratory eating.

Speaking of celebratory eating, I went down to North Carolina for Thanksgiving. My sister has a house down there, and so we all (my brother and his girlfriend, my mom, and my sister and her kids) congregated for food and Phase 10. I am pretty crap with babies, as my four month old nephew demonstrated. He's adorable, but given to vomiting. Or maybe that's just in my imagination. My seven year old nephew is capable of full conversations at this point. My sister's house is never, ever silent.

On thanksgiving day a couple of my sister's friends came over, a ranking officer who was to deploy to Iraq in a matter of hours, his wife, a medic in the army who would deploy in two weeks, and their young daughter. I watched them laugh and talk, while feeling...fear, I guess it was...for them at the back of my throat. Families must be saying goodbye all the time. I don't know how they deal with that life. I deal with it in part, I worry for my sister and I worry for her boys.

I'm seeing what I can cook up for December, project-wise. There's going to be something. Jodes and I are meeting tomorrow to plot and plan.

Congratulations, all you writers.

jules

NaNo - Day 26. Headed out.

Headed down to North Carolina for a couple of days.

Happy thanksgiving to you and yours.

jules

NaNo - Day 25.

I wrote today, completely without intending to. Added another 3K, bringing the total up to 44K. Just about halfway through the outline.

But, I have eight hours on planes over the next three days. The world can be accomplished in that amount of time, as far as NaNo is concerned.

Watched BallyKissAngel all day. Stephen Tompkinson is a hottie. I like Northern Lads. Would love to freak someone out with my Irish accent.

I'm headed down to North Carolina to spend Thanksgiving with my family, meet my tiny nephew. I hope someone's bringing the Uno cards.

Today I wished I was more dry and cynical, but now I'm thinking the better of it.

happy holidays,
jul

NaNo - Day 22. Taking it Easy.

I didn't write a word after my 10K yesterday.

I left my home and went out and had fun.

First at the NaNo gathering in midtown, I got some caramel brownies and some vegan coconut cake.

And then I watched Chris do comedy, at a beautiful little theater around the corner. Funny.

I picked up Jonathan Franzen's book of essays: How to be alone. I am reading it and enjoying it very much, if "enjoying" is the word for it. Existence is difficult, creative reach is difficult. I appreciate when people tell the truth about it.

This morning I walked into my deli and there was Duran Duran on the sound system. The Reflex, then A View to a Kill, then Ordinary World. I walked out, with breakfast, floating.

My head is being retooled. I want to have fun today. This may or may not involve writing.

j.

NaNo - Day 21. Challenge Check In #3.

Okay, an additional 2,315 words, to make 10,704 total. I'm over the hump!

I originally wanted to be done by now (3pm). There's still 6,296 to go.

Seven scenes left, but I can write at about 1000 per scene and be good to go. Yay.

I am going to break for a pop tart, and more 15 Storeys High.

woot,
jul

NaNo - Day 21. Challenge Check In #2.

Okay, another 2,711 in another 48 minute session. 8,389 total. Lots of dialogue, which tends to slow me down.

The good news is, I'm finally off the first page of my outline. Yay.

The bad news is, I have about nine more scenes to write, only just about halfway through my desired wordcount for the day. It's almost 1pm and I'm nowhere near finished.

I've overshot a little bit, so the word count comes down a little per scene - 1100, or thereabouts.

My wrists are twanging slightly, so I'm going to take a mini break for my new obsession - Sean Lock's 15 Storeys High. Great, great radio. The TV series is pretty great, but radio show is even more off the wall.

Sean Lock reminds me much of my favorite ex-boyfriend - borderline cockney, endearingly zany. Sean has an extra measure of keenness, brain-wise. He's totally believable, no matter what he says. I dig him.

England swings
like a pendulum do,
j.

NaNo - Day 21. Challenge Check In #1.

3009 words in about 50 minutes.

I used Write or Die in Kamikaze mode, with the "Evil" grace period setting. "Evil" really doesn't leave you much time to think.

Two more scenes, and I'm off page one of the outline. Although I'm slightly behind as far as the story is concerned.

And all of this writing is crap, pretty much. Every friggin' word of it.

5,678 total for the day, so far.

more soon.
j.

NaNo - Day 21. The Challenge Begins.

Okay.

It's 10am on Friday. I'm setting myself the 2 day challenge of 17K per day. This will have me finished by Saturday night, but I'll also get a taste of how next year will go. I already got started this morning - Dana has 2600 words I restlessly typed at 1am.

I'd like to get 17K done tomorrow as well, although I'll be working a 10 hour shift. If I can keep that kinda word count up on working days, I will be *golden*.

My goal is to finish 14.4K before 3pm, which gives me a few hours to do errands before I have to leave for the evening.

Tonight will be spent in Hell's Kitchen - Livvy's bringing brownies to Bar 9, and then there's a friend performing a couple of blocks away.

Check in a couple of hours.

Write or die,
jul

Nano - Day 20. A Challenge.

Okay. I figured out how I'm going to get through this thing.

Two days. 17K words per day.

I consider it practice for next year - I want to join the half million club next year. That pace is 17K per day.

Theoretically, I can do this no problem. After doing the 50K in a Day last year, my notion of what is possible has exploded. But, doing 17K every single day will definitely be a challenge. I'll have to have everything outlined and very well set up. I even have a rough plot, something I was supposed to start last year.

The truth of myself is that I'm more of a sprinter, not a marathon runner.

I'm really good at short, sharp bursts of energy, not sustained energy over time. Even now, after I'm done with the current draft of my story, I'll have to admit to myself that it's still only a kernel of an idea. Some serious reworking will be required before it's anything that can stand up on its own. More work than I've ever done on a piece of writing.

It's something that I'm worrying about with songwriting as well. How do you take something that is currently a good idea to being as good as it can be?

I feel like I'm in a dark, locked room, feeling around on the walls for a doorknob. Or a window that I can let up. Something that might let some air in. Now it's just...dark.

I pulled out two of my favorite books, Martin Amis's The Information, and John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces. I'm worrying over which to dive into first (when I have DeLillo's Underworld and Gruber's The Forgery of Venus also calling my name).

It's been a sad morning - I spent it watching David Foster Wallace show his soft, flayed, yearning, eager humanity on Charlie Rose. Still feeling quite devastated over his suicide.

j.

Nano - Day 18.

Last night I went to the meetup at the Tea Spot.

I kinda knew what was up, I knew that these meetings are often more social than writing. But, I was greeted with such an outpouring of love from a hot steamy room of writer friends I haven't seen for so long, I am not going to grumble that my output at the meetup last night was zero words.

My noble acts for the evening included having a mexican hot chocolate, and being fully distracted by the Distractivores, who weren't writing, but distracting everyone trying to write.

Evil Dan is moving to Boston, so last night was his going away party. Half the room emptied to go to dinner with him, and the other half emptied half an hour later. I had done no work. So, I typed like crazy on the way home, and with Write or Die later on that evening. I got my 3K, bringing my total up to 30K now.

I still feel oddly divorced from my plot, but I will struggle on toward the end. What I should do is pick up the pace significantly, satisfy myself with 1000 word scenes and just try to get through the action as quickly as possible.

I hope I can finish this thing in a week.

j.