NaNo - Day 30. Done.

Current wordcount: 120,624
Today's wordcount: 17,210

Time spent writing: All friggin' day.
Time spent on NaNo Boards: On and off, all day.

Today's soundtrack: Tori Amos, Barons of Suburbia.
Today's mood: Delirium.

*sigh*

The novel is done. I have typed 'The End,' gotten my final numbers.

Yes, today was a 17K day! I felt I needed to go out with a bang.

I was able to get to the end of the story, and I have an enormous sense of closure. Actually, no. I don't have an enormous sense of anything, except for the fact that I've been in the same position since five o'clock this morning.

I'm really proud of the writing I did on those last three chapters, specifically how I was able to say, in many varied and different ways, that the guy was in pain.

There's a *lot* of pain in those last chapters.

And I put the last minute twist in that I wanted to, and I think it reads just fine.

The computer light is beginning to shine a little too bright in my eyes. You know that feeling, when you have to squint to see?

I'm not stopping the blog, no siree. But I am going to modify it a bit - going to start my 101 in 1001 in the next couple of days. I'm also going to join NaNoPubYe, and see if I can get some help on editing this sucker.

I have to thank some people for getting me this far:

For those who offered their help - Shadawyn, AshWalker and MrsDBoone
Big V for all the medical/hospital help
AshWalker and Rosymamacita for the competition
Erin, Clarice and Alexis for organizing the meetups and dinners
The ThirtySomethings
The NaNoWriMo Singles Lounge
Guitarfolk for the Music
My friend Kate and sister Becky for the support
Eleven for the medical advice.
The AIM chatters for all the invaluable word wars
Quills and Quirks (Chris)
Thanks to NaNo for the Neo. It's *boss*.

I'm closing out of Word now, and I'm going to go troll around on the boards, and give NaNo some money for kicking my boo-tay this month.

I hope your NaNo journey was all you wanted it to be.

jules

NaNo - Day 30. Seven Twenty Pee Em.

*sigh*

Breathe In, Breathe Out.

There are four more sections to go, folks. In two chapters. 4200 more words.

I've been on a break since 6pm, and I think my eyes are learning to focus again. My belly is full of turkey burgers, and I'm ready to gear up again.

These last sections are kinda fun. In a tragic sort of way. They're mostly dream, hallucination, inner monologue. My main character falls down a six flight stairwell, and then has to climb back up again. To the top. His heart and breathing are already going nuts, his ribs are probably broken. He's hungry and thirsty, and he's just figured out why he is where he is.

And at the end, *then* you get to learn that Angel is no saint himself.

Heh, heh.

I am looking forward to being done, so I can run around the boards like it's the last day of school, hugging and thanking everyone and writing K.I.T. in everyone's yearbooks.

I'm also looking forward to adding up my final word count and sailing to the top of the New York City region list. And sharing with you how many words I've written today.

(My competitive edge has really reared itself these last couple of days. I'm a little embarrassed about it, but, whatever.)

back soon,
jules

NaNo - Day 30. When In Doubt, Degenerate Into Smut.

It's nearly three.

There's a word war on in five minutes, but I feel like it's the eleventh hour play by play, so here's a little update.

I did Chapter 11, Chapter 11 is *done*. A staggering amount of words for one chapter. I'm about to delve into the home run slide. The last three chapters have more violence and abuse than you can shake a stick at. But, the end is finally near.

It is decided: I'm finishing this thing today if I have to take the whole friggin' block down with me.

More soon, there's a word war on in five minutes, and I have to get some notes together.

Isn't it a beautiful day outside?

hugs,

jules

(The above title was generated in an AIM chat room. It's pretty good advice, sometimes. As far as fiction is concerned, at least.)

NaNo - Day 30. Five-Oh-Three-A-Em.

It's morning.

I'm up early to get started.

I'm happy that nearly every regular poster in the Singles Lounge has made it, and a high percentage of people in the ThirtySomethings have as well. Yesterday we heard from NoodleNoggin, who had twin girls on the 6th, and STILL crossed over the 50000 line yesterday.

People are amazing.

I can't really write with background noise going, so I'll be staying away from my beloved BBC7, which how I usually like to spend the day. Ack! Well, maybe I'll take some breaks.

Okay. Time to get coffee, and then rock and roll.

jules

NaNo - Day 29. Validated.

So, I did another 3000+ this morning, finished off my chapter 9.

I just got my purple bar.

But it's not over yet. Heh, heh.

I got a fantastic CD in the mail today from Burt, who sent me some gritty, city music. He made a fantastic cover for it as well, which I will scan in and show you as soon as I'm at work on Saturday.

I'm feeling quite tired. It was a long day. I had a meeting with producer #2. He didn't quite react as I'd hoped he would to the new songs. He's a strong willed one, producer #2. But, I'm equally strong willed. It will be interesting, to say the least, tangling with him.

I then went to a rehearsal for a backup singing gig that I'm doing on Friday. That was fun.

Typed all the way home.

I may hit the hay early tonight. There's lots to do tomorrow.

Cheers. Best of luck to all you home stretchers.

jules

NaNo - Day 28. Come Close. I Want To Tell You Something *Special*.

With only a few minutes in the day, I'm proud to announce:

Current wordcount: 100,349
Today's wordcount: 4,525

Time spent writing: 2.5 hours
Time spent on NaNo Boards: Almost none.

Today's soundtrack: Rolling Stones. The Kinks. Whatever loud music they were playing at the Tea Lounge.
Today's mood: Friggin Awesome. With a headache.

Today, I netted a little over 100K.

I went to the Brooklyn Tea Lounge write in tonight. I set a goal for myself, pass 100K or die trying. I didn't even get through chapter 9 yet. And I did acquire a serious headache. But, I did kick 100K's ass. Right now, I'm flying.

It was difficult writing in all the noisy surrounds of the Tea Lounge, but it was really great to meet some new faces. And, a woman was there from the New York Times! Hopefully there will be a story in the paper this week about us.

And things are going well on the music front: I recorded demos for three new songs today that all stand a chance of making the album. Woopee! I play them for producer #2 tomorrow, and hope they pass muster. (It's *very* difficult to pass muster with producer #2.)

I'm flying. I might even stay up and finish off Chapter 9 in the quiet comfort of my bedroom.

It feels *great* to be alive.

jules

NaNo - Day 27. Exhausted.

Added another 5,320 today, in two chapters.

Chapter 9 is a whopper. I may get to 100K on the strength of Chapter 9 alone. Poor Angel, all drugged up and hallucinating and trapped in the abandoned wing of the hospital, finds out some nasty stuff about the hospital's past. And he gets locked in a room in a psych ward. Poor guy.

My attention was spread over a few things today; hope I was able to complete some of them to satisfaction.

I can't remember how to make sentences. Going to bed.

Nighty night,

jules

NaNo - Day 27. AshWalker Said:

Keep smiling, keep it up, embrace the fear, love the fear, slap the fear around and make it your bitch.

When NaNo first started, I requested AshWalker's mentoring help. He sent me the awesome quote above, and then I haven't heard from him since. He's been off doing all manner of things, and is holding his own with a kick ass 93K words. He's got a really cool plot as well.

Yesterday, Rosymamacita from Brooklyn made me aware of the New York City region rankings. I was number #1, AshWalker was #2, and she was #3. I had no prior knowledge of this list, but since I've found out, I'm keen to keep my standing.

I spent a ton of time on music today, so they both are currently ahead.

BUT.

I'm cooking up some turkey burgers and getting ready for a furious write tonight.

(Rosy, the current #2, only *thinks* she has more words than I do. I did the whole of Chapter 7 this morning (a cool three thousand) and haven't claimed it yet.)

Nothing like a little competition, eh?

The days are busy for the next couple, lots of meetings during the day. But I'm going to try to go to the last Brooklyn write in tomorrow at the Tea Lounge. I'll succumb to the lure of the purple winner's bar on Tuesday or Wednesday. Thursday, I might have to go out with a bang. A furious, dangerous word explosion. We'll see.

Trash talkin',

jules

NaNo - Day 26. Blue Bars Shooting Off Into Oblivion.

Current wordcount: 90,504
Today's wordcount: 4,845

Time spent writing: 2 hours
Time spent on NaNo Boards: All day, on and off

Today's soundtrack: Spooky building noises (I'm alone in the office).
Today's mood: Pretty good.

I'm going to consider 100,000 a goal, even though I'd need 103K+ to officially have 50K on Novel #2. I'm trying to pick up the pace a little. The outline does need quite a bit of reshuffling.

How many pages are in a standard chapter? Okay, well, how many words then?

I have the whole thing sectioned into thirteen chapters and I've just finished six. No work tomorrow, but I have to get four songs that, ahem, aren't really *written* yet in shape to play them into a tape recorder on Tuesday. Ack.

I just found out that I'm number 1 on the NYC list, wherever that is. And another Brooklyn NaNoer is *racing* *me*!

It's on!

jules

NaNo - Day 26. A Light At The End Of The Tunnel.

Or rather, there's only light. Because there is no tunnel.

I've been taking all of this too seriously. This whole business of not finishing my Novel #2 was making me sad and ill, but since yesterday I've pulled back a little and gotten some perspective, courtesy of Stephen King.

Yesterday, upon Robbie's suggestion, I wandered into Borders books and picked up Stephen King's On Writing. This is a brilliant book. I started reading last night upon leaving work, around 9pm, and I'm about 160 pages in. It's only part memoir, chronicalling key events from King's early days as a writer, the crap jobs he's held, the triumph of the sale of his first novel, Carrie. He doesn't go too deep into his cocaine/drink addiction, but the reader is left in no doubt about its effect on his life. I'm only part of the way into the "technique" section, but I think I'll put the rest aside to devour after November is over.

There are some amazing quotes in this book, my current favorite is:

What you know makes you unique in some...way. Be brave. Map the enemy's positions, come back, tell us all you know.

Reading about Stephen King's journey has been tremendously inspiring to me.

He reminded me that a writer's life is not started and ended in a month. A writer's life is made of days and months and years and hours and minutes and seconds, put into the work. I don't read nearly enough and certainly haven't written nearly enough to be the kind of writer I'd like to be, but I am thankful for this book as a reminder: There is a tremendous amount of work to be done, but it *can* be done.

I'm a couple of days late for Thanksgiving, but I'd thought I'd take a moment to acknowledge the things NaNo has made thankful for, even if I don't write another word this month:

***I do love story.
I wrote stories before I wrote songs, as a young child and pre-teen. After a near two-decade lapse, NaNo reminded me why.


***There are stories that are mine to tell.
I'm sure I have found at least one story that will sustain a 90,000+ word telling. My job is to work on it. Not just until November 30th at 11:59pm, but until the story is *told*. In the best manner it can be told.


***I can sling words like the pros at my local deli can sling hash.
Stephen King writes 2000 words a day. Which made me perk up a little - I've had two 10,000 word days (so far, looks like there may be another one coming).

I am, in no way, comparing myself or my writing to Stephen King or his writing. Whether my words make an interesting, well-told story is another matter entirely. But it's nice to think I can at least fashion the marble from which a decent work of art *might* be chiseled.


***It's fun to convene with people doing the same thing as me.
The NaNo board and the blogs and the AIM chats and the meet ups have been great.


***It's fun to share this work with people I know and love.
And get them thinking about the stories *they* have to tell, as well.


So, I'm going to relax a little about not having completed a masterpiece in November. I do, however, want to get to 100,000 words by November's end. I have about 14,600 more words to write before I achieve that. That's doable. More than doable.

And nothing to sneeze at.


jules