Tag: NaNoWriMo

Word count: 20,004
Recommended word count: 13,336
Proposed word count: 22,000

I’ve sort of lost track of what day it is.
It’s weird but it isn’t the writing which is dragging me in, down, backwards, wherever. It’s trying to do other things. As it goes this week is spectacularly busy compared to my usual rota of thinking.
Last night I performed with the very talented folks of Laughter Academy in a two hour improvised comedy show. It was a really good night and one that I thoroughly enjoyed once I managed to suppress the urge to just break down and cry onstage. We also raised £68 for The Prince’s Trust who I am currently fundraising for ahead of my trip to the Sahara next year.
Finishing the show I know it takes about an hour to return to a regular heart rate so told my brother to wait in the car while I caught up with people after the show. An hour later I wandered out into the night and headed home.
I say it a lot but I feel very fortunate to have met them all, and to be able to share a stage with them.

Right. Must write. Must stay awake. Must burn.

Pre-show tradition: hide in the toilets.

Word count: 18,040
Recommended word count: 10,002
Proposed word count: 18,040

I’m having a day off from writing today which means I woke up at five and wrote a thousand. I have an interview this morning and I’m going to a gig tonight and in between I have work so it doesn’t really leave me any time. I’m about five days ahead as it is, and I need to give Violet a bit of space. You know how women get.
I’m going to read The Great Gatsby today, possibly the whole thing, that’s what I’m aiming for. This is downtime to me. Is that bad?
Anyway old sport, must get on.

Word count: 12,512
Recommended word count: 8,335
Proposed word count: 15,000

Due to unforeseen circumstances (getting distracted watching films) I only managed to write 2,500 words yesterday. Still a pretty good day by my count. Today I’d like to match it. I’m on my way to the station now, to head to work. Some poor unrecognisable bastard will sit next to me on the train and have to deal with my incessant tapping but maybe they’ll become a loyal reader. I should really have business cards for those people. Let them know they don’t have to peak over my shoulder, let them know that there is a whole chest of my writing available if only they would take up the courtesy to ask.

I realised last night that in four days I have written a quarter of my proposed novel. That’s pretty good going when I remember that it took me the best part of a year to complete my first one. I hope you’re all enjoying the process NaNoWriMoers and I look forward to reading all of your work further down the line

Much love.

Word count: 5,007
Recommended word count: 5,001
Proposed word count: 10,000

So I didn’t write anything from when I put up yesterday’s blog up until today and there’s a good reason for that, I didn’t want to. I got far enough ahead that I was covered for three days for a reason and today is Saturday and my room is becoming a hub of activity as I drink gallons of tea, and listen to as much vinyl as possible and burn the candle from both ends and endeavour to double my word count by the end of the day.

Just because I mentioned it yesterday Jack White was awesome last night at the Alexandra Palace, I got to see him with his male backing band, when previously I saw him with the ladies. Each time that guy holds a guitar it just looks right. You can see him orchestrating the band with his free right hand in between strokes, he really is his own maestro. It’s a beautiful thing to see given the way The White Stripes ended, to see him rise again like a phoenix. He is most excellent.

Right, I had better crack on. Ridiculous self imposed word counts won’t complete themselves you know.

Word count: 5,007
Recommended word count: 3,334
Proposed word count: 5,007 (stick)

So it turns out this writing thing is really easy.
I’m joking. I’m joking! It’s not.
I’ve just got into this thing a lot quicker than I thought I would, or that I thought was possible, I can’t remember the last time I wrote so much in a twenty-four hour period, possibly at a weekend when I was working on Situation One. The difference being that yesterday I was at work for seven hours, and then went to my improv group. The words just poured out of me in between.

No doubt that I will now spend the weekend creasing my brow, and running my hands through my hair and trying to uncramp my brain as I struggle to get beyond that first chapter. I woke up suddenly just after five this morning and felt compelled to write. Taking a queue from another NaNoWriter I propped myself up in bed and wrote another 1,200 words before breakfast.

I now feel rested for the day ahead. I’ve not got a book, I’ve not got any notes, I’ve not got my laptop, I’m just going to commute today, and then try and write hard through tomorrow and Sunday.
I’m going to see Jack White tonight at the Alexandra Palace which I am very much looking forward to. The last time I saw him (at the Apollo) I felt compelled to write a review as soon as I was on the train home. It’s just pure and hard and brilliant.

Peace.

Word count: 0
Recommended word count: 1,677
Proposed word count: 2,000

My god, this backpack is heavy. It’s the first time I’ve ever had to cart it into work. It’s got my lunch, my pass and my old iBook in it. All set for day one.
This is also the first day in over two years that I haven’t taken a book into work with me. I always have a book to read on the train but today I’ll just be starting to write one.
Good luck to everyone taking part, stay crazy.

X

And so it would appear that NaNoWriMo is upon us. I would like to wish everyone the best of luck with it and ask that if anyone needs a break or a chat about how it is going then they turn to me because I know that I will need the same.

I’ve got a very basic plan of how this whole thing should roll out and I’m hoping that it picks up snowball momentum along the way, capturing offshoots of story and development of characters and that at the end of it I haven’t just typed fifty thousand words, but I have the bulk of a story in place because I’m not really one for redrafting and will probably try and push the job onto someone else (thanks Ben).

I’m going to try and find a way of writing my blog as well but can’t make any promises. I have written a post every day (to my knowledge) since February and I’m going to try not to break from this self-imposed tradition but who knows what could happen as we get close to the wire.

Follow my progress here.

until NaNoWriMo and I’m pretty settled on the winging it strategy. I have the basics set aside in my head and I’ve been reading a lot of Kerouac and Thompson to get into that totally free and rambling sensibility but beyond that I have very little really planned. I haven’t done a spider diagram or character development or settled on a title, I’m just going to let it pour on 1st November which should have been a Saturday if they wanted me to work hard from the off. As it is I’ve been scoping out the best position on the train to get a free seat for me and my laptop.

I think I’ve found it. Far beyond the platform is a jetty that sticks out and hangs off the end of the world. The last carriage comes in there and carries me safely to London. It has the added benefit that if we have a collision or the train derails then it is unlikely I will be injured as the bulk of the train will minimise the impact. These are the kind of things that haunt my mind at 7:25am on a commuter train to the big city.

Now I must finish Rum Diary and read something girly (for research).