Day 13 update

Starstruck: 12,800 words.

Still way behind, thanks to spending the extra effort on Hunted. But the lines of where I am and where I should be are starting to converge... slowly.

Things I'm taking away from this year's nano:

• Practice is good. I think this goes without saying - the only way you get to be a better writer is by writing more.
• It takes time to "get into the groove". I already knew this from hours spent staring at the keyboard  prevaricating, and doing anything, anything else instead (well almost anything: I didn't stoop to horrible things like ironing or hoovering, obviously).
• Once you're in the groove... don't stop! Obviously. See point 2.
• I am *not* a "discovery" writer. Unless discovery is all about meandering digressions about space toilets cos I can't think how to advance the plot (but hey, I did discover a floater, in the context of zero-G is *really* gross. Unfortunately for me, that was around dinner time!)
• There maybe a good novel in there somewhere, but this is not it. I'll keep bashing on, in the hope that I at least come up with a few good ideas that will be usable somewhere else, but I don't think this novel is destined even for the slush pile...

Writing group tonight. Should be fun :)

Till next time...

Hunted: First draft finished

92,000 words and the first draft for Hunted is finished! (yay!) Going to print it out for posterity (maybe the start of the legendary pile of manuscripts under the bed...!), then make a dozen backups in different formats & different places -- don't forget off-site backups people: What would you do if the house burnt down?)

And then it's playing catchup with WriMo... :)

Day 5 update

Hunted: 85,500 words
Starstruck: 6,000 words

Sunday was pretty much of a write off, on all levels. I think really I needed to recharge the batteries. The movie I wanted to see at the cinema wasn't even on at my local flea pit. I really hate it when they trail a movie for weeks on end, and then when it finally comes out they decide not to show it. Grrrr.

So anyway, I ended up watching the first two Twiglet films on blu ray, in advance of the last one coming out soon. (I haven't actually seen any of them before or read the books, so it's all new territory)

Yesterday, again I spent more time on Hunted. I'm working on the build up to the big third act showdown, and it's coming along quite nicely (no spoilers). I did get in a few hundred words on Startstruck too, but it still leaves me behind on the word tally. Some catching up to do...

More anon. :)

Day 3 Update

Hunted: 83,250 words
Starstruck: 5,300 words

Ben has finally ridden the Space Elevator up to BritSat Station, although he had to suffer the ministrations of some officious security personnel in the process (no moving fuzzy blobs to distract the viewer in literature, not that this is "literature") Anyhow, the eventually let him aboard the "puck" and he's off. When the elevator docks, Ben is able to give his first reaction to being in space. Unfortunately he will have to clean it up himself...

As I mentioned yesterday, I had the final line of Hunted, and so now I've written the final scene to go around it. I just have to remember the ending while I write the final conflict, so I don't introduce any embarrassing continuity errors (like the wrong people live/die or something!)

It's a mucky wet Sunday, so I might just go see what's on at the flicks this afternoon...

Day 2 Update

Hunted: 82,150 words...
Starstruck: 3,490 words...

In which Ben, our hero, reaches the Space Elevator base station in the Maldives, and checks in (eventually). The elevator is on one island, the airport is on another. There are water taxis to take people from one to the other. Except their charges are not exactly straightforward. Or low. And if you don't (or can't) pay them, you swim...

Overnight, the last line of Hunted came to me, so my first job today will be to write the final scene. (which is not the same as finishing - I still have some build-up and final conflict to write.)

More tomorrow. :)

NaNoWriMo 2012 kicks off

Hunted: 81,000 words down
Starstruck: 1780 words down

So November is NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month, a challenge to write a 50,000 word "novel" in 30 days. I'm entered in the challenge - Tim_A if you want to buddy me - and I'm writing a novel called Starstruck. Its science fiction and features a character called Ben, who is a 20 year old janitor aboard the Starliner Queen Elizabeth IX. Unlike Hunted, which has been planned and outlined to the nth degree, I'm pretty much making this up as I go along. Which should be interesting.

Hunted is about 9,000 words shy of being done. I wanted to get it finished before WriMo started, but things conspired. Valiant effort though, and it's rather like doing WriMo two months running. I'll still try to get it finished early this month though, so I can get it out to a couple of people for an alpha read.

Next update tomorrow... :)