Martin Livings

Well, I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it this year, but I gave it a go, and I kicked its nonexistent ass [1]! So, both woos and hoos to me.

Bizarrely enough, it was much easier than I expected this year. Perhaps it's because I'm getting more used to the long form (this is my fourth 50k+ ms to date, not counting my joined "Blue Road" novellas from the very very VERY early days!), or maybe it's because I'd been thinking about the plot to The Changeling Child for almost a year beforehand, but either way, apart from a couple of shaky days, the beast flowed freely.

I think NaNoWriMo is one of the absolute best ways of learning to write, especially in the long form. The extreme time frame makes you pretty much throw away your notes, your plans, your careful use of words and structure, all your usual safety nets and security blankets. All that's left is you and your writing instincts, and all you can do is trust them to lead you in the right direction. I suspect that it's the writing equivalent of skydiving - you leap from the plane and hurtle towards the ground, and pray that the parachute will open. It's exhilirating. Everyone should try it at least once.

Congratulations to those on my f-list who made their 50k, and commiserations to those brave, fallen souls who didn't. But don't despair, there's always next year! Join me then for the writing of The Long Night, Book Two: Kiss of the Banshee. I might make this into an annual tradition, writing a draft of these books every November.

Or not. Whatever. ;)

And huge thanks to everyone here who encouraged me all the way through. I hope it was worth it!

( Final word count graph below cut... )

[1] - though what an event like this needs an imaginary donkey for, I'm honestly not sure... BOOM BOOM!

And so it's done, thanks to a last burst of writing while Izz was in the shower this morning. Huzzah!

Thanks to everyone who encouraged me over the last four-and-a-bit weeks, and to my fellow NaNo's, whether you succeeded for failed, it really doesn't matter in the end. All that matters is...

I succeeded. Nyah nyah nanah nyah! ;)

Oh, and best error ever, from Word when I scrambled my document for word counting, but it should have applied before that as well...

So, the good news is, I'm nearly finished.

The bad news is, I am finished. The story ended. The dramatic conclusion occurred. The epilogue played out. I have no more story to tell.

And I'm short! Argh!

So now I have to go back and pad it with about 1500 extra words somewhere. I'm thinking at the start, my chapters were really short back then, before they settled into nice 3000-odd word lengths.

Nonetheless, tricky. :(

Worst day imaginable. Not only did I not write any new words, I cut my notes and stuff out of the file in preparation for the final week, so I actually lost words. That friggin' sucks.

Now I have to write over ten thousand words in five days. Three of which will be entirely occupied with training. So the challenge is, 5000 words a day for the next two days.

Jesus. I might fail this year.

Barely on track. And entirely done after Izz went to bed. I might have to try that over the weekend as well, though it means I'll get not a lot of sleep, but hey, that's nothing new.

Also, a palindromic word count. Always good. :)

Blurgh, what an utterly horrible day of writing. Still on track, barely. I think I'm coming down with a cold; Izz has a full-blown sore throat and cough, so it's only a matter of time. Actually, I wonder...

(checks previous NaNoWriMo novel manuscript)

Yep, this is about the stage I got sick in that one as well. If it follows that pattern, I should be pretty well dead by Friday, the 23rd.

Hoorah.

Still running nearly a full day behind, but considering I didn't write a word over the weekend, I guess that's not TOO bad. But boy, do these characters just want to talk and talk about the backstory! Yes, azhure, I'm looking at you, blabbermouth!

Next bit - Tess gets to go on an adventure with a boy she doesn't like. Or does she? :)

Just another day. It's definitely more fun writing Kat's sections than Tess'. I hope that changes next chapter, when Tess gets to have her own adventure at last. Also, boy, is there a lot of talking in this book. Lots of backstory to get through. It's hard to know how much is too much, and how much is not enough. But then again, this is NaNoWriMo, so I probably shouldn't be thinking too much about it, and just go with the flow. :)



Current place in story - Kat is speaking with a regal-looking sidhe in the Hall of the Fallen, after escaping the clutches of the militaristic forces on this side of the Faerie Tree, in the Second World, Tir Gan Anam, or Land Without a Soul. Meanwhile, in the First World, Tess and Jared are preparing to set out to rescue her, despite the complaints of the defenders of the Seven Townships. Trust me, it'll all make sense. Or maybe not.

Incidentally, I've nearly completed my contractual obligations of including people as characters in this book. We've had ashamel (leader of the fae military), azhure (a sidhe looking for a peaceful solution to the troubles) and chrisbarnes (in the form of Old Mrs Barnes, the delightful landlady of the Raven's Keep). All I need now are seven hundred and fifty punkrocker1991's, which will be along soon...

Starting to struggle now... damn my lack of forward planning... forgive me, halspacejock, I knew not what I spoke of! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! [1]



[1] Still beating you, though... ;)

Back on track! Still no idea what happens next, mind you. Plotting ahead? That's for losers! [1]



[1] Sorry, halspacejock! :)