So, I’m writing this on Nov. 4th because last night I was writing right up until midnight (11:30) and didn’t have time or the inclination to sit down and then write a journal entry. Last night I clocked in at 1519 words (under goal) bringing me to 5123 words total so far. I’m still above average, which is pretty good, but we’re still only three days in at this point and I need to pick up the pace.
I am relatively happy that I managed to get those fifteen hundred words written all while cooking supper, doing laundry, getting my hair cut and then cleaning the kitchen.
I’m into the third chapter now. I’m keeping them fairly short to try and give it a somewhat snappy pace. I’m just about at my first, short, space battle and I’m looking forward to having a little fun with it. I’ve been going back and forth as to give my characters the win, or to let it end with them barely getting away. I want to do a mix of both, but I’m really leaning toward not putting the screws to them quite yet. Things are going to get plenty tough for them in the near future.
Monday’s have a sacred purpose: Ruining the weekend. Oh, if only it were still the weekend, all the writing I’d do. Nevertheless, I persevere and attain my goals.
Today’s words: 1672
Total words: 3604
So…my story doesn’t reeeeaaaaalllly know what it wants to be yet. I’ve read all the Honor Harrington books several times which I’m stealing most of my “space navy” vibe from, but I don’t want it to be super serious like the Honorverse is. This is probably just a matter of finding my voice for this particular story. Ideally, what I’m going for will be a sort of Firefly / Honorverse matchup with a touch of Pirates of the Carribean…except no one is going to be Jack Sparrow. I don’t think I’ve got a role for Johnny Depp in my story. Still…maybe I can shoehorn in a sword fight in space. That would be fun. Avast!
So, I thought that I would do a little daily writing diary here during National Novel Writing Month. With luck, having to record that I did not, in fact, write anything for a day will keep me a little more honest.
I probably could have gotten a little more done today, had I done some proper outlining before the start of November, but whatcha gonna do? I made up for a little lost time and got an outline started that will hopefully save me time as I get into the month and also managed to write 1932 words.
No matter what else, I’m off to a decent start. I may write a bit more later on tonight, but honestly, I’ll probably play some video games or read.
In the beforetimes, there was National Novel Writing Month. A spectacular explosion of writing and creativity, it brought author to keyboard like nothing since the creation of the typewriter. When I first participated it was an interesting experiment to see if I could manage to write a full fifty thousand words in a single month. By some miracle I managed to do it! It was awesome! I felt invincible and was keen to keep using their mighty handy tools and graphs to continue on into December.
But then they disappeared: Gone until next November (or the camp event that’s in the summer but we all know that it isn’t as good.) This, I thought, shall not stand, for I have a need for those motivational tools. Thus was born the inspiration for WordKeeperAlpha. Now, just a couple short years after my first NaNoWriMo, its a thing that I created that people actually use. This is enough to blow my feeble mind.
Now, I would never want people to not participate in NaNoWriMo on their website. That’s where the magic really happens. You get together with your fellow authors and keep pushing the words out until you hit your goal. But, if you use WordKeeperAlpha too, and want to keep track of the words you write in November, here’s a quick and handy guide to getting your project set up.
First, if you don’t have one, sign up for an account on WordKeeperAlpha.com. Go on, I’ll wait until you’re up and running. … … Good? Eh, they’ll catch up.
Next, go to your Goals and Projects page, and click the “Add a project button.” Refer to the image below to add in the information then click “Create”.
Bam! You’re already ready to go! But wait, you probably want one of those nifty graphs like you see on NaNoWriMo.org. For that, you’ll need a goal, in fact, you’ll probably want two goals. First, we’re going to create a repeating monthly goal, which is what will create that nifty graph. Before we do that though, you’ll have to remove any other repeating monthly goals that you might have, or just edit one.
Use the information below.
Make sure you keep the project field blank. Due to a problem with the way I originally made the code you can’t have a project selected for that graph, but its something that will be fixed in time for next year’s NaNoWriMo. This means that all the words you log in November will be displayed on the graph…which is a short coming, I know…but if you’ve got time to write more than one thing in November you really have my respect.
Next, you’ll probably want a repeating daily graph. Use the information below to create it.
There! You’re done and ready to go for National Novel Writing Month!
Some people have asked me if there’s any way to support WordKeeperAlpha, (yes, they really have) and one of the best ways is to spread the word. The more users I have the better I feel about myself as a human being. It’s a sweet balm to my black soul. But, there’s no financial way to do that yet for reasons. While I will have something soon, this month, if you’d like to do something for WordKeeperAlpha, instead think about going over to NaNoWriMo.org and making a donation. Without them, this crazy project never would have happened.
In future years, once I’ve gotten better organized, I plan on doing an actual campaign for them, so for now I’ll just send people to donate to them directly. The good people at NaNoWriMo.org depend on the donations of all the authors they encourage every year. So if you’ve got five dollars to spare, go and drop it in their tip bucket, or give them a shout out on Twitter or Facebook. We want to keep them doing what they’re doing and supporting developing authors into the far future.
Ok, that’s enough chatter from me. I’m six hundred words into my day’s word count and I have much more left to do. Later, Keepers.
Wow. It’s been two months since I actually sat down and did any writing. I know. I know. For someone who, someday, wants to make my living writing this is not the way to go about things. I’ve got lots of excuses and reasons but really, it just comes down to a profound lack of responsibility. If I ever want Impervious to be done, I’ve got to sit down, focus, and glue my hands to the keyboard.
And so, that’s just what I’m going to do. Just… not with Impervious. November is mere days away, and I’m feeling like the perfect way to get my ass back in gear is to start something new and fresh. Let an idea that’s been bouncing around in my head for months out to play.
Last year, I tried making the second draft of Impervious my NaNoWriMo project, but it didn’t work out so well. The year before, I took a break to write something new and different, and it just worked great. I think that’s because during that first draft you can really give yourself permission to suck a little bit and just have fun with what you’re writing.
So far, I’ve stuck entirely to fantasy because, well, to be honest, I haven’t had to research much for it, so far. Why do certain things work? Magic, that’s why. Well, screw it. I’m going to write some science fiction for this years NaNoWriMo. I’ve got a fun story in mind that should let me have a lot of fun.
What’s it going to be about? I’m not telling you, random internet stranger. We’ll see how it goes during November. Then maybe I’ll share a few details.
Besides, I’m still working on the details myself. I’m sort of a hybrid pantser / outliner and I’ll be keeping with that this year. Right now I’m mapping out the story in broad strokes, figuring out what goes where, what characters I need, and what their names are. The more I can do to streamline the actual writing the better.
By the by, if anyone wants to join me as a writing buddy on the NaNoWriMo.org, I’m sswanson. Feel free to add me and I’ll add you back.
Any WordKeeperAlpha users should stay tuned here. Tomorrow night I’ll be posting a quick “How To” to set up a Project for National Novel Writing Month and keep track of your words. I know my system is different than NaNoWriMo.org’s, at least in terms of how you track your words, but I did make it to be complementary. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get the new Goals and Projects pages up and running before November, but I’m sure the current functionality will get you through the month.
