Not really all that much to say today.
I made word count and I'm on track to finish on the thirtieth. I'd quite like to get a few thousand words into a buffer but at the moment I'm pretty pleased with myself.
Also I've now hit 30000 words for the month (including this blog) meaning this month is already my most productive month this year!
Gone back and started a new chapter I realised I needed but I'm moving the story forward at the same time so I don't get too bogged down cycling back to fix things. Got some pretty epic shit to throw at my protagonist in the next few chapters. I'm looking forward to it.
Still enjoying writing this novel, I think I'm just feeling the after effects of the whole PhD thing. IT's taken a few turns where I didn't expect which is keeping things interesting. And I've just about sorted the plot for the sequel, which is pretty exciting.
Need to finish this one first though. Then on to the next.
November Word Count
Day 1 3734 : Total 3734
Day 2 2044 : Total 5738
Day 3 1701 : Total 7439
Day 4 1690 : Total 9129
Day 5 1887 : Total 11016
Day 6 2034 : Total 13050
Day 7 3632 : Total 16682
Day 8 1065 : Total 17747
Day 9 1279 : Total 19026
Day 10 545 : Total 19571
Day 11 0 : Total 19571
Day 12 0 : Total 19571
Day 13 309 : Total 19880
Day 14 3170: Total 23050
Day 15 2001 : Total 25061
Day 16 1663 : Total 26724
Monday, 16 November 2015
Sunday, 15 November 2015
NaNoWriMo 2015 - Day 15
Not much to say today.
Spent most of the day helping a friend turn a few barrels of apples into juice for later cider making. I was surprised by jut how much hard work it was. I was pretty exhausted when I got home from that and didn't really feel like writing. Made myself sit and do some anyway.
The plan was to write 3k words today, which didn't happen. I did manage 2k, which got me to 25000 words (half way!) and back on track. If I can manage 2000 words a day from here on out (which I was doing in the first week) then I should hit the target by the end of the month.
Managed to get past the scene that was giving me trouble and now we're about to hit a bunch of action. With a bit of luck that means the words will be coming thick and fast for a while.
We'll see what tomorrow brings.
November Word Count
Day 1 3734 : Total 3734
Day 2 2044 : Total 5738
Day 3 1701 : Total 7439
Day 4 1690 : Total 9129
Day 5 1887 : Total 11016
Day 6 2034 : Total 13050
Day 7 3632 : Total 16682
Day 8 1065 : Total 17747
Day 9 1279 : Total 19026
Day 10 545 : Total 19571
Day 11 0 : Total 19571
Day 12 0 : Total 19571
Day 13 309 : Total 19880
Day 14 3170: Total 23050
Day 15 2001 : Total 25061
Spent most of the day helping a friend turn a few barrels of apples into juice for later cider making. I was surprised by jut how much hard work it was. I was pretty exhausted when I got home from that and didn't really feel like writing. Made myself sit and do some anyway.
The plan was to write 3k words today, which didn't happen. I did manage 2k, which got me to 25000 words (half way!) and back on track. If I can manage 2000 words a day from here on out (which I was doing in the first week) then I should hit the target by the end of the month.
Managed to get past the scene that was giving me trouble and now we're about to hit a bunch of action. With a bit of luck that means the words will be coming thick and fast for a while.
We'll see what tomorrow brings.
November Word Count
Day 1 3734 : Total 3734
Day 2 2044 : Total 5738
Day 3 1701 : Total 7439
Day 4 1690 : Total 9129
Day 5 1887 : Total 11016
Day 6 2034 : Total 13050
Day 7 3632 : Total 16682
Day 8 1065 : Total 17747
Day 9 1279 : Total 19026
Day 10 545 : Total 19571
Day 11 0 : Total 19571
Day 12 0 : Total 19571
Day 13 309 : Total 19880
Day 14 3170: Total 23050
Day 15 2001 : Total 25061
Saturday, 14 November 2015
NaNoWriMo 2015 - Day 14
Today was the first real day of playing catch up. Done pretty well to be honest, despite a really slow start. I'm well and truly into the post-viva funk and have no motivation to do anything whatsoever. But this novel won't write itself so I need to crack on.
The progress graph I'm keeping looks really silly now I've started to gain on the word count again. I've added it here just because it amused me. Also because graphs = science.
Managed the 3k I wanted write today just just about put me back on track. Gonna go for another 3k tomorrow to get my buffer back. We'll see what happens after that.
Story wise I've hit a bit of a block. There's a few scenes here and there that I realised were needed so I've gone back and put them in, but it does mean I've not really been moving the forward all that much. I think part of my reticence is because I've reached a major argument between my protagonist and her best friend (a character I really like) and the inevitable result is the friend's departure from the story. Which I'm not really looking froward to.
I just have to tell myself that with the best friend (and my protagonist's voice of reason) out of the way I'm free to throw a whole bunch more trouble at my character to see what happens. Just gotta get through this scene first.
And keep on writing.
November Word Count
Day 1 3734 : Total 3734
Day 2 2044 : Total 5738
Day 3 1701 : Total 7439
Day 4 1690 : Total 9129
Day 5 1887 : Total 11016
Day 6 2034 : Total 13050
Day 7 3632 : Total 16682
Day 8 1065 : Total 17747
Day 9 1279 : Total 19026
Day 10 545 : Total 19571
Day 11 0 : Total 19571
Day 12 0 : Total 19571
Day 13 309 : Total 19880
Day 14 3170: Total 23050
The progress graph I'm keeping looks really silly now I've started to gain on the word count again. I've added it here just because it amused me. Also because graphs = science.
 |
| Graphs mean science. It's true. I have a PhD, I know these things. |
Managed the 3k I wanted write today just just about put me back on track. Gonna go for another 3k tomorrow to get my buffer back. We'll see what happens after that.
Story wise I've hit a bit of a block. There's a few scenes here and there that I realised were needed so I've gone back and put them in, but it does mean I've not really been moving the forward all that much. I think part of my reticence is because I've reached a major argument between my protagonist and her best friend (a character I really like) and the inevitable result is the friend's departure from the story. Which I'm not really looking froward to.
I just have to tell myself that with the best friend (and my protagonist's voice of reason) out of the way I'm free to throw a whole bunch more trouble at my character to see what happens. Just gotta get through this scene first.
And keep on writing.
November Word Count
Day 1 3734 : Total 3734
Day 2 2044 : Total 5738
Day 3 1701 : Total 7439
Day 4 1690 : Total 9129
Day 5 1887 : Total 11016
Day 6 2034 : Total 13050
Day 7 3632 : Total 16682
Day 8 1065 : Total 17747
Day 9 1279 : Total 19026
Day 10 545 : Total 19571
Day 11 0 : Total 19571
Day 12 0 : Total 19571
Day 13 309 : Total 19880
Day 14 3170: Total 23050
Friday, 13 November 2015
NaNoWriMo 2015 - Day 13
All has been quiet on the NaNoWriMo front for a few days owing the fact that yesterday was one of the most stressful days of my academic career. Yesterday afternoon I had to sit in a room for two and half hours and convince two people with PhDs that I deserved to get one too. And I did it! I'm a few bits of writing away from achieving the highest academic qualification you can study for.
I can do that. Writing things is no problem.
Which is why NaNo has taken a back seat this week. I managed 545 words on Tuesday and nothing Wednesday or Thursday. Got back to writing today but I'm planning to give myself a few days to come down from the post-viva high before I knuckle back down with the novel. And then job hunting and thesis corrections I guess.
Managed about 300 words today. Not great, but it's a start. And it's better than nothing. I just did a hell of a thing that I'm immensely proud of myself for so I'm going to cut myself a bit of slack on the writing front.
Sometimes life gets in the way of writing, and that's ok. The trick is to pick yourself up and get writing again afterwards. That's my goal for tomorrow.
November Word Count
Day 1 3734 : Total 3734
Day 2 2044 : Total 5738
Day 3 1701 : Total 7439
Day 4 1690 : Total 9129
Day 5 1887 : Total 11016
Day 6 2034 : Total 13050
Day 7 3632 : Total 16682
Day 8 1065 : Total 17747
Day 9 1279 : Total 19026
Day 10 545 : Total 19571
Day 11 0 : Total 19571
Day 12 0 : Total 19571
Day 13 309 : 19880
I can do that. Writing things is no problem.
Which is why NaNo has taken a back seat this week. I managed 545 words on Tuesday and nothing Wednesday or Thursday. Got back to writing today but I'm planning to give myself a few days to come down from the post-viva high before I knuckle back down with the novel. And then job hunting and thesis corrections I guess.
Managed about 300 words today. Not great, but it's a start. And it's better than nothing. I just did a hell of a thing that I'm immensely proud of myself for so I'm going to cut myself a bit of slack on the writing front.
Sometimes life gets in the way of writing, and that's ok. The trick is to pick yourself up and get writing again afterwards. That's my goal for tomorrow.
November Word Count
Day 1 3734 : Total 3734
Day 2 2044 : Total 5738
Day 3 1701 : Total 7439
Day 4 1690 : Total 9129
Day 5 1887 : Total 11016
Day 6 2034 : Total 13050
Day 7 3632 : Total 16682
Day 8 1065 : Total 17747
Day 9 1279 : Total 19026
Day 10 545 : Total 19571
Day 11 0 : Total 19571
Day 12 0 : Total 19571
Day 13 309 : 19880
Monday, 9 November 2015
NaNoWriMo 2015 - Day 9
Today was hard.
Anxiety about the viva is ramping up and I had the flat to clean in preparation for my mum coming to visit tomorrow. I didn't have a lot of time to write and by the time I sat down to do some it was quite late.
Managed 1200 words but it was like pulling teeth the whole time and not just because it was a difficult scene. Still, I managed to break 19000 words tonight, putting me approximately 4000 words ahead of the target.
There will be better days. I knew this week would be hard and it would affect my word count. Getting any words down is a win and I'll happily take that.
November Word Count
Day 1 3734 : Total 3734
Day 2 2044 : Total 5738
Day 3 1701 : Total 7439
Day 4 1690 : Total 9129
Day 5 1887 : Total 11016
Day 6 2034 : Total 13050
Day 7 3632 : Total 16682
Day 8 1065 : Total 17747
Day 9 1279 : Total 19026
Sunday, 8 November 2015
NaNoWriMo 2015 - Day 8
Day 8 of NaNoWriMo and the first day of week two. A chance to start afresh if the first seven days didn't go quite according to plan.
My first week exceeded my expectations. I had an intricate plan all set up using Pacemaker that was designed to give me an easier word count target in the run up to my viva and increase the difficulty afterwards. Yeah, that went out the window. Instead I've been aiming for 2000 words every day, and if I've not felt up to that the at least I've made the minimum of 1667. Except for yesterday when I shot for a double up target of 4k and only just missed.
The plan for today was to do another double up in an attempt to hit the 20k mark. Then I'd be able to shoot for 1000 words a day most of this next week in the knowledge that I'm fairly comfortably ahead. Alas, things don't always go according to plan.
I only hit 1000 words today in the end. I started late and found it difficult to make myself sit down and write. Days like this are part of the reason I like to front load challenges like this; it's much less overwhelming for me if I know I can have a bad day or even skip a day because I'm ahead.
Even so, today wasn't a total bust. I'm 1000 words further ahead than I was yesterday and I realised I needed to go back and add another chapter in earlier on. Previously I had a big time skip between one event and what happened next but I realised I needed to deal with the immediate aftermath of the inciting incident better. Plus it means I get to hang out with one of my favourite characters some more.
Still having fun, still enjoying the story. Hopefully that means that other people will too. When I'm done.
November Word Count
Day 1 3734 : Total 3734
Day 2 2044 : Total 5738
Day 3 1701 : Total 7439
Day 4 1690 : Total 9129
Day 5 1887 : Total 11016
Day 6 2034 : Total 13050
Day 7 3632 : Total 16682
Day 8 1065 : Total 17747
My first week exceeded my expectations. I had an intricate plan all set up using Pacemaker that was designed to give me an easier word count target in the run up to my viva and increase the difficulty afterwards. Yeah, that went out the window. Instead I've been aiming for 2000 words every day, and if I've not felt up to that the at least I've made the minimum of 1667. Except for yesterday when I shot for a double up target of 4k and only just missed.
The plan for today was to do another double up in an attempt to hit the 20k mark. Then I'd be able to shoot for 1000 words a day most of this next week in the knowledge that I'm fairly comfortably ahead. Alas, things don't always go according to plan.
I only hit 1000 words today in the end. I started late and found it difficult to make myself sit down and write. Days like this are part of the reason I like to front load challenges like this; it's much less overwhelming for me if I know I can have a bad day or even skip a day because I'm ahead.
Even so, today wasn't a total bust. I'm 1000 words further ahead than I was yesterday and I realised I needed to go back and add another chapter in earlier on. Previously I had a big time skip between one event and what happened next but I realised I needed to deal with the immediate aftermath of the inciting incident better. Plus it means I get to hang out with one of my favourite characters some more.
Still having fun, still enjoying the story. Hopefully that means that other people will too. When I'm done.
November Word Count
Day 1 3734 : Total 3734
Day 2 2044 : Total 5738
Day 3 1701 : Total 7439
Day 4 1690 : Total 9129
Day 5 1887 : Total 11016
Day 6 2034 : Total 13050
Day 7 3632 : Total 16682
Day 8 1065 : Total 17747
#whimword - Kindness
It was kindness that did for him in the end.
Pity or derision he could have coped with, but it had been so long since he'd experienced genuine kindness he didn't known how to deal with it. A simple gesture was all it took to undo him completely.
In Metropolis no one pays any attention to the homeless. There are so many in the streets that you can't possibly help them all, so you learn not to see them. You find your gaze sliding past doorways full of huddled bodies because even if you acknowledge their existence there's nothing you can do. Everyone in this godforsaken city is a just a bad day away from joining them.
No one wants to help. No one can help and those that are supposed to turn a blind eye. That's just the way of things here.
He'd long since given up on the kindness of strangers but still he put his bowl out every day. Not so much because he hoped someone would take pity as much as he didn't know what else to do. Beggars begged, even if there was little or no chance it would come to anything.
The day was grey and wet; bad weather for begging even in a city where people have a heart. He sat huddled in his cardboard shelter, trying to conserve heat as best he could. His belly ached with hunger; it had been three days since his last meal.
Out of the gloom stepped a little girl, no more than six years old. By the way she was dressed she was the daughter of someone wealthy and important; he did his best to ignore her.
She moved towards him, slowly, deliberately, her head tilted to one side in curiosity. "Excuse me sir," she said, ever so politely. "Why are you sat out here in the rain?"
He laughed, hacking up several days' worth of mucus in the process. "I have nowhere else to go, little girl. No one wants me"
"Why not? Did you do something bad?"
"No, nothing like that. I'm old and too much effort to look after. Not worth keeping any more."
"I'm sure someone thinks you're worth something," she said with a naive certainty that warmed the old man's jaded heart.
"Maybe," he conceded, smiling, "but if they do they're far away from here."
"*I* think you're worth something. Here, I came out to spend my pocket money but I think you need this more than me."
She held out a fistful of cash. He took it uncertainly, sure there was a catch somewhere. She was called away by her nanny after that, leaving him with her fairly substantial allowance. He thanked his lucky stars.
That night he ate like a king and rented a comfortable bed in the finest inn he could find. It had been years since he'd known such luxury, his body didn't know how to cope.
He died in his sleep that night, happy and content.
Pity or derision he could have coped with, but it had been so long since he'd experienced genuine kindness he didn't known how to deal with it. A simple gesture was all it took to undo him completely.
In Metropolis no one pays any attention to the homeless. There are so many in the streets that you can't possibly help them all, so you learn not to see them. You find your gaze sliding past doorways full of huddled bodies because even if you acknowledge their existence there's nothing you can do. Everyone in this godforsaken city is a just a bad day away from joining them.
No one wants to help. No one can help and those that are supposed to turn a blind eye. That's just the way of things here.
He'd long since given up on the kindness of strangers but still he put his bowl out every day. Not so much because he hoped someone would take pity as much as he didn't know what else to do. Beggars begged, even if there was little or no chance it would come to anything.
The day was grey and wet; bad weather for begging even in a city where people have a heart. He sat huddled in his cardboard shelter, trying to conserve heat as best he could. His belly ached with hunger; it had been three days since his last meal.
Out of the gloom stepped a little girl, no more than six years old. By the way she was dressed she was the daughter of someone wealthy and important; he did his best to ignore her.
She moved towards him, slowly, deliberately, her head tilted to one side in curiosity. "Excuse me sir," she said, ever so politely. "Why are you sat out here in the rain?"
He laughed, hacking up several days' worth of mucus in the process. "I have nowhere else to go, little girl. No one wants me"
"Why not? Did you do something bad?"
"No, nothing like that. I'm old and too much effort to look after. Not worth keeping any more."
"I'm sure someone thinks you're worth something," she said with a naive certainty that warmed the old man's jaded heart.
"Maybe," he conceded, smiling, "but if they do they're far away from here."
"*I* think you're worth something. Here, I came out to spend my pocket money but I think you need this more than me."
She held out a fistful of cash. He took it uncertainly, sure there was a catch somewhere. She was called away by her nanny after that, leaving him with her fairly substantial allowance. He thanked his lucky stars.
That night he ate like a king and rented a comfortable bed in the finest inn he could find. It had been years since he'd known such luxury, his body didn't know how to cope.
He died in his sleep that night, happy and content.
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