NaNoWriMo, Day Twenty-Nine

NaNoWriMo, Day Twenty-Nine

I set my iTunes account to my “Soundtracks!” playlist, turned up the volume on my headphones, and buckled down to pound out a couple thousand words, in hopes of leaving only a few hundred for myself tomorrow. I jumped in the middle of a scene of mayhem, and didn’t stop typing until over an hour later. The climax was a lot more emotional than I expected. Since none of you are going to get to read it, I’ll just tell you: Peter March (the charismatic owner of the hot-air balloon) sacrificed his life to save everyone else. Did I cry? Why yes, I did.

Within the hour, I had pounded out a grand total of 3,336 words and brought the story to a complete and bittersweet but satisfying ending. My grand total?

50,002!

That means I won NaNoWriMo— a full day early! My fingers are really sore now, and I feel pretty drained. Even though this project isn’t as ambitious as my novels in years past, I still feel a great sense of accomplishment.

I’m going to celebrate by watching a Christmas movie with my family. Thanks for coming on this journey with me, dear readers. Time to hang up my NaNoWriMo hat… for now. Until next year!

Cheers and love,

Lisa

NaNoWriMo, Day Twenty-Three

Mine is the power of waffles.

Today, in between creating an experimental coconut cream pie, buying a turkey, and making waffles, I wrote 3,270 words, which officially brings me up to being two days ahead of schedule. I will immediately lose this lead over the next couple days: Thanksgiving tomorrow, and 11-hour work day on Black Friday. In the meantime, though, I can relax.

Here’s wishing you and yours a lovely Thanksgiving!

~Lisa Shafter

Total word count: 41,677

NaNoWriMo, Days Nineteen through Twenty-Two

The ball is rolling in my story; whenever a scene lags, I jump to the next one and build the impending conflict, which at this point is looking to be a World War I inspired battle involving trenches, grenades, and magic. Although I’m not going to revise or post this story, I’m having fun with the character development, the world-building, and the ideas that may someday sneak into a different story. In the meantime, here are my word counts:

Day Nineteen:

Words written: 2,038

Day Twenty: 

Words written: 634

Day Twenty-One:

Words written: 1,642

Day Twenty-Two:

Words written: 3,380

Total word count: 38,407

Status: one day ahead of schedule

~Lisa Shafter

P.S. Why the photo? Sorry, I'm too cute and steampunk to answer that question.

NaNoWriMo, Day Eighteen

NaNoWriMo, Day Eighteen

Over the past couple of days, as I lay half-passed-out in my bed with a disease known as the common cold, I’ve done a lot of thinking. I thought about the novel that I’ve been blazing through. Yes, every year I complain about how disjointed the first draft is, and how much work it will be to edit it. Every year, I find that it’s not quite as bad as I thought, and I edit and post it anyway.

This year, however, I’ve reached a decision. I’m not going to post this year’s novel online, nor am I going to do my traditional fundraiser for the year. 

This is mostly for two reasons: one, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed lately, and this is one of the easiest things in my schedule to let go. Two, rewriting a novel (even just to get it to be readable) is a massive undertaking that spans several months, and that time would be better used actually getting my work published.

With that in mind, if you’re disappointed that you just didn’t get the chance to donate this year, I encourage you to check out the two groups that I usually fundraise for: Samaritans Purse and Voice of the Martyrs. Both are worthy causes, and I pray that you remember them this Christmas.

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/

http://www.persecution.com/

~Lisa Shafter

Total word count: 30,693

Status: ahead of schedule

NaNoWriMo, Day Fourteen, Part Two

Yesterday, in between editing my writing students, I paused long enough for two massive writing sessions. My fingers flew over the keyboard, expanding upon plot twists, writing notes to myself about what the heck was going on. Long pointless conversations! Plot twists that don’t make any sense! Incredibly easy escapes and incredibly difficult stretches of nothingness! All part of this year’s NaNo. 

In the end, though, it was worth it. Total word count for the day? 4,327! I completely caught up, so I’m back on schedule today. This year, that’s really all I’m asking for.

~Lisa Shafter

Total word count: 23,407

Status: on schedule

NaNoWriMo, Day Fourteen

Yesterday, I buckled down and wrote a pointless fight scene and an extremely long expository dialogue that gave away information that I should have known all along, but didn’t until this point. This knocked out about 3,000 words, which means that to be on track, I only have to write about 4,000 words today. This is the farthest behind I’ve ever gotten on NaNo, but I’m determined to catch up in the next couple days!

~Lisa Shafter

Total word count: 19,080

Status: 4,258 words behind

NaNoWriMo, Day Ten

The past few days have been a happy blur, but it’s not been a blur of writing. This blog is not a place to give news on every bit of my personal life, but it’s worth mentioning that this week I decided to start dating a friend of mine. Everything, even NaNo, has seemed like less of a priority since then. 

For all that, I’m determined not to let myself get too far behind on my word count. I’m almost exactly one day behind at this point, a deficit which I hope to regain tomorrow. In the meantime, I’m too busy feeling happily bewildered to do much except plow through my word count lately. (Oh love, that makes fools of mortal men!) Perhaps in a few days, I can buckle down and start storytelling again, but in the meantime, I suppose that I’m just not suffering enough to write anything meaningful. 

Total word count: 15,039

Status: behind schedule

~Lisa Shafter

NaNoWriMo, Day Seven

As I have mentioned several times already, this year's NaNo has been a challenge. Today, passing the 11,000-word mark, I feel like I hit my stride.

After several long boring conversations and pointless character encounters on a train, a few of my characters finally ended up on The Intrepid Marshmallow, the lovely hot-air balloon of Peter March (whose identity and part in the story has yet to be determined). Also, I picked up on something resembling an actual plot thread, which was encouraging. And I'm even a little ahead on my word count.

I've felt more relaxed over the past few days, and I think it's showing up in my writing. I'm moving forward with the characters and ideas that I like, and leaving the rest behind.

~Lisa Shafter

NaNoWriMo, Day Five

Last year, I was able to write in spurts— a few hundred words here and there throughout the day until I had my word count. However, this year I seem to need to write in a solid block, writing straight through until I find a thread of plot. Today I managed to write for about an hour straight, which yielded a sufficient word count and such amazingly moving sentences as this:

“Good morning, Renn,” Daria said in a voice so dramatic that Renn felt she would drown in emo syrup.

Hey, a word is a word, right? 

~Lisa Shafter

Total word count: 8,431

Status: on schedule

NaNoWriMo 2011: A Slow Start

On November 1st, I sat down in a half-asleep frenzy and began banging on the keyboard of my Macbook. “The War had been going on for as long as anyone could remember, and as far as Renn and everyone else in Glynhaven were concerned, it would go on for the rest of eternity.” Thus began my novel for 2011, with me running along behind the action with no clue of where it was going.

I am still running. This novel wanders to and fro, meandering over the genres, mixing metaphors, introducing characters who will most likely fade away halfway through. Renn is a nearly blank slate, all the names sound too much alike, and I seem to have forgotten how to give any character a personality. The story doesn’t even have a title.

I’m used to snagging an idea early on and letting it mull in the back of my brain. I’m used to developing a semi-cohesive plot before beginning, and working out the main character’s sketches before proceeding. Not so this year. This year I just plunged in.

Yesterday, I honestly considered giving up. I’m just not feeling it this year, I thought.

Then I realized that was ridiculous. Lisa Shafter, give up on NaNoWriMo? Preposterous! Yes, the story doesn’t make sense at this point. Yes, it’s random and the characters are stupid. But, in the wise words of my former self: “It’s first draft. Why would I want to read it?” 

Hence, I begin blogging for the season. I’m running late on everything except word count: as of yesterday, I have written 5,010 words— right on schedule. And, as everyone knows, the only important accomplishment in NaNoWriMo is your word count. Welcome to the wild ride!

~Lisa Shafter