In The Garden Living an RPG Life

Word count- 0000: My necessary total word count for today is 35007.  Will I get there today?  I plan to.  I did the planning yesterday for the next sections of the story.  Damon wants to connect tomorrow for a write in.  I need 3k words to catch up from the 17^th.  What will the final count be today?

As it turns out, nada.  I didn’t start writing till after midnight, after work.  I thought I would be writing.  I’ve had a couple of days of the blues and spent tonight reading about depression.  I feel better though.  I wrote quota.

Word count- 0500: I don’t know if I will write tonight.  I sorted out ideas today, while I was at work.  I realized that I hadn’t connected with the story’s needs over the last few days.  I have some ideas sketched out in my notes.  I also have the notes I made from the Marco Polo special.  Between those two elements, I have some of the basics I need for the rest of the story.

OK. Maybe not the rest of the story.  I do have context for building more of the story I want to tell.  That is important.

Word count- 0000: Took tonight off from writing as well as last night.  What did I do instead?  I hung out with friends online.  I also got to talk with Serge.  Those two events are not the same thing.  “Friends “means Adriaan mostly.

We spent time together and I met another person in the Furry crowd.  Adri also confided personal stuff to me.  Serge asked for my input as well.  I got to feel connected to people in virtual life as well as in real life. Writing? Gone.  In its place was experience.  I recognized no plans means no product.

Word count- 0000: I didn’t want to write today.  I worked. I have tomorrow off and I just wanted to have a weekend.  I haven’t even thought about where I want the story to go.  Nothing.  What I have done today is think about me.  Writing is bringing out issues that I am not used to facing.  I have just curled up and watched TV.

Not all of the issues are bad.  I am trying to sort out what I want to do next.  What is it that I want to achieve with writing?  I don’t know. Not yet, anyway.

Word count- 1719: Tired. Total is a palindrome: 32423.

Flash forward.  I’m filling in the log from havening completed the month.  This is as good a place as any to remind myself of what I spent the rest of the month focused on.  I obviously slumped a bit.

To catch up I started thinking in terms of what scene I wanted to write and what I wanted that scene to accomplish.  I had a beginning and I needed an end to get going.  Once I had those two parts the writing seemed to flow between them.  Concept and content flowed.

Word count- 1780+1853=3633:  Finished before midnight and after midnight so I’m including both of them.  Besides it’s the same location.  They are at the Inn and it’s Soul’s Return.  I’m still not done all I want to accomplish with this location. I have a couple more pieces I want to be sure to get into text before I am done the word count or the month whichever comes first.

I have four major pieces: the front with Taylor getting the bag, Pod and the contract, an attack on the party and their distress, her return.  I think that is all.

Word count- 1898/27073:  I am caught up and ahead based on having twenty five thousand words written halfway through the event.  I intend to spend today writing a few more scenes.  It’s Saturday after all.  RSA also has developed his own behavior with the television and since it’s annoying me, he said I could leave.

Looking at the word count I’ve written out, I have no idea what I was keeping track of.  Today’s count is the total so far.  That’s not a bad plan to post that number on the halfway date. Oh, it’s the daily word count. Cool!

Word count- 1740:  Flashback— I don’t know if the daily word count will add up in the end.  It’s just a way to keep track for myself, of what I’m doing each day. This year is more about my writng process. I realized that I need to finish the story over the word count.  I need to trim my thinking to focus on the scenes that tell the story.  If I need word count after that then there are lots of places I can edit for volume.

I also have the Lady and Tiger story to work on and in.

Word count- 3532:  Flashback—the Lady and the Tiger– I’ve been having a blue spell, which is why I haven’t kept the log regularly.  The flashbacks are noted because these are where I didn’t remember to make a log entry.  It is also my story process.

I seem to compress action from a previous time into a present reverie for the character.  I can mine them for action when I edit.  The story elements will be captured and my ideas held till then.  Meanwhile, I am getting on with the writing.  My story flow is not hindered. Best Nano practice.

Word count- 1794:  Flashback—Word war.  I did my first and I think only word war tonight.  Second Life has its own group, of course, and I answered the call to come hang out.  It’s not the same as writing in a café though.  I can’t feel people.  I know they are off writing somewhere else and it feels empty.

I didn’t win the war.  I started late for one thing and for another, someone else types like mad.  It was enough momentum to get me going and make my daily count.  I’m still behind, but I’m not losing ground.