In The Garden Living an RPG Life

Word count- 1735:  Flashback—Taylor, finally.  I finally wrote the “villain” into the story.  He has been the opposition for a while.  Originally he was opposing another character in another novel. I decided to put him in this one and now I don’t know why.  It doesn’t matter though.  I still get o find out more of his story so that I can edit (finish) the novel he starts in.

Keeping the story limited by viewpoint characters is really helping.  I can introduce any number of people while telling the main characters’ stories.  Just not too many of them, though.

Word count- 11,000:  I finally got some of the hand written pages typed up.  I usually get more word count when I do that since I underestimate the words on any of my pages.  I had over a thousand in the three full sized pages.  I get about sixty words on one of my little sticky note pages.  On one I had over a hundred!

I’m counting all the words I write towards the story these days, so not all of the words are narrative.  A lot of them I wrote to tell myself the scenes I want to see.

Word count- 1762: It’s only five minutes after midnight and I am finishing up the word count for the day.  It took some effort to not associate tonight’s words directly with those of last night.  Though I wanted the writing to be part of the two dimensional scene from last night, it took on a life of its own.

I’m tired tonight.  More than I was last night.  So, I let the images and words spill out on the page.  I did accomplish the goal I set of the writing.  I established the girls’ relationship.  Legend is there as well.

Word count- 1849: I’m 4327 words behind.  All the word count so far is based on an estimate of the words I’ve written out longhand.  Today I talked instead of writing.  It was not time wasted, though.  I got to revisit what I’d written.  Not just in this novel but in the previous ones as well.

I discovered that the main character will have a role in the next novel.  I also realized, later, that when I add more action to the scene I wrote last night, I will be adding characters that I can use in the story later.

Word count- 0700: Wrote out a scene on yellow sticky notes today, the square ones.  I love doing that.  Writing on sticky notes then figuring out an approximate word count.  I wrote on 14 four and a half inch square pages and figured each page held 50 words or more.

The scene? The three major players meet.  Of course I didn’t know exactly how they would meet.  I miss my characters when I’m not with them.  I love how they surprise me when I am. I am enjoying this relaxed way of getting to their stories. November’s a great month!

Word count- 0000:  Oh, did I say that I couldn’t go to sleep until I had written out ideas I had about the story?  I forgot to include that writing in my word count estimate.  Actually got up and went for a pen, turned on the light, and made notes.

I saw clearly the way the story ends.  That gave me a better sense of what I had to do to tell the whole story.  I have a beginning, an end, and with the calendar, I have the shape of the middle.  The “villain” isn’t major yet, but he’s mentioned.

Word count- 0300:  Rather than say I’ve not written anything, I’m going to count all my sketches and ideas that come from reading.  Today, I made notes based on ancient earth rituals and celebrations.  The effect was that I have a timeline that I didn’t have.  The information suggested lots of other elements in my story including the actions of the adversary.

I also got word count story material from Second Life.  My neighbor inspired, not a story line, but a series of tales that the bard can tell.  Telling them will add to the relationship between the main characters.

Word count- 0600: That is an estimate of the three pages I wrote long hand.  I figured about 200 words per page and called that six hundred words.  I was at work and had my clipboard with me and some paper on it.  I didn’t know what I was going to do.  Mostly, it was because I didn’t know if I would have time to write.

I don’t feel terribly pressured this time around.  I don’t know if it’s because I don’t mind losing this year, or if I have a different, albeit unconscious, plan.  Only November thirtieth will tell!

Word count- 1859: This is going to be a catch up couple of days.  Once I realized how I needed to work, my heart settled into the process.  Already, it’s helped.  I realized that the way I set the novel up is wrong for the story I want to tell. Yes, she will have a love interest.  No, he is not the second view point character.

I’m also listening to Harry Potter in the car.  I’m listening for the changes that indicate scene changes, conflicts, and why chapters end the way they did.  This year is becoming my writing school.

Word count- 0100: I got up, went to work, came home and worked on capturing the notes I’ve made so far.  There is a lot of material from the other novel drafts that needs to be organized for this one.  The story line of one of the characters from the second Nano was never thought through.  I had to do that first.  Fortunately, it helped set up the questions for his appearance in this story.

I got things ready for work tomorrow, though.  My work has changed this year, and my strategy for Nano needs to change also.  More structure.