Anything Fictional

Final official word count: 50,928!

Yep, still a winner. And now just showcasing the other NaNoWriMo winner badge that they give you when you win.

As much as I was writing a few days ago how I was going to power past 50,000 words, now that it’s the end of the month, I’m just exhausted. Now that the pressure’s off, I’ve fallen in a heap and all I want to do is sleep.

I’m mostly happy with what I’ve written in the past 30 days. I felt like the story was going nowhere in the beginning, but the story really started to flow and be interesting (or at least, I think it is - future readers may have a different opinion though!) towards the end. And it’s a first draft, which typically means its inconsistent, confusing, and melodramatic, and I’m sure my story is all of those things, so hopefully in the next few months I can revise it, explore more of the themes of the story, tighten the plot in places, characterise the people of the story more, and create a more vivid setting. Even though the 50,000 words is done, the hard part is still to come.

I’ve still got a few more scenes to write before the end - possibly about 5000-10000 words - and yes, I know I said the same thing last year and never got around to it, but I’m actually going to do it this time!

Word count: 50,231!

Hooray! I made it to 50,000 words, and one day ahead of schedule! For all the things that have been going on this month - trips to Sydney, watching Ironman competitions, working on weekends, etc, etc - I’m surprised that I made it there at all.

So I’ve become an official NaNoWriMo winner for 2008. Once you hit 50,000 words, there’s a facility on the NaNoWriMo website to paste in the text content of your novel, and they will do an official verification of your word count. Interestingly, the count the website gives you is slightly higher than what you see in MS Word. At the moment, my official word count on NaNoWriMo is 50,497. It’s nice that it’s a little higher that MS Word, instead of lower.

So is that it? No, most definitely not. I’m heading out to dinner tonight, and maybe I’ll do a little bit more later. But I will definitely do some more tomorrow. I have no intention of trying to beat the 60,000+ I did last year, not at this late stage. But last year, I’m pretty sure I didn’t have all the commitments that I did this year, so I’m still very proud of my effort.

One more day to go, and I’ll see if I can’t do another couple of thousand words before the official end of NaNoWriMo…

Word count: 46,944.

I’m now only 3,056 words away from becoming a NaNoWriMo winner for the second year! With any luck, I’ll be there by about this time tomorrow, if not a little sooner.

Having today off to write had been great! I was at my desk and writing by 8:30am, and had a few breaks throughout the day, with Maria coming over at lunchtime for an hour or so before going off to get a haircut. It’s our five year anniversary tomorrow, so we are heading out to dinner tonight. So that’s why I’m not intending on doing any more writing tonight. Close to 3,500 words is pretty good for a single day, and I’m well within reach of making the 50,000 by Sunday night, so I’m taking the night off to have a nice relaxing dinner.

Having the day off today to focus on writing has been fantastic. I could really get used to it. Not only does writing get done, but also it’s a good time to be at home for other reasons as well. I had someone come around this morning to fix the blinds in the living room of my flat that no longer opened and closed properly, and also I could be here for the delivery of the flowers I’d ordered for Maria for our anniversary. A good friend and great writer, Bella - who I started a writing group with a few years back - used to have a day off a week to focus on writing, and I got a bit of a taste for it today.

Hmm, now how do I convince the company I work for that I want this to be a regular thing…

Word count: 43,599.

Today saw me do only about 500 words or so. That was partly due to conscious choice, and partly due to the poor decision to go out for a few drinks after work (mostly the second, though!)

Having worked on Saturday last weekend, I arranged to have tomorrow off work, so today felt a bit like a Friday for me anyway. When I get caught up in nights like out like that, in the past I’ve been inclined to stay out fairly late, even if I have to work the next day.

But I actually thought I was being good. I left about 8:30pm, but by the time I got home and had a little bit of dinner, it was 9:30pm, going on 10pm. So I did a little bit of writing. I’m glad I did something at least.

So now, after talking to my partner Maria on the phone for twenty minutes, I am making the executive decision that I would be much more productive tomorrow if I just go to bed and get a good sleep.

I can begin the final 6,401 words of my novel tomorrow…

Word count: 43,024.

The end is definitely in sight now, of both NaNoWriMo and my novel. I’m actually quite excited about how the ending is coming together. I’m finding these scenes interesting to write, and hopefully, for the reader, they will be full of suspense and surprises. And if their not, well, it’s only the first draft, and a very planned on at that.

I am looking forward to the end of NaNoWriMo though - mostly for the obvious reason that it will be exciting to have finished another novel in 30 days. But also for the fact that I can get plenty of sleep again. I’ve always been a bit of a night owl, but it’s just felt like every night this month I’ve been up till midnight or later writing. And as fun as writing can be - its great when you experience that loss of time cuz you’re so involved in it! - it can be a mentally draining activity. Especially after you’ve been at work all day working on other mentally draining activities.

And I’ve already got the champagne in the fridge for Sunday when I write those final words!!