I Think I Can, I Think I Can

Like a little engine that could, I keep chugging along.

After almost catching up on Wednesday last week (just over 1,000 words behind) I had a couple of really busy days that totally derailed me again.

Thursday I managed to squeeze in 1,000 words (the daily goal is 1667) but Friday I only managed a measly 350 words. Yikes! But… yesterday I kept plugging away and despite not liking the last scene I was working on AT ALL, I wrote an amazing 3,800 words, just shy of my goal of 4,000 words.

Right now I'm only about 350 words behind. I’m really hoping I can write at least 3,000 words today to put me ahead of the game, just to have a few extra in case of an emergency. Thursdays and Fridays tend to be my lowest word count days, but NaNo doesn’t officially end until midnight on Saturday, so I’ll be able to barricade myself in my office and write until I drop if I fall behind again.

Surprisingly enough, I’m still enjoying my story. Usually by this time I’m ready to just jettison the whole thing into space, but I’m kind of curious to see how this is going end. Right now is a bit of a struggle because my characters are pretty much just sitting around on a luxury space ship waiting for the Big Event so I’m having a hard time coming up with things to fill in their time.

My Elementals have been pretty isolated for most of their lives, so I figure learning self defense might be a good idea – they could use the exercise and I could use the words. After my third attempt (and yes, I kept all three versions because they were all fresh words) I gave it up. What do I know about fighting or self-defense? It needs some research, but I just don’t have time for that right now.

While there’s going to be a lot cut out of this when I’m done, there’s also a lot that’s going to stay that I didn’t expect. As I think I mentioned before, the Illezie are a bigger presence, and I’m starting to see a little subplot involving some disputes within the Illezie conclave.

I’ve ditched the historical record/journal entries that I was starting each chapter with, but I do intend to get back to them when I start working on the final version. They’re a good way to convey important information without having one of the characters do an info dump.

Goals For the Week

Duh! Rock the NaNo!



Don't forget to come back Thursday for another excerpt!