Day: November 15, 2014

Ahhh, the second full week of 2014 NaNoWriMo is nearly in the books. Happily I’m still plugging along with my thumbnail sketch of an outline. I have figured out, though, that a lot of what I consider to be one scene has to be broken into multiple scenes. This is good because it means that it lessens the stress of wondering what to write. It’s also a bit bad because in the back of my mind I’m wondering if I’ve made this book way too long. I already knew before November started that this book was going to be longer than 50,000 words and would not be completed in 30 days. This is just a rough draft after all, so scenes will be cut, added, and completely revamped during the revision process.

Initially I had hoped to start tackling scenes which required me to review my notes on the history but that hasn’t really happened. That being said, next week I will need to start tackling those scenes since they have a huge impact on the plot of the book and on my characters. At this point I think I’ve done a lot of work setting up the characters’ motivations for the rest of the book now it’s time to work more on the historical angle.

This week has also seen me enter the phase where it is becoming physically harder for me. Yes, writing is physically very draining. Since I write by hand then type up what I’ve written, the callouses on my right hand have become more prominent. My right index finger developed a trigger finger from years of data entry and when I type a lot, it flares up. Lots of icing it, Aleve, and wearing my wrist protectors at night to help with the fatigue my hands are facing have been self-prescribed. My brain is also starting to get more fried and I’m finding myself watching a lot of crap telly to allow my brain to turn to mush. This is when it starts to feel like work but work I’m more than happy to do.

Happily I earned a few more rewards this week. I hit the milestones of 10,000 words, 15,000 words, and the biggie, 25,000 words as of this writing. Hooray! The half-way point! CDs (yes, I still listen to CDs in my car), a Niners T-shirt, and a nice lunch are great motivators to keep going.

Heading into week three I’m aiming to maintain my average daily word count of 1,800 words. I’m also looking forward to writing my more intense, action-oriented scenes including, hopefully, a battle scene. So here’s to everyone still plugging away on his or her story. Keep up the good work!