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 |  This is a continuation of my blogging here at WdC |
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This will be a blog for my writing, maybe with (too much) personal thrown in. I am hoping it will be a little more interactive, with me answering questions, helping out and whatnot. If it falls this year (2024), then I may stop the whole blogging thing, but that's all a "wait and see" scenario. An index of topics can be found here: "Writing Blog No.2 Index"  Feel free to comment and interact. |
| NaNoWriMo #4 Day 4! So... Weird writing day. Woke up this morning with the idea for the third story in the Bat Out Of Hell II story cycle all set and ready to go. I worked on it and, after a couple of hours it was done at 1378 words. Later on in the day, I went back to it and it now sits at 1490 words. 3 stories done! I then worked on the cryptid story. Just building things up. I have them disturbed by the creatures, but that's about all. I think it's starting to meander, so I might need to liven things up sooner rather than later. The lazy guy character... I am so looking forward to killing him off later on. He's becoming insufferable. So this was another 1988 words added. But, like I said, meandering and not going along smoothly. At least this time I've made almost 20k words instead of 6k before it's petering out. That was when I had the idea of how to start my fairy story. it is all back story, setting up the main character and what he, as a ten year old, has been through in his life. This is a young adult, middle-grade reader story, and I think the tale - told from 1st person PoV of the boy - will work for an audience of that age, the way it's going in my head. So, we've set him up as an orphan, and is only just understanding what that means. The story is also set in the year 2000, so I can avoid social media. I'll let my YA/MG beta reader tell me if it works once the story is done... if it is done. So, I did 2271 words, but it's all set-up. It might be a little long. Then again, I think we really get to know the kid and why he will fall for the fairies when he meets them. My total words for the day is 5749. Overall, we have 27129 words... and so we are over halfway there in 4 days. Not too shabby. |
| NaNoWriMo #3 Day 3. Started the day with an idea for Merit Badge Magic's special badge ("Peace" prompt), and so I spent the morning working on that. Only 167 words, but they're still new words. (And, hey!, you can check it out here: "Mental Peace" !)Then came my normal Sunday morning video call to the USA. It's Saturday night for her, Sunday morning for me, and we spent over 4 hours chatting merrily away. Then I went back to the cryptid story. I wrote two more chapters... and they were taking me into a dead end, so I started again, and still couldn't get it. Then I realised I had two people in hospital! So a visit to them to sow the seeds that this danger is still there and is very animalistic. Perfect. 3871 words and a few chapters later, and it's back to flowing. I have 6 endings staring at me at the moment. * narrator is the only survivor * narrator and wife are the only survivors, and we finish with them talking to their daughter (already established as spending the time with her grandparents) * I only kill one more camper and the lazy guy * the creatures attack the town and many died, and there are hundreds of them * the day is saved by the professional palaeontologists, with the two couples surviving... There was a 7th ending, that they are forced to move out of the camp site, but I don't think that's going to work. How am I going to get the creatures to move as well? I'll have to let the characters lead me onwards, I guess. Daily words: 4038 Total words: 21380 |
| NaNoWriMo #2 Day 2! So, I added 3294 words to the cryptid story. I wrote to the first death, and decided to make it off-screen. In fact, it was so off-screen that the narrator was not even at the site when it happened, and was informed by the police. One death, one seriously injured, and one who had a panic attack/asthma attack. They remained at the caravan park while the rest went digging after finding some dead animals the previous night. So, the cryptids have finally started attacking the humans! Then I worked out the story for the second track for the album I am writing to. For those unaware, Jeff does a Musicology Anthology challenge, and I get so invested I ignore my loathing for contests and do it, mainly just to do it. Well, about a month ago I was listening to the album Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell by Meat Loaf, all songs written by Jim Steinman, and thought it would make a great Musicology basis for next year. But, in my head, the stories were going to be way too long, so I decided to just do it anyway, but wasn't sure how I could start, and so I let it simmer. Then I decided I'd see if I could get some written during NaNo, add to that word count! So. I had the album and I had a story idea - vampires in a rural setting! Don't ask - my brain works weirdly. But this afternoon, I was listening to random music and 'Life Is A Lemon And I Want My Money Back' came on (track 2 on the album). Of course, it got me thinking about the story cycle... and I worked it out! A guy's best friend has gone missing, but comes back as a vampire! So, I wrote it, and that led to the first song on the album - 'I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)'. How the neighbour became a vampire - his dead wife infects him! So the first two stories for the song cycle were written, for a total of 3477 words. Total today: 6771 words. Grand total: 17342 words |
| NaNoWriMo #1 So, I said I'd be posting my progress on my blog. I was too tired last night, so am doing it this morning before writing a job application and then hitting the story again. It is the morning of day 2. Yesterday I churned out a solid 10571 words. On what? Well... 3, 4 months ago I started a cryptid horror based on an Australian creature of legend. I set it in the same area I live in, a two couples, best mates and their wives, going on a camping trip. One of them was a lazy guy who was always late, even for his own wedding (that trait is based off a former friend of mine, who, yes, was late to his own wedding!), and he held them up so they arrived after the office closed. The four of them could not get into the caravan park (that's a very Australian thing, I've been told), so they went to one of the overnight sites that dot the peninsula. That night they were to be attacked. After 6k words or so, it had petered out. I had the creatures, and the lazy guy was key to the ending, but the story was not going anywhere. As a pantser, this is an unfortunately common occurrence. But I still wanted to write about the creature. So, I hit upon changing the setting from where I live to the south-east of the state. The lazy guy still means they are late, but they are now part of a group, and the group does not like the late guy, so the two couples are shunted to one side. Oh, the mates have now married twin sisters. By going to the south-east, I made them part of an amateur palaeontology group, and I also had more people to be victims of the cryptids. I also changed from 3rd person omniscient PoV to 1st person, the lazy guy's mate, married to one of the twins. It was clearly all the story needed - I wrote the first 10 chapters (I think they're chapters; some are quite short) and cracked 10k words in a day. 500 at midnight (a sprint), 4000 in the morning, 6000 in the afternoon/ evening. Collapse into bed at 8:30pm, my brain feeling like mush. That was what happened on day 1! |
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