Writer at Large

Well . . . another year, another successful NaNoWriMo . . .

First, some statistics:

Total word count: 55,921
Average daily word count: 1,864

This year’s personal challenge—and I always seem to end up setting myself up for one once I get started—was to write a story that was deliberately not going to be structured in chronological order in its final form.

While this did free up the muse (somewhat) to wander around to whatever scenes she liked from day to day, it did present some challenges of its own. I can see that I’m going to need to keep careful track of what happened when and to close out any half-finished sequences in time.

This year’s post-NaNoWriMo challenge (not unlike almost every other year): actually complete the novel, revise it, and submit it.

Anyone want to place any bets on any of those?

With four weeks behind me, and only two days left to go, here are my current statistics:

• Total word count: 52,941 (well ahead of target, and actually completed, if you want to get technical about it)
• Average daily word count for the week: 2,329 (a new personal best of any week for any year that I’ve participated)
• Nearly all of the sections written this week were large sequential chunks. There are a few “stragglers”, but chiefly in places where there needs to be some kind of transition between the opening and the main event of the sequence.
• I am still struggling to find an overarching plot. Most of these week was spent on (probably overly) exploring vignettes involving personal life events, so any plot itself has not moved along much. I do have a general idea for the climatic battle scene now, but need to flesh it out more.

For the remaining two days, I will probably strive to hit my personal goal of 1,800 words each day and then call it in sometime Tuesday night.

Until then . . .

The statistics at the two-week milestone (and nearly halfway point) include:

• Total word count: 36,638 (nicely pacing just ahead of target)
• Average daily word count for the week: 1,797 (just under my aspirational goal of 1,800, chiefly due to an underproductive day on Thursday)
• This week again there have been large sections written as sequential chunks.
• I’m still struggling with a plot . . . I think. And a main antagonist has not yet reared its villainous head, but I think I’m starting to arrive at a concept for one.
• Two important breakthroughs this week:
  • I have a final scene. (It came to me just minutes before I wrote this.) It provides exactly the kind of ending I wanted. It isn't the conclusion of the plot, though, so that's still an issue.
  • I understand the theme of this book now. I suspect I knew what it was all along, but had not recognized it at a conscious level. I'm not going to reveal it here, but will say that involves a societal issue that has long bothered me.

I have a handful of scenes in mind to write next week, but I have a feeling that Week Four is going to be a challenging one nonetheless. And this is definitely not a book that will be complete in 50,000 words.

The statistics at the two-week milestone (and nearly halfway point) include:

• Total word count: 24,056 (right on target, and just a few words short of my personal best for the second week)
• Average daily word count for the week: 1,511 (a bit below target due to almost no progress as expected on Tuesday through Thursday)
• Although I still plan to structure the overall novel as a series of vignettes, large sections of this week’s work have been sequential chunks.
• I still have only the vague notion of the overall plot—and almost none at all about the main antagonist.
• Even if this turns out to be the (fictional) biographical study of a superhero, it’s going to need something climatic at the end. I don’t think either a “He lived happily ever after.” or  “He died quietly in his sleep.” is quite going to work.

Here’s hoping that it all starts to come together in Week Three!

And we’re off! At the one week mark, my statistics look like this:

• Total word count: 13,479 (Looking back, that’s a new personal best for Week 1)
• I have a (working) title: Heroic Measures.
• I have several characters who are actually doing things, or starting to do things.
• Average daily word count for the week: 1,926

Although the “voice” of this novel is similar to other things I’ve written before, it is the first time that I have deliberately set things up to not be in sequence. The story is constructed as a series of vignettes in the main character’s history.

I anticipate my progress being zero (or close enough as not to matter) from Tuesday through Thursday due to work-related commitments, so my statistics next week are likely to look kind of wonky in comparison to usual. However, but plan to go into the week with a two-day buffer, so hopefully that will help.

Onward!