Thursday 8 November 2012

NaNo Update - Week 1

So, how's everyone doing out there? NaNoers on track? I have to say I've had great fun on the first week of my first ever NaNo. Things seem to be flowing nicely, which is good. As usual, I'm not sure if anything is any good, but I'm definitely enjoying it! As I'm away today and tomorrow to accompany my stepson on an assessment at his prospective new college, I've been beavering away, busily building a dam of words so I don't fall behind during the time off. Total so far is 14975, with about 11000 added since Monday. I don't think I could keep up this pace all the time, but my procrastination habits have been well and truly zapped for the moment. My new daily goal on a "normal" writing day will be 2000. So if you want to write more, yes, it can definitely help!

Sorry about the lack of blog commenting, by the way. I'm still snooping on people's progress on Twitter and the NaNo site! Fundraising and campaigning for Andrew is very much ongoing, so most of my other time has gone towards that. Hopefully next week will be better. And my internet connection is being extremely unreliable. Which is probably just as well, really...

OK, how about a little extract? I've just had a look through my WIP for the first time, and I did quite like this dialogue between one of my two protagonists, Wellesbury, and his gravball teammates (a game based on football) after one of them recounts how a dirt-streaked boy materialised in the midst of their gleamingly clean city.



“Well, that settles it,” said Hedgeson, with the air of one solving a great mystery. “He must be a demon.”

“There’s no such thing,” said Wellesbury.

“How do you know? We’ve all heard about them. Demons live under the ground, in the place where it’s... not clean.”

“That’s just kids’ stories, Hedgeson. We’re not five any more!”

Hedgeson leaned into him. “So you think you know best, do you? Just because you reckon you’re a hot shot at gravball? Fine, you explain where this kid came from. Assuming Finnister didn’t make the whole thing up.”

“There’s no way I could have made it up,” said Finnister, imploring Hedgeson to calm down with his eyes. Hedgeson tended to be domineering, and he hadn’t meant to cause a fight.

“Right, okay,” said Hedgeson, sitting back. “I can understand that alright. But let’s hear Welles’s opinion on it.”

Wellesbury shifted, not willing to come out with what he was thinking. One of the boys coughed without covering his hand. In this world, that was fine.

“Well...” said Wellesbury, and looked up to study the ceiling, with its pitch markings mirroring those on the floor. “Maybe he came from... somewhere else?”

“What, you mean outside of Whitopolis?” said Hedgeson. “Anyone been out there?”

“I have, on holiday,” said Salvo. “It’s the same as here, just... smaller. You know, small towns. And the people are the same. Everything, you know... white.”

“So that can’t be it.”

“No,” said Wellesbury, and Hedgeson snapped his head up sharply to look at him.

There was no turning back now. “I mean... outside of... outside of Pristinia.”

The boys looked at him for a minute, slack-jawed. Then, on a cue from Hedgeson, they all started laughing – some more nervously than others.

Wellesbury put his head in his hands. If only he’d just kept quiet and let Hedgeson have it all his way. What had he been thinking?


See you next Thursday. How are you doing with your writing, editing, or anything else you're up to?

18 comments:

Kyra Lennon said...

Nice excerpt! I love that you are doing so well and have kicked the procrastination habit! :D

Hope everything goes well at the college!

Suzanne Furness said...

Hi Nick, the excerpt sounds good. Hope you manage to stick to your goals.

Hope the college assessment goes well.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Nick - congratulations on your progress .. I love the excerpt and where it could take us ...

Good luck with Andrew and his college - he looks a bright cheerful lad .. deserving of some good fortune coming his way - great that you're helping.

Cheers Hilary

Writer Pat Newcombe said...

kudos to you for having the courage to do nano!It's certainly a big ask when life has other ideas... I thought about it but decided I would leave it for this year - I have a holiday planned for end of november - but I am aiming high for my daily word count too!

S.P. Bowers said...

Great word count! Good luck with the rest of the month!

JeffO said...

Thanks for sharing, glad to hear it's going so well. Good luck with the trip to college!

Elise Fallson said...

Wow, you are rocking NaNo! Keep it up. (:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

NaNo will definitely get you in the groove of writing! Keep at it.

Suze said...

11,000 since Monday! Nick, that's so encouraging! Go, speed writer! :D

I hope everything goes well today as you are searching out venues, sending all kinds of beautiful thoughts your way.

Morgan said...

Sooooo stoked for you, Nick. Keep pushing. You're going to rock it. And nice excerpt--definitely intriguing!

Nicole said...

Glad you're having so much fun with NaNo! I liked the excerpt - the dialogue flows nicely.

Susan Oloier said...

Is that from your NaNo WIP, Nick! It is really good!!!

C.B. Wentworth said...

It's great to see that you're doing so well on you NaNoWriMo goals! :-)

I'm right on track with my revision goals and I hope to keep the momentum going.

Angela Brown said...

Most bloggers know NaNo is happening so your presence via comments is missed, but your absence is certainly understood.

Enjoyed your boys in the excerpt. Appears to be a great set up for something to come.

Lisa Regan said...

Glad to hear you're making such progress! LOVE this excerpt! I'm still working on edits. It's slow-going!

michelle said...

Sounds like your NaNo experience has been great thus far!!
You're rocking the word count!! Congrats!

Suze said...

Nick, I wanted to pop over to answer your question here. You only missed the first week of False Start Fridays and I'll be hosting every Friday for a month so you are more than welcome to sign up for any and all of the remaining weeks. The material is older stuff that's been sitting for a bit. I hope to inspire writers to dig around and dust stuff off and, in the process, have the promise of other writers reading and commenting with encouragement.

Tyrean Martinson said...

Great excerpt. You've captured the feeling of peer pressure in that conversation!