Andrea Blythe

I would like to say that the reason that I have no posted over the past several days was a sign that I’ve been writing wildly away at my Nano novel. I would like to say that, but it would be a lie. I have written nothing, well, next to nothing, in the past few days.

There are several reasons for this. One, I am currently car-less due to a blown head gasket. I’m also currently in an internal debate of whether or not its worth it to get it fixed or find a way to get a new used car for myself that might run better over the long haul.

Two, I started reading Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest (a.k.a. ), which not only has an awesome cover, but is a fantastic read. Furthermore, while it combines two of my favorite things (steampunk and zombies), the storyline is totally addictive and the characters totally believable. The result was that I was totally absorbed in the book and could not think of doing anything else until I finished it, at which point I was promptly upset that it was over.

Three, as happens occasionally, when I overwhelm myself with creative projects and life, I get to the point where I burn out and can’t do much usefull until I’ve unwound enough to return to making progress. Hopefully, during said unwinding (involving much TV and movie watching), I don’t lose any come back just as inspired as I was previously.

All that being said, I’ve managed to come back to the computer and make some progress today. So, here are the stats.

Project: Untitled Alternate World Novel
New Words: 3,303
Current Total Word Count: 28,434
Goal: 50,000+ words

Random Sentence(s): Sonia watched him, slightly disturbed by the flash of his yellow teeth and the way his skin shook when he talked. had an instant distrust of really old people. Her mother would have smacked her upside the head if she could have read her thoughts. Sonia clicked her tongue, imitating the sound of her mother’s hand connecting with her skull.

Notes: I found that I have written entire scenes that I already know will be thrown out at a later date. I’m jumped back one scene, simply restarting it so that I can be on steadier ground as I continue. I expect that changes like this will continue to happen throughout, but I suppose it matters little as long as progress continues to be made.

[X-posted to my livejournal.]

Project: Untitled Alternate World Novel
New Words: 5,126 (Two days worth of writing.)
Current Total Word Count: 25,131
Goal: 50,000+ words

Random Sentence(s): The children ran up the rows collecting the stones, laughing and shoving and pushing. It was a race and the children threw the stones into separate piles, which their father would count at the end of the day. To the child who had carried the most stones, the father would award a prize. Sometimes the prize was to be carried into the house on his shoulders for dinner. Sometimes the prize was an extra story when they went to sleep. Sometimes the prize was simply a kiss on the cheek, a pat on the head, and a well done. These were the only gifts he had to give them.

Notes: Passed the halfway mark! *joy*
Of course, that’s halfway for Nano, not halfway for the novel itself. In fact, up until the 20,000 word point, I’ve only been dealing with the first three chapters, which I know will be much shorter in the final version. I’ve kind of been feeling stuck in those chapters. Part of it has been because the chapters have been especially long due to all the back story that’s been slipping in as I figure out who exactly these people are and what exactly are the rules of the world in which they live.

But I’m past them now. There are still one or two more introductory kind of chapters to do. Writing from multiple points of view means getting to know each character and what they mean in this world. But these chapters should hopefully goes smoother. And beyond that I’m into other chapters that deal more with the progression of the plot, which is far more interesting than figuring out the whole back story thing. So, now I’m starting to get excited again.

I’m figuring this excitement will continue until I begin to reach those points where I’m not sure what’s going to happen next. Hopefully, those answers will fill in as I work my way up to them.

The one worry that these long opening chapters give me is that this will probably mean that my draft zero will require a monsterous amount of writing before I call it done. I imagine it to be well over 100,000 words. But that’s just my inital impression and who knows what will actually come about.

Oh, and I’ve discovered one major inconsistency in the “rules” of my world, but I’ve also fixed it as soon as I discovered it. So huge sigh of relief there.

[x-posted to my livejournal.]

Project: Untitled Alternate World Novel
New Words: 7,633 (This is over the course of several days since I last posted. About 3600 was written today.)
Current Total Word Count: 20,005
Goal: 50,000+ words

Random Sentence(s): She looked out across the valleys and the other seven peaks. The sky was bright blue and clear and the sun had not yet dipped down behind the mountains. She could feel its warmth on her back.

Notes: Hey! I passed the 20,000 mark. Sweet!
I’m still far behind, and I’ll have to write 5,000 or more words tomorrow to be totally caught up, but I’m feeling good about this whole thing. Using Write or Die today really helped me put out some words despite all the distractions that there are in my house.

[X-posted to my livejournal.]

Project: Untitled Alternate World Novel
New Words: 5,577 (This is over the course of several days since I last posted.)
Current Total Word Count: 12,372
Goal: 50,000+ words

Random Sentence(s): Mitra found the girl was nestled in outcropping further down the mountainside. The snow had melted around her in a circular ring. There were not footsteps in the snow leading into the circle and Mitra could not figure how she had got there. It was a most curious thing.

Notes: I fell behind on Friday and Saturday. The staying up to one a.m. several nights in a row had taken a toll and I was exausted both nights to the point that I didn’t bother writing. This gave me 4400 words for catch up today. I drove down the hill to a local coffee shop to get some work done, because it was far too distracting to try and write at home. I am now only 1,000 words behind, a more reasonable number, which I should be able to catch up in the next day or two.

[X-posted to my livejournal]