The National Novel Writing Month -
November 2008
For NaNoWriMo 2008, I decided to write a vampire story called The Darkness of Night. It's a story about a normal college kid who stumbles upon the secret of becoming a vampire by accidently becoming one himself. He wasn't prepared for the change, didn't want it, and now has to deal with it. Below is a day-by-day status of my NaNoWriMo progress for the month of November.
The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. That comes out to about 1,667 words a day. This page is my diary of my NaNoWriMo progress for this year.
November 30, 2008— 55,155 words total
November 29, 2008— 52,641 words total
November 28, 2008— 50,052 words total
November 27, 2008— 50,052 words total
November 26, 2008— 50,052 words total
November 25, 2008— 49,121 words total
November 24, 2008— 46,633 words total
November 23, 2008— 44,499 words total
November 22, 2008— 43,573 words total
November 21, 2008— 43,573 words total
November 20, 2008— 43,573 words total
November 19, 2008— 43,404 words total
November 18, 2008— 41,075 words total
November 17, 2008— 38,274 words total
November 16, 2008— 38,274 words total
November 15, 2008— 37,138 words total
November 14, 2008— 34,371 words total
November 13, 2008— 34,371 words total
November 12, 2008— 32,290 words total
November 11, 2008— 30,260 words total
November 10, 2008— 28,246 words total
November 9, 2008— 25,102 words total
November 8, 2008— 21,079 words total
November 7, 2008— 18,203 words total
November 6, 2008— 18,203 words total
November 5, 2008— 15,060 words total
November 4, 2008— 12,004 words total
November 3, 2008 — 8,725 words total
November 2, 2008 — 6,119 words total
November 1, 2008 — 2,925 words total
Saturday, November 1, 2008 — 2,925 words total
I sat down at the computer keyboard today, all ready to start my nano-novel on aliens. I didn't have an outline or anything. It was just something I'd been thinking about for some time. But as I'm getting everything set up and ready to write, my wife said to me, "Don't write another alien novel. Why don't you write a vampire novel?"
Well, I didn't have a good answer to that one, so I started writing a vampire novel instead of an alien novel.
I got off to a good start today. Although the official goal of NaNoWriMo is 1,667 words a day, I like to get about 2,000. Today was even better, coming in at almost 3,000 words. Off to a good start.
I should also note that I met with my writing group, Mary Ann Loesch and Kelly Troy, at Kelly's house. I'm happy to report that we're all off to a good start.
Sunday, November 2, 2008 — 6,119 words total
Another good day writing. I wrote 3,194 words today for a total of 6,119. I am official a day ahead of schedule. Now, that's not to say that I'm going to take a day off, but it's nice to know that it's there if I need it.
One of the great things about writing a novel in a month is the fact that you write everyday. It really helps the story flow, because you are so intimate with it. You don't have to go back and wonder where you are in the story, or read back a few pages to see what was happening, or worse, to look at the last few paragraphs and wonder where you were going with that. By writing everyday, you know where you were going. It's hard to get lost and I think it makes a smooter story overall.
I also met with my writing group, Mary Ann and Kelly, at The Dig Pub in Cedar Park. We're all still cranking along.
Monday, November 3, 2008 — 8,725 words total
Yet another good day writing. I wrote 2,606 words today for a total of 8,725. Not bad for a workday.
Writing during the week is always a challenge, juggling the work schedule with the writing schedule. And although my wife is very supportive of my writing efforts, there are still things that crop up that need to be handled, like orthodontic appointments, or getting groceries, or whatever.
So during the week, I try to squeeze in writing whenever I can. I like to write during my lunchtime, and if I'm lucky, I'll be able to knock out about half of my word count for the day. Then, after work, I usually wait anywhere from 30-60 minutes to pick up my wife. That's when the computer comes out and I start cranking away. With any luck, I'll hit my 1,667 word goal by the time I get her.
Then, with any kind of luck, I'll be able to continue, at least a little, once I get home to top my word count over 2,000. Some days it's easy. Other days, it's like pulling teeth. Luckily, so far, it's been easy.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 — 12,004 words total
I was a little worried today. I didn't get a chance to start writing until 7:00 in the evening. On weekdays, I like to write a little during lunchtime so that by evening, I don't have the full 1,667 staring me down. But the writing when well tonight and I was able to knock out my word count pretty easily.
But then I realized that I only had a hundred or so words to go to get over 2,000 words, which is honestly my daily goal. That gives me some buffer for whatever life might have to throw at me, so I kept writing to get over 2,000. Then by the time I did that, it was the lowest word count I'd had to date, and I only needed a couple hundred more words to get over my previous low of 2,606. But when I'd hit that goal, I only had a couple hundred more to get over 3,000 words, and so on.
By the time I was finished, it was nearly 11:00 pm but I had written a total of 3,279 words; my best day so far. My total word cound was 12,004. Not to shabby for four days of writing!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 — 15,060 words total
Tonight was much like last night. I didn't get started until after 7:00 o'clock in the evening. Today my writing group was meeting at The Dig Pub in Cedar Park. As it turned out, I ended up getting there late. Mary Ann told me she wasn't going to make it, but Kelly said he would. I also invited other NaNoWriMos for the write-in, but it turned out that I was the only one there.
Still, I had a pretty good day of writing. I ended the day with 3,056 words, for a total of 15,060. I'm pretty pleased with my progress so far.
Thursday, November 6, 2008 — 18,203 words total
I have got to start writing some at lunchtime. I did it on Monday, but I haven't since then. I did meet up with another writing group that I frequent occasionally, namely John Brengle and Elaine Bayer. They set up a write-in at It's a Grind in Cedar Park on FM 1431. They met at 4:00 in the afternoon, but I didn't get there until almost 4:30. Another writer, Pat, also came to write with us.
We wrote until about 6:00, at which time I only had a little over 1,100 words, still about 500 to go. But when I got home, but went back to work and ended the day with 3,143 words, 18,203 words total. I'm averaging about 3,000 words a day and that's really making NaNoWriMo easy this year!
Friday, November 7, 2008 — 18,203 words total
I meant to, I really did, but in the end, I didn't write at all today. Something kept coming up; work, homelife, whatever. I know, I'm whining. I just need to play catch-up this weekend. Unless, of course, I don't, since I am pretty far ahead.
Saturday, November 8, 2008 — 21,079 words total
Today, I took my daughter, Sarah, with me to It's a Grind, a coffee shop in Cedar Park on FM 1431. Sarah has been writing with me this year, though not consistently. She wanted to go with me last Thursday but wasn't able to for several reasons, so this was a make-up write-in for just her and me.
We spent nearly three hours writing and when I was finished, I had written 2,876 words, for a total of 21,079. I'm not quite halfway yet.
But more importantly, I made my protagonist blind today. He's a vampire, but this isn't a typical vampire story. So now, the question is whether I leave him blind, or let his eyes regenerate the way you would expect them to in a vampire story. Decisions, decisions.
Sunday, November 9, 2008 — 25,102 words total
What a good day of writing! I got up before my wife and knocked 500 or 600 words before I ever had my first cup of coffee. Then I did some more writing with Sarah at the kitchen table during the afternoon. That took me up to about 2,000 words.
But then, my wife gave me the green light to write most of the evening — yes, I have to get her permission. That put me at about 24,700 words. But then I had to stop to watch Trueblood, Entourage, and The Life and Times of Tim, starting at 8:00
But as it neared bedtime, I just couldn't stand it that I was that close to being halfway (25,000 words) and not there, so I sat down and knocked out another 400 words to end the day with 4,023 words and a total of 25,102.
So as far as the story is concerned, I've decided that my vampire's eyes will regenerate, but not immediately. It's going to take some time. Maybe a couple of days, maybe a week. I'll let the story decide.
Monday, November 10, 2008 — 28,246 words total
Finally, I was able to write during my lunchtime. I was able to knock out about 900 words, which does a lot to relieve the pressure of writing. But then when I got home, I got on a roll and had a pretty good time of it. I rounded out the day with 3,144 words, for a total word count of 28, 246. This puts me almost a full week ahead! Yeah!
And the story is coming along nicely! I'm very happy with the direction, the plot, and the character development. That's not to say that I won't have to go back and clean some things up...I will. But I like where it's going!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 — 30,260 words total
I didn't really feel like writing today, so I decided that I was just going to take a break. I wasn't feeling too great and it had been a hard day at work.
But by about 9:00 in the evening, I was starting to feel guilty about not writing. So I decided to get a little bit on paper. It turned out to be a good day writing. I wrote 2,014 words for a total of 30, 260. Not bad for 11 days worth.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 — 32,290 words total
I met up with my writing group at The Dig Pub in Cedar Park to write. Mary Ann came out, as did my daughter Sarah and another writer friend of mine, John. Sarah wrote about 1,000 words or more tonight. I was really proud of her.
I had about 500 words before I got there, and added enough to count 2,030 for the day, 32,290 total.
I figure that if I can keep writing 2,000 words a day, I've got about 9 days left to reach 50,000 mark. But 50k is only half of the goal. The other half is to actually finish the novel. I don't have a good feel yet for how mayn more words that will take. Stay tuned.
Thursday, November 13, 2008 — 34,371 words total
For some reason, it was a hard day of writing today. The book that goes with NaNoWriMo, No Plot, No Problem, by Chris Baty, talks about the second-week blues and how hard it is to write sometimes. I'm a week ahead in my word count, but in reality, this is still Week 2, so it makes sense that I'm wanting to procrastinate.
I didn't get a chance to write at lunchtime today, but I did get a little over 500 words written while I was waiting for Maria to get off work. I didn't write again until almost 9:00 in the evening. I ended the day with 2,081, for a grand total of 34,371 to date.
Friday, November 14, 2008 — 34,371 words total
Once again, I didn't do any writing. This is two days this year, so far, and both of them Fridays. I wonder if that should tell me something.
Saturday, November 15, 2008 — 37,138 words total
The day started off with Maria going to a Continuing Education course that was all day long. That sounds like it would mean that I had all day to write, right? Wrong. It meant that I had all day to clean house. Oh, don't get me wrong. Maria didn't make me do it. It just needed to be done so while Maria was away, Sarah and I worked our little tushes off. And we didn't just do house work, we also mowed the lawn and washed the car!
But it paid off. When Maria got home, she was impressed! And it wasn't all work and no play. By 2:30, we were pretty much done so we got lunch, took showers, and then took our computers to It's a Grind to write for NaNoWriMo. Maria met us about an hour later.
So I also spent some time writing during the evening and ended up with 2,767 words for the day, 37,138 words total.
But, I discovered some major plot flaws and had to make some serious decisions today. Basically, I scrapped the last three chapters I was working on and started them over. Now, it being the National Novel Writing Month, and that being what it is — worrying about your word count — I couldn't just delete three chapters. That would set me back a little over 3,000 words. Now I know that doesn't sound like much, maybe only a day or so of writing on a good day, but when the goal is to get to 50,000 words, 3,000 seems like a lot!
So I did what any self-respecting author would do — I cut out the chapters and moved them to the end of my document so the words still count but they're not actually part of the story. I know, that sounds like cheating, but I did write those words during the month of November, and they were for this story. They just didn't fit any longer.
Ultimately, I don't think it will matter. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to hit 50,000 words by the end of the month, but the rule is, especially this month, don't delete. So I didn't.
Sunday, November 16, 2008 — 38,274 words total
I should have gotten off to an early start with my writing today, since I was up before Maria. But I had some actual work to do. By the time work was done, Maria was up and the day was off and running. And it didn't stop. I didn't get a chance to write again until late in the evening, and when I did, the words just weren't flowing.
I know, that all sounds like an excuse. And it is. But I still managed to get 1,136 words in today, even though it took me until almost 11:30 at night. That makes a total word count of 38, 274, but I forgot to update the NaNoWriMo website with that number.
Monday, November 17, 2008 — 38,274 words total
No writing today. Work really intruded on the day and I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be another work-centric day. I hope not, but there's a lot going on right now and by the time I get home, I'm just beat.
On the lighter side, I did an interview with SNM Horror Magazine today that should publish in the December issue. I'm looking forward to that! I also updated the NaNoWriMo website with my word count, so I did spend a little time, not writing, but working on my writing endeavors.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 — 41,075 words total
Thank you Maria! I had expected my work day to be a little on the rough side, and I wasn't disappointed in that regard. It actually went okay, but it was very mentally draining. When I got home, all I wanted to do was veg! But my wife, Maria, would have none of it! She told me that I was writing and that was all there was to it!
So, I sat down at my computer and started struggling for words. It seemed like I wrote forever and when I counted my words, I only had 132 for the day. Picture me with a sad face.
So I put my head down and before I knew it, I had 1,000 words, then 1,500, then 1,700. Woo-hoo! I made my word count! So I kept writing and the next thing I knew, I had 2,801 words for the day, 41,075 words total.
Like I've said in the past. Sometimes the words come easy and sometimes they come hard. The good thing was I really got some direction last night and I'm just starting the build-up before the end. I figure I've got another 10k-15k to go, so this book is going to work out perfectly for this year's National Novel Writing Month!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 — 43,404 words total
Sarah and I went to The Dig Pub to write with the rest of my writing group. It turned out that Kelly was the only one that came out besides us. But it turned out to be a good night of writing. I managed to crank out 2,329 words for a total of 43,404. Not bad with still 11 days left to write.
Thursday, November 20, 2008 — 43,573 words total
I didn't get much writing done tonight. I was getting ready to go out of town. Xavier had a swim meet in the Dallas area and we went up to watch. I wrote a whopping 169 words, for a total of 43,573.
Friday, November 21, 2008 — 43,573 words total
I didn't do any writing today. We spent most of the day running errands and by the time we got up to Dallas, we were beat and just went to bed.
Saturday, November 22, 2008 — 43,573 words total
No writing today either. I feel like such a slacker, but we did get to spend some time with Maria's brother and with Xavier inbetween his events. And although I didn't write, he swam like the wind. He had a great day and set a couple of personal bests.
Sunday, November 23, 2008 — 44,499 words total
Finally, I got to do some writing. I didn't work as hard at it as I should have, but I made a lot of progress in the story. I only wrote 926 words, but I'm that much closer to the end. I have a total of 44,499 words now.
Yeah, I know, I should have added one more word to make an even number. But we were tired from our trip back home and it was time for bed.
I figure that I have another 6,000-8,000 words to write to reach the end of the novel. That's going to put it really close to the 50,000 word mark, one way or another.
Monday, November 24, 2008 — 46,633 words total
I'm off all of this week so I'm looking forward to a good week of writing. I knocked out 2,134 words today and took my total up to 46,633.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 — 49,121 words total
I got some writing in today too. Nothing exciting to report other than I'm on a ramp to the end of the novel. I wrote 2,488 words today for a total of 49,121. I thought about trying to push another 900 words out to get over 50,000, but it was getting late and Maria had to work the next day, so I called it a night.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 — 50,052 words total
Sarah and I went to It's a Grind to write today, but we didn't have a lot of time. We cleaned the house first and by the time we got there, Maria was almost off of work. I did manage to knock out 931 words, for a total of 50,052. That's right! I'm over 50,000 words!
Thursday, November 27, 2008 (Thanksgiving) — 50,052 words total
I didn't do any writing today. First of all, it was Thanksgiving and I had a lot of cooking to do. Yes, I do the Thanksgiving and Christmas cooking in my house. I cheated and bought the pies, but I did cook a brisket, baked a ham, and fried a turkey. Add on to that all the fixings, like corn, rolls, green beans, potatoes, and stuffing, and it was a lot of work.
But on top of all the work, I had a nasty hangover. Bad Doug!
Friday, November 28, 2008 — 50,052 words total
I didn't write today either. I'm actually a little disappointed with myself. I had planned on doing all this writing while I was off for the week of Thanksgiving, but it didn't work out that way. It seemed that the more time I had off, the less writing I did. I guess there's a lesson to be learned there somewhere.
Saturday, November 29, 2008 — 52,641 words total
I sat down and made a lot of progress toward reaching the end of the novel. I wrote 2,589 words today for a total of 52,641. It wasn't a great day, but it wasn't bad either. I'm now pretty close to the end. I stopped writing today in the middle of the big fight scene at the end.
I also submitted what I had to the NaNoWriMo website to have my word count validated. I won! You'll notice that I changed the graphic at the top of this page from Participant to Winner.
Sunday, November 30, 2008 — 55,155 words total
The novel, The Darkness of Night, is finished! I wrote 2,514 words today, for a grand total of 55,155 for the month. If you subtract the 3,095 words from the three chapters I had to rewrite, that still comes to a grand total of 52,060.
I do have to go back to fix a few minor details that I realized were wrong after I wrote them, but the first draft is, in essence, complete.