Wednesday, November 16, 2011

NaNoWriMo 2012 Update

We’re at the halfway point. How is everyone doing? Good. I’m actually halfway done. It is fucking eerie to be halfway done with a writing assignment halfway to the due date. That shit has not happened in a long, long time.

Speaking of ancient history, Monday and Tuesday officially marked the last week of Quinius. I messed it up again this year, but the things I got right were clearly great moments where I entered the very heart of my holiday and felt it beat. I wish I could be less douchey and vague about it, but that’s what I gots!

Back to NaNoWriMo. I’m at the halfway point, which should mean I’m halfway done with the story I wanted to tell. Not so! Let me demonstrate how behind/off track I am here:


PART          EST. WORDS     CURRENT WORDS
Assembly          10,000            16,132
Monster            5,000             8,982
Framed!           10,000                 0
Revival           15,000                 0
The Race          10,000               590

Now, yes I could possibly just focus on those last three parts for the next fifteen days, but “Assembly” is about learning who these people are and I’ve barely scratched the surface of that. I still have to pull an epilogue for “Monster” out of my ass (having long since given up on crafting a good epilogue for it). I’ve got stories I want to give the characters that I’m loath to squeeze in between the world-introducing hijinks of “Revival” and the advancing ball of meta-plot that is “The Race.”

In all honestly, I’m at a loss for even how to get “Framed!” together. The original story was one of mind control and getting framed for serious federal crimes and getting everyone to pull up roots and run—together—to Canada for even more outrageous things to happen. It’s at an eleven and I need it to be at a six.

What’s especially hard is getting just the right character note for the default protagonist, getting another character to be a fucking soulless super-puppeteer without being two-dimensional, another to be an assassin scientist superhero without letting the reader get too comfortable with him, and adding some direction to the stock rebellious hacker character.

And all these events are supposed to fit with a timeframe of five years while everything I’ve done so far can fit comfortably (and has to, for narrative reasons I fashioned from the aether and worshipped as a lesser pantheon for three days before realizing they were killing me!) in three to four months.

Feh! Now I’m just whining. Enjoy your NaNoWriMo, folks, and just remember that I’m picking up and finishing (for better or for worse) two projects in December and I’m devoting January to editing this poisonous hell-spawn. After that, I’ll be free up for projects again. Remember the rules: First come first serve, 30 days do-or-die, and no back-to-back.

Alright, maybe back-to-back, but I’m not 100% on it.

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