So, if Mohammad won't go to the mountain...
The mountain must go to Mohammad.
Thus, I am personally resetting my writing goal to 30,000 words by the end of November. I haven't written anything for the last two days because I've been busy cleaning our house like a maniac, which leaves me exhausted and I actually broke down in tears last night over something that, in hindsight, was not that big of a deal.
On a happier, more sane note, I've been sharing what I have so far with a friend of mine, and while my spelling and grammar errors seem to bother him quite a bit, (I said "gate" instead of "gait"... That still haunts me, cause I totally know better), it's really nice to know that someone is reading my work. Especially someone that I know will be brutally honest about it, which doesn't always please my ego, but it's great for my writing.
Hannah and another sibling of mine have been reading it as well, and they get excited every time I add another section, which is a great encouragement.
Now, actually about the story. I have a fairly good, but still kind of vague idea of where I want the ending to go. I also had ideas of things that I wanted to put in, and then it didn't seem like I would be able to add them in, but I'm putting some little twists in to see if I can get it a little closer to what I was thinking.
I was planning for it to be pretty post-apocalypse/dystopian-ish, but it's become more medieval/feudal-ish, so I'm gonna try to turn it a little, and put some more focus on remnants from the old life, like the old cities and what's come out of them.
Hannah again.
I finally got a jump-start on my novel! The problem, I think, was my POV(point of view), which was third person. I changed it to first person, and voilà, it came a lot easier. I'm still on the first few chapters, though, and I have about a sixth of the words I should have (my word count is 3700), but I'm still working on it. There's a sickness going around our house, so it's getting hard, but maybe it'll just make me sit down and actually write, for once. I have a lot of stuff in my notebook that I need to transfer to the computer.
The Internet is so distracting...
Trinity yet again! (Hannah doesn't seem to like posting on here.)
Well, I have reached 10,000 words! It slipped by kind of quietly. I expected a little more fanfare from... I don't know, myself?
By today, 11.11.12, I should have 18, 337 words, but I'm still only at 10,584. So I'm behind. Still.
But, I'm staying home from church today because of a vicious sore throat (my voice has gotten deeper overnight) so I plan to do a lot of catching up! Which was my plan yesterday as well, and that didn't work out so well.
I should really be in bed writing now, so I'll go. I'll update tomorrow on how much I actually got written.
Trinity here!
Well, up until now, I haven't been able to justify writing a post when I'm so far behind. I will catch up though, I swear it. (Great, I'm starting to talk like my characters)
Okay, lots to talk about, not much time or brain power to do it with. I cannot guarantee this post will follow a logical sort of... linear... something. Line. It may not make a lot of sense. It's gonna be in a sort of stream-of-consciousness format.
My total word count for today should be at 11,669 words. It's at 6,859. I'm 4,810 words behind. And I'll be 6,477 words behind tomorrow (if I don't catch up tonight). I'm starting to get discouraged. I'm told that the second week is the hardest. However, I'm seeing people that are writing several thousand words in one sitting, and I'm determined to do it as well. I will finish this novel by November 30th, and I will do it without becoming a recluse when it comes time for Thanksgiving.
My method of writing is to put everything down longhand in my notebook and then type it up on Scrivener (I'll explain exactly what that is some other post. Suffice it to say it's a novel writing/organizing program.). That way, I can get a touch of editing done as I copy it over. Just enough to fix a sentence, or add in a paragraph I meant to put in in the first place. Nothing major.
It is more time consuming to do it like that, but this way I can write anywhere without having to be in front of the computer, and I can reference past scenes while writing.
I've been using my new headphones like crazy. I've discovered the wonders of white, pink, and brown noise, which help tremendously to block out the sound of siblings, music, and just general outside noises. I also listen to my "Epic Music" list while writing (which you can see and listen to on the sidebar). My current favorite song is Dream Chasers by Future World Music.
Dream Chasers
This Saturday, I hope to do as much writing as is possible for me to do. I intend to get myself caught up by the end of this week. Also, once I get to 10,00 words, I'm planning to reward myself, though I'm not sure with what yet. I want to do that every 10,000 words. IfWhen I reach 50,000 words, I'm planning to purchase this ringwiththe words "NaNoWriMo 2012" engraved on it. But only if when I finish.
Finally, an excerpt from my novel:
Cassie Lyndon frowned at the instrument in front of her and then glanced at her work. They couldn’t possibly be right. She must have made a mistake. Again.
“Professor? Could you come look at this, please?” She asked tentatively.
Professor James looked up from another student he was helping. “Again, Cassie? Haven’t you figured it out yet?”
Cassie swallowed hard and blinked back tears of frustration. It had been a very long day and she was so tired. Tired of standing, tired of sitting, tired of hunching over and studying, but most of all, she was tired of thinking. She just wanted to go home and go to bed. “No, sir. I thought I had it, but these readings aren’t right.”
The professor sighed. “Alright, I’ll be there in a minute.”
Cassie sat down, adjusted her glasses and began going over the readings again, desperate to find the mistake she had made before the professor pointed it out to her. She could hardly focus on the words and numbers, but she managed to work through them once and couldn’t find the error. A few seconds after she finished, Professor James was at her shoulder.
“Let’s see your work.” He said quietly.
She handed her papers over and waited.
After several very minutes, he frowned. “I don’t see any problems, Cassie. You clearly understand the concepts we’ve been going over.”
“But, sir, look at the seismograph.”
Professor James leaned over to study it. “That can’t be right. It must be malfunctioning.”
From across the room, another student called, “Professor, my seismograph is going crazy! I can’t get a proper reading.”
“Me neither!”
“Mine’s freaking out, Professor!”
Students from around the room joined the chorus of confused complaints.
Professor James darted from station to station, a slightly wild look in his eyes, muttering, “China, Australia, Hawaii… they can’t all be… It’s not possible…”
Suddenly, the classroom began to shake and everyone fell silent, looking to the professor.
“Under the desks!” He snapped abruptly, startling everyone into action.
Cassie dived under her desk, nearly colliding with one of her classmates. They exchanged frightened glances as the shaking intensified. A cup on one of the desks fell over, dumping out a large collection of pens. It continued on and on. No one spoke, but Cassie heard a girl whimper from across the room.
Her companion under the desk glanced up from his watch and murmured, “Average earthquake length is two to four minutes.”
“How long has it been?” She whispered.
“Seven.”
Cassie huddled deeper underneath the desk and they waited. The shaking went on and on. After fifteen minutes, the adrenaline had left her system and Cassie was exhausted. She slumped against her classmate but couldn’t fall asleep. So they waited.
Finally, after what seemed like an hour, but was really thirty minutes, the shaking died down and then stopped. Cassie cautiously began to crawl out from under the desk, and so did several other students.
“Aftershocks!” Professor James snapped, and they scrambled back.
Sure enough, less than a minute later, an aftershock hit.
Cassie covered her face as she saw the walls of the classroom flex. This isn’t happening. It’s not happening. It’s just a nightmare. It has to be a nightmare.
It was almost two hours before the professor finally let them leave their desk refuges. Cassie snatched up her purse and ran for the door. When she opened it, a cloud of dust billowed in and covered her from head to foot. When it cleared, she stepped forward and then screamed, “Professor!”
Professor James darted forward to take a look around. His shoulders slumped and he ran his hands through his hair. The entire school has collapsed around them. Their classroom was the only one left standing. In fact, as far as the eye could see, there was no other building left standing. Sirens could be heard all across the city.
The other students crowded around to look out the door, gasping in shock. One of the girls began crying. The student that Cassie has sheltered with, Steve, pulled out his phone and tried to call home.
“No signal.” He reported. “The cell towers are probably down.”
Professor James walked back into the classroom and opened a drawer in his desk. “Try using mine. It’s a satphone. It should still work.”
Steve dialed while the professor watched him nervously. Steve put the phone to his ear, waited for a long moment, then shook his head.
“Nothing.”
Professor James took the phone back, hands trembling slightly, and dialed another number, saying in explanation, “Maybe your recipient has no signal either. I know someone else who has a satphone and always keeps it close. Let me call him.”
The class waited with bated breath. The professor waited for several agonizingly long seconds. Finally, he shook his head as well and set it down. He was silent for a minute, then looked up and said, “It’s not even connecting. Does anyone realize what that means?”
“Aliens are attacking and they’ve shot down our satellites!” One girl exclaimed hysterically.
The professor, as well as most of the class, glared at her. “No, Samantha. This is no time to panic or entertain such ridiculous thoughts.”
He took a deep breath, then gave them a small, sad smile. “This may be your last class for a long while, so pay attention. It seems that we may have just had, as impossible as it may seem, a worldwide earthquake.”
“Worldwide?” Steve exclaimed. Then he stared at the professor, open-mouthed. “The satellites… No way.”
Professor James nodded. “Back in 2010, there was an earthquake in Chile. The sixth largest earthquake ever recorded. It was large enough to pull the earth’s circumference in about three inches, and shortened the 24 hour day by 1.26 microseconds.”
Steve nodded, but the rest of the class looked confused.
The professor sighed and said, “Satellites depend on very, very accurate timing to work properly. A worldwide earthquake would render years of careful calculations worthless. The satellites are still up there, but they can’t connect to us. If they’re still on course.”
One of the students spoke up and asked, “So? Why should we care if a bunch of space satellites aren’t aimed right?”
Steve whirled on him and exclaimed angrily, “Because if the earthquake was big enough to knock satellites off course, what do you think it did to New York? Or London? Or your home?! We’re obviously really lucky that this room didn’t collapse and kill us!”
The professor broke in. “You are correct, though, Jamie. The satellites are the least of our worries. An earthquake of this magnitude, even if it wasn’t worldwide, has devastating consequences. Tsunamis. Teletsunamis. Ground ruptures. Floods, fires, landslides and avalanches. This is a disaster like we’ve never seen before.”
“Professor,” Cassie said, “I want to go home.”
“I doubt the dorms are still standing.” He sighed.
“No, I want to go check on my family. I want to go home.”
“Do they live in town?” Steve asked.
Cassie shook her head and blinked back tears once more. “No, they live two hours away.”
Professor James gave her a sympathetic look. “Cassie, traveling that far… The roads have probably been destroyed. There’s more aftershocks on the way, and people are probably panicking, if not rioting in the streets. It’s just not safe.”
“I want to go home.” She repeated stubbornly.
“Cassie,” The professor began again, but Steve interrupted him.
“Is your car in the parking garage?”
Cassie blinked in surprise, then said, “No. I parked in the field. I always park in the field.”
“So your car’s probably okay then. I’ll make you a deal. My family lives nearby. If you help me get to them, I’ll help you get to your family.” Seeing she looked doubtful, he added, “There’s safety in numbers.”
Frowning, she said, “That hardly seems fair, though. My family’s a lot farther away than yours.”
He grinned ruefully and explained, “My house is really hard to get to. And besides, once we get there, if it’s still standing, we can get some food and and I’m sure my parents will let you crash there for the night.”
“Overnight?”
“Well, the dorms are probably trashed. And it’s already seven-fifteen. Where were you planning to stay?”
“At home.” She said numbly.
“You might’ve been able to make it there in two hours yesterday, but it’ll take two days after this.” He said, almost apologetically.
Cassie glanced around the room. The professor had moved along to discuss a course of action with the other students. Most of them seemed to want to stay, to hide from the disaster in their cocoon of normality.
“Yo.” Steve waved a hand in front of her face. “You in?”
“Yeah,” Cassie nodded, “Yeah, I’m in.”
“No point in waiting. It’s not going to get any better out there.”
“Let’s go, then.” She said, slinging her purse over shoulder and they walked to the door.
Steve put his hand on the doorknob, looked at her and asked, “You ready?”
“No,” Cassie took a deep breath, “But let’s go anyway.”
He opened the door and they stepped out into a changed world.
Keep in mind I didn't do a lot of research on earthquakes, seismographs, etc, etc, so my terminology may be off, and that this is only a rough first draft.
Hannah again. It is now my turn to post something, as Trinity has made very clear (“You WILL write a post tomorrow.”) Now that NaNoWriMo has begun, I can no longer put off talking about my story, I suppose. I don’t know why I am so opposed to sharing this kind of thing. Trinity has made a cover for her book and a synopsis and has a couple thousands words or something. I have been slacking (I'm a slacker), and it’s coming back to haunt me, in a manner of speaking. This is a briefpretty long possibly lengthy synopsis of my NaNo novel. I don't have a name for it quite yet, so suggestions are welcome. My working title is Padarath.
Padarath is in the middle of a war with an nearby country, and losing. More and more men have been drafted into the army, leaving just the women, children and infirm to tend the fields and work and repairs. While they do their best, the country is slowly failing, going into poverty and famine. Desperate, the government concocts a last resort solution. They need to get across enemy lines, sneak around or through a fort which set up to guard one of the last accessible passes into Gjilong, the enemy country. The infiltrator then had the task of doing something (I don’t know what yet) that would give Padarath the edge. The government is looking for a fit young man to do the work for them. So they set up a test to pick the fittest, smartest, fastest, and most willing: an obstacle course, outfitted with many battle-accurate danger situations. The first across the finish line wins. The president extends the invitation to the entire country, looking for the best possible subject.
Then something happens that the government hadn’t counted on: two contestants tie for first place. And worse, one’s a girl. Furthermore, the other is a cheater; a young man above the age requirement who entered the race for a thrill . Neither is willing to be sent away from their homes to go on a military mission, but as the rules of the race state, the first across the finish line wins. And as the fine print of their contracts read, the winner is bound to accept whatever “prize” the host bestows on them, and so, unwillingly, the two teenagers, strangers to one another, are forced to set out together on a mission to save their country.
The main character in my story is the girl, fourteen-year-old Alice Fife. For most of her life, she has loved to run. Indoors, outdoors, wherever she goes. She convinces her father to enter her in the race for the fun of it, and so is shocked and horrified when the authorities demand that she leave her home and family and travel across the country on a potentially fatal mission, threatening to take her out of her father’s custody permanently unless she does what they say, then shipping her off with a strange, older boy who seems to dislike her quite a bit.
This is about all I have so far. I’ve started on the prologue and have 700 something words, so I have a lot of catching up to do. It’s a bit hard to get my priorities straight, since my sisters and I just went to the library recently and picked up some books I really like, and we started a new movie, and I “need” some sleep, and I have another story that I don’t want to abandon, even if it’s just for a month. Of course, when faced with these options; on one hand, a book you love but have read several times over (The Queen of Attolia), and on the other hand, a novel that you have 27 days to work on, and your deadline is steadily encroaching, and on the other hand you have a movie that you want to watch, but you own it and could watch it anytime, and on the other hand, you did commit to this book you’re writing, and on the other hand, man, that bed looks really warm and inviting… and so on, you know which one is the logical choice, but you kind of don’t want to pick it. Writing is hard work, for me, and November is a holiday time in our house, listening to Christmas music and preparing for Thanksgiving (not to mention my birthday’s coming up next week).
These are not acceptable excuses, so I need to go write soon.
On another note, the last rabbit trail that Trinity went off on concerning the Jabberwocky I think was caused by another one of my sisters and I, singing and dancing to said poem while eating dinner. We have some very interesting choregraphy, likely based on a Sunday School song, "Walk Like An Egyptian" by the Bangles, and Michael Jackson's Thriller dance.
Which has absolutely nothing to do with anything important, so maybe forget that last part.
I do not plan to write an update on how it's going every single day! I may pledge once a week, but we'll see how it goes.
← This picture is of me faithfully working on Nano in the van while waiting for some family members to finish an appointment, taken by Hannah. I just bought the skull headphones today because I was wanting some nicer ones, and being as those were Halloween themed, they were half off. I would not have normally chosen those. (In fact, I was pretty taken with some Runts/Nerds themed ones a couple months ago, but I didn't end up getting them.)
I've written 1,254 words today, which is 413 words short of my daily goal and puts me at 1,027 words behind where I need to be in order to be caught up. Tomorrow, I'll need to write 2,694 words in order to be all caught up. I don't know if I can do it, but I'll try.
Now, another entirely different, completely unrelated subject. Sometime in the last year my mother said something about how I should memorize The Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll, since it's a nonsense poem. It was also featured (briefly) in Disney's Alice In Wonderland (see the video), and I always think of that song when I recite it.
So, here it is, typed completely from memory:
T'was brillig and the slithy toves,
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the momeraths outgrabe.
Beware the jabberwock, my son.
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch,
Beware the jubjub bird and shun,
The frumious bandersnatch.
He took his vorpal sword in hand,
Long time the maxom foe he sought,
So rested he by the tumtum tree,
And stood while in thought.
And as in uffish thought he stood,
The jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came wiffling through the tulgy wood,
And burbled as it came.
One-two, one-two,
Through and through his vorpal sword went snicker-snack.
Trinity here! NaNoWriMo officially began... well... many hours ago and my official word count is at... um, zero. I've been finishing up posting pictures on my other blog, making this snazzy introduction picture, finishing up Halloween stuff, and doing a touch more outlining.
Anyway, this is my NaNo notebook, that I got especially for NaNoWriMo and the pen that I'm hoping to keep track of and use all month long. Note: When referring to a NaNoWriMo related thing it's a Nano ____. Like, a Nano notebook, or Nano pen. Whereas the people themselves are called Wrimos. So a Wrimo would use a Nano pen for their Nano novel, unless they prefer a computer, which some Wrimos do. Just so that makes sense in the future.
My word count (and Hannah's too, soon) will be available on the sidebar over there →
It seems to be malfunctioning right now, so I'll try to get that fixed as soon as possible, right now though, I'm gonna crank up the Christmas Music (not allowed in my house until November 1st) and get writing!
