Cuplog

There is one day left for National Novel Writing Month 2007, and I am hereby extending it one month for those of us who labor in the unforgiving field of retail during the holiday season, and for whom this is the worst possible time of year to be attempting to write a novel in the span of 30 days. This has no official status whatsoever, of course. This is for the satisfaction of those of us who tried and failed, but are unwilling to give up on the novels we started and wish to continue supporting one another’s efforts. (In my own sphere, it makes two of us.) It is a pact of mutual encouragement I am dubbing Extended National Novel Writing Month. ExNaNoWriMo begins on the first day of December and lasts until 11:59 p.m. on December the 31st. The goal is to write 50,000 words across the months of November and December. It is, in other words, a sort of “second chance” NaNoWriMo.

Tomorrow night, I’ll post my final NaNoWriMo update of 2007, and begin posting ExNaNoWriMo updates shortly thereafter.

I am still lagging, and once again I shake my fist at a universe that conspires against me. It will take a monumental effort and a tsunami of inspiration and a supernova of good luck to meet the quota of 50,000 words by the end of the month, but I will not surrender!

The good news is that I think I have a title for it now. The bad news is that it’s a secret… for now.

I had an excellent start for the first several days, but then I had to go back to work. Inevitably, my daily productivity decreased, and my considerable lead was first reduced to a slim lead, then a slim trail, and then a considerable trail. Today, I regained some of the lost momentum, but if I want to reach the quota by Day 12 (20,004 words), then I must write about 2800 words a day for the next four days. Three of those four days will be work days, so it will be no small challenge. Since Danny Boy is in Yucatán, though, there will be fewer chances for distraction during my free time. Days 13-15 are all days off, so that will be an excellent opportunity to get ahead of the quota again.

I have not yet posted an excerpt of the novel, nor have I thought of a title, but I can tell you that the official genre is fantasy (although it is equally an alternate history novel). More than that I am not prepared to disclose at this time.

Current word count: 8739

It is Day 2 of National Novel Writing Month, and I am ahead of the daily quota of 1667 words, if you can believe it. I know, it’s incredible. I wrote 2064 words on Day 1, and 2009 words on Day 2, for a total of 4073, which is 739 words over the quota. True, it is only Day 2 and there are plenty of days in which to stumble or stray, but I am ahead of the game for the first two days, which is critical, at least for me. If I can maintain an early lead, I won’t have to spend a month trying in vain to catch up. Last year, I was unable to settle on any of the elements of a novel, and I wasn’t able to meet the quota on either of the first two days. Inevitably, it fizzled. This year, I shall see it to the end.

Things may be running smoothly, but so far I have been writing on my days off. On Sunday I will be faced with the challenge of meeting the quota on days in which I work. Ah, but I love a challenge.

I just finished my first day of writing for the first day of National Novel Writing Month. My current word total is 2064, which is better than the recommended 1667 words a day. (The goal is 50,000 words by the end of 30 November.) So, I’m slightly ahead ahead of the game for a change. The trick, at least for me, is never to fall behind. I’ll maintain the daily quota, and I will exceed it as often as I can, but I will never fall behind (because it’s all over if that happens, unless I manage a substantial lead at some point).

The goal of this crazy project is quantity, so naturally I am not striving to create a masterpiece. My personal goal is to write a novel this month, good or bad, so I can overcome the fiction-writing drought I have been weathering lo these too many years. True, I have been writing steadily for years now, but it has all been nonfiction, and as my oldest friends well know, fiction and poetry are my raisons d’être. Yes, I am participating for the purpose of self-resurrection. I need to overcome inertia and build momentum — this novel in November is my strategy for accomplishing it.

My NaNoWriMo nickname, for anyone who is curious, is Thundercloud.