Thursday, November 15, 2007

Nanowrimo - Half Way

Surfacing for a gasp of air at the half-way point of National Novel Writing Month (or, in the case of Apprentice Writer, National Finishing a Work In Progress Month), to give a lightning report.

No, Apprentice Writer has not achieved the 25,000 fresh words that should be safely stored on computer chip by now.
Yes, despite the above, Apprentice Writer is excited due to breaking through a wall on some sticky scenes that have plagued her for months.
Yes, Apprentice Writer continues to encourage aspiring writers to participate in the global writing frenzy, even if they likewise own a six-month-old infant conspiring to prevent them from crossing the 50K finish line by deliberately timing their first bout of teething with November.
No, unlike many peers, Apprentice Writer has not given her work to her husband to review for a man's perspective on the behaviour/speech of the male characters.

But husbands are useful to the writer in other ways. A number of Mr. Apprentice Writer's ideas and remarks have made their way into the WsIP. Today, this exchange resulted in a remark for the ages:

Apprentice Writer: "I'm on a chapter where the heroine gets on a plane for a surprise visit to her fiance. The beginning quote I'm using is 'Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.' "
Mr. Apprentice Writer: "No, they get run over by tractors."

5 comments:

Julia Phillips Smith said...

LOL on Mr. Apprentice Writer! I'm also working on a WIP for NaNo and I'm glad to be pushing through this month, regardless of word count. I don't even know what my word count is. I got a new computer a few months ago and it doesn't have Microsoft Word (believe it or not.) I'm just writing in Notepad. No word or page count. C'est la vie.

M. said...

you know, that might be kind of restful actually. not interfere with creative flow so much. i know i check my wordcount way too often. one of those inspirational stories they have on the homepage talks about a group that are writing their nanovels on typewriters, for just such retro and creative reasons.

Amy Ruttan said...

You're doing awesome M. My NaNo's gone funk this year because of two new contracts. Not that I'm complaining. Keep up the good work M.!!

Unknown said...

Way to go on doing so well! I've barely been blogging I've been trying to get my NaNo done/keep it going. It's been harder this year than last, but it will feel that much better come December 1st.

Jennifer Linforth said...

I nearly snorted tomato soup on my screen regarding teething and writing. My one year old is RIGHT THERE. (My edits came in last night so I have to work on them today, and she picked last night to keep me up until 3AM...)

I relate to the hubby's adding to stories. I have long list of ideas that never make it into my novels. He tends to like suggesting my heroes (in the 19th century) carry around guns in violin cases.

Awesome job on NaNo... keep it up!

Jennifer