Stuart Aken's Blog, page 278

#NaNoWriMo Progress day 24 = 100,074 Words

So, how goes the NaNoWriMo challenge today for those who are taking it?
Well, for me, I've now exceeded the set challenge by a factor of 2, but that's only because I set myself a target of 120,000. At 100,074 words, I'm 83% of the way. Just over 5,000 words today, in 2 sessions. Had to have a brief halt in the second session because the story took the hero down to London and I had to check an A to Z and an Underground map to make sure I was sending him in a logical direction. Most of the action, so far, has taken place in my native East Yorkshire, au unspecified location somewhere in the northern half of England, and a south western seaside town that I based on Weymouth, but never actually named. Motorway travel features rather more than I would care to use it in person, but it fits in with the story.
More new characters coming up, and I'll need to do a couple of character studies tomorrow, quite early in the day, to keep track of the action involving them.
Wordle has, again, provided a useful graphic to show which words are used most frequently. And I've decided to do a Wordle image for each of the chapters. Currently I'm on chap 29, but I've used the last complete chapter, 28, to illustrate this post.
A welcome interruption to the day when I popped down to the local railway station to pick up daughter, Kate, who is home from Uni for the weekend. Nice to see her after her absence. She seems happy and is getting on well with her studies.

Watching Clocks for Vanity or Status?

Image via Wikipedia
What, no watch? How d'youtell the time, then?I haven't worn a wristwatch since I took voluntary redundancy from the Civil Service in April 1994.And, whilst many people ask me how I manage, I wonder why they continue to relyon a personal timepiece.Every room in the house,except the smallest, has at least one clock ticking away the seconds. Thesitting room mantel carries a carriage clock. The kitchen has a fruity roundaffair clinging to the wall, and digital displays on cooker, microwave andcentral heating controls. The bedroom has a self-correcting electric clockradio courtesy of my late step-mother; it wakes me with enough noise to rousethe citizens of Edinburgh. My daughter sleeps through her battery operatedalarm, so I've installed an insistent radio alarm to ensure she escapes her bedbefore lunch. And my study contains a small ticking souvenir from a forgottenholiday, as well as the digital display at the bottom right of the computerscreen. Every High Street I tread, with heavy, reluctant footfall, measures thepassing of the hours with clocks in abundance, in the windows of the manyjewellers or on the faces and towers of ugly municipal buildings. At the office(I had to return to employment to earn a living, unfortunately) there areclocks on all four walls, each recording a different time. One of these hasforgotten it's summer and continues to dwell in the winter of GMT. Every busterminus, train station, and airport lounge sports clocks a plenty. My car, aninexpensive and not quite antique model, holds a clock amongst the variousdials, switches and gauges that aid the driver. And, should I find myself strandedin the middle of nowhere, cruelly deprived of public timepieces; what's in mypocket? Right; a mobile phone with, guess what? A time display.In all the hours, days,weeks, months and years since I abandoned my personal reminder of time passing,I've never missed a bus, train or appointment. And I travel by public transportmore frequently than I'd prefer: it's cheap and helps save the planet,apparently. So I ask; if I can live amodern life without one, why do so many people wear watches? Why are they sokeen on constantly monitoring the ebbing of their lives? I find only twocredible answers to this conundrum, and I suspect they're closely linked. Oneis simple vanity, of course; a love of something special attached to the personto adorn and beautify, like any item of jewellery. The other is status, wherethe brand, style or material of the device declares its owner either rich orspecial. Thus; the designer watch, which tells the world how stylish andcomfortably off is its wearer, or the timepiece with so many features itrequires a heavy duty strap and over-developed biceps to be carried and remainin place, and reveals its user as a man of action, who thinks nothing of diving30 metres into water, regardless of the need. And, we mustn't neglect thehideously expensive watch, which describes its wearer not simply asinordinately wealthy but as boastful and lacking in basic common sense.Now I've upset, angered,irritated and alienated almost everybody, I'll take a minute to consider mystance on this. Nope; still feel the sameway.Damn! Just missed the lastpost.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Xenophobia

Image via Wikipedia
Xenophobia: noun - a deep aversion to foreigners andforeign things.
'Your xenophobia informseverything you do, Robert. You see threats everywhere you look.'


'There are some politicalparties that, with their leaders, actively promote xenophobia in the hope ofspreading their message of hatred of everything that isn't native to their owncountry.'
'Xenophobia, in commonwill all irrational fears, makes the sufferer more of a fool than the subjectof the fear and hatred.'
24 Nov 2011 - ThanksgivingDay.

#NaNoWriMo Progress day 23 = 95037 words

The NaNoWriMo challenge continues apace with 3,748 words added today, taking the total to 95,037. I was determined to reach 95,000 today in spite of the fact that I spent a half day at the office. So, still on target and still enjoying. Much has happened in the last few thousands of words and a new, though expected, element has now entered the story, putting the hero in danger again.
The Wordle image of the word usage in Chapter 26 will again be a useful device when I start the editing process.
Some folks have asked me questions about my technique for producing the number of words I do on a daily basis, so here's something that might help answer that.
I always make the writing a priority, doing a targeted number of words (usually 2,000) before I do anything else. It's very easy to get carried away into the world of social networking, emails, or other distractions and end up leaving yourself with little time to do the writing. So, I do the writing first, and the rest is done in whatever time is left to me. Generally, on my full days of writing, I have at least 2 sessions, sometimes 3. Once I've managed 4,000, which is my daily target on full days, I'm happy if I turn out a bit more, but I don't sweat it at that point. I can sometimes write 2,000 in an hour, especially first thing in the morning when I'm fresh. But I can also take 3 hours to do the same number. I find it all depends on the type of event I'm describing. Dialogue seems to flow quite well and the action scenes usually develop fairly rapidly. Once in a while, I need to do some research  on the hoof, but I stick to looking for only the precise answer I need at that time, regardless how interesting the subject might be. So, I avoid distractions and prioritise the writing. I also do absolutely no editing, beyond correcting any spelling errors/typos as I write.
Editing uses a different part of the brain from creating and that 'policeman' that is your editing self can seriously interfere with your creative process if you allow it. In fact, I will wait until I've completed the story and then won't even look at it at all for at least two weeks, maybe four. Then I'll go back to it with a fresh mind and start on the exacting process of editing, reducing unnecessary words, checking for inconsistencies, ensuring actions all make sense and all the other details that are necessary for a successful story.
Hope that's helpful.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Wafer

Image via Wikipedia
Wafer: noun - a light, very thin, crisp biscuit, often eaten with icecream; a slice of ice cream sandwiched between wafers; in Christian Church - athin disc of unleavened bread used in Communion; in Law - a disc of red paperstuck on a document as a seal; a round thin spot, mark, or object; in Electronics- a very thin slice of a semiconductor crystal used in solid-state circuitry; atiny gold ingot, weighing only a few ounces.




'Licking the ice creamfrom between the wafers that sandwiched it, Marilyn dripped the whiteconfection over her chin so it trickled down her neck and pooled in thecleavage exposed by her bikini.'


'Taking the wafer, offeredby the priest, she drew it into her mouth and allowed it to dissolve on hertongue, awaiting that drop of red wine that would finally melt it and flush itdown her throat.'

#NaNoWriMo progress on day 22 = 91,289 words

Still going strong. The NaNoWriMo challenge has proved a great motivator and continues to drive me on toward my target. Over 3/4 of the way there now and 9 days to go, so I should make it, given a fair wind and no disasters.
Tuesday is a full day at the office for me, so I rose early and did 1,900 words before I left for work. Back home, and Valerie fed and watered me, so I could get on with the next session. Another 1,100 or so words took me to the current total of 91,289.
The Wordle graphic displays the word priorities that exist in chapter 24.
The story has now moved into a more intense portion, with the humour often replaced by the aspects of the novel that will enable it to bear the title of 'thriller'. I'm still pleased with the progress, but the writing is a little less fun than it is during the humour phases. Still, the contrast between action and humour is an essential element in the story and I'm happy that the framework remains on track, even if a little distorted from the original pattern envisaged. The general direction remains the same, though the conclusion has altered a little from that I set out with. The characters are interacting well, with the villains making capital off the heroes. And our poor victim, who is actually a strong woman overcome by circumstances beyond her control, is facing the dangers stoically and lives in hope that her hero will rescue her before anything too terrible happens to her.

And just a note about this post. It's my 800th on the blog.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Vacuous

Image via Wikipedia
Vacuous: adjective - devoid of matter; containingnothing tangible or visible; without ideas; unintelligent; expressionless; emptyof content or substance; meaningless; idle, indolent; not profitably occupied.
'Sybil gazed into thedistance, pretending to divine the future by reading the cloud formations, butshe was undone by the vacuous expression on her bland face.'
'You, sir, are anunmitigated, sly, devious, under-educated and vacuous moron; no wonder the bestyou could do was become an MP.'

#NaNoWriMo progress; day 21 = 88247 words

A day at the office, and, as soon as I've done this post, a spell of ballroom dancing with my wife. Hence a short post this time.
But I've managed another 2,182 words in a couple of short sessions either side of the evening meal, taking my NaNoWriMo total to 88,247 and keeping my average word count at 4,202 each day.
Wordle has provided me with another useful graphic, which will be invaluable come the edit. This one shows Chapter 24 and the keen-eyed will no doubt notice some words now making a prominent appearance. What they all mean, however, will have to wait until the end. Once edited and published, all will be revealed for those wishing to read 'An Accidental Avenger'.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Ugly

Ugly: adjective - of an appearance causing dread or horror; frightful,horrible; of an event, time, sound - dreadful, terrible; morally repulsive;base, vile; offensive or repulsive to the eye, refined taste or good feelings;disagreeable, unpleasant; causing disquiet or discomfort; problematic, awkward;of markedly disagreeable or unpleasant appearance; offensive to smell or taste;noisome, nasty; suggesting trouble or danger; of the weather or sea -threatening, dangerously rough; cross, angry or bad-tempered.
'David stared hard intothe mirror on the wall of his bedsit and wondered whether any woman would everfancy and ugly bugger like him.'
'An ugly mob gatheredaround the steps of the courthouse, threatening to lynch the sex offender whenhe emerged from the trial.'
Pic: A dry stone wall above Catrigg Force, North Yorkshire. (Included as an antidote the ugly features.)

#NaNoWriMo Progress on Day 20 = 86065 words

Yesterday, I developed a new character, more or less out of the blue. She came as a surprise to me but she has already had an amazing impact on the plot and caused major issues for Mel. Of course, Isla is not yet aware of her, for reasons which will only become clear when you read the finished novel. And you will be able to read it, since I intend to get this published, as soon as I've finished the challenge here on NaNoWriMo and then completed the necessary editing, after a spell of reflection. This is turning into a damn good story, my characters are developing and influencing the story as we move forward together towards a conclusion that I had thought was fixed when I started. Not so, the characters had different ideas and it looks now as if this will be the first book in a series of, probably, three.
I've actually introduced a couple of well known names into the story, more by association than as actual appearances. The new character, for example, is described by Mel as being the spitting image of Kelly Brook.
I've managed five and a half thousand words today, in two sessions, bringing the total to 86,065, which takes me to 72% of my target on day 20. Tomorrow, Monday, is a time for a short writing spell, since I'll be at the office for much of the day and then dancing ballroom with my wife in the evening.
We had our usual Sunday walk today, but the fog made the landscapes more mysterious than open and the chill air had us walking rather faster than usual.
Wordle has, once again provided me with a diagram pointing out the most frequently used words. This will be a real help when I get down to the editing process. Today's image is from Chapter 23.