Michell Plested's Blog, page 13

NaNo 2017 – Day 18 – 40,000!

Thirty-one days ago I made the formal decision to participate in NaNoWriMo. Twenty-seven days ago my personal life really took a turn for the worse. It wasn’t anything to do with me, not exactly, but it was something I would have to deal with personally. It was me or no one. Nineteen days ago I asked myself (for probably the hundredth time) if I really thought there was any chance I could win NaNoWriMo this year. I had already committed. I was going to give it my best shot. I just didn’t see a way to the finish line except sheer dogged determination. Day 18, not even two-thirds of the way through the month I hit 40,000 words. That’s 80% […]

NaNo 2017 – Day 17 – Tucker & Dale vs Evil

I wasn’t entirely sure what I should post today. I could have said, “Day 17 – Just like many other days,” but that wouldn’t have been entirely true. I had a good writing day – I managed 2,314 words – that puts it in my top 5 word count days thus far. The writing wasn’t magical. It moved the story along to where I’m at the cusp of writing something much more interesting. What was different is, I rewarded myself. I mentioned in yesterday’s post that one of my colleagues suggested a movie to me; namely, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. The movie is a horror/comedy, a genre I am a big fan of. Bruce Campbell is easily one of my […]

NaNoWriMo 2017 – Day 16 – Not a Lot to Report

Day 16 would definitely count as a doldrums day. I’m still battling my way through the middle part of Scouts 3, trying to write content that is both interesting and moves the story forward. This is what I’m calling my pantster portion of the story. I am reminded of something Terry Pratchett used to say. He said, “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” As I think about it in those terms, I realize just how right he is. I am writing the story, putting the proper characters where they need to be doing the things they need to do. Revision will tighten all that up.   Challenges for the Day Nothing additional planned for evening after […]

NaNo 2017 – Day 15 – Low Water Mark

Day 15 was my lowest output day thus far: 2005 words. I’m not complaining. I’m not even disappointed in the word total. There had to be a day where I wrote less than the others. This year, that was day 15. It has been an interesting run thus far. I went into NaNoWriMo knowing in essence what the story I was writing needed to be. It is the third and last chapter of this Scouts of the Apocalypse trilogy (note: I didn’t say “the” simply because I don’t know what the future holds. Maybe there is another trilogy out there for my Scouts. In fact, as I type these words, I have suddenly had an idea for said trilogy (darn […]

NaNo 2017 – Day 14 – I Broke 30,000 Words

Okay. Maybe I should say, I passed the 30,000 word mark. I didn’t actually break any of them due to poor writing or anything else. I had high hopes I would be able to start my writing early in the afternoon. That isn’t quite what happened unfortunately. Still…I BROKE 30,000!

NaNo 2017 – Day 13, Laser like Focus

One of the many reasons I like NaNoWriMo is because it helps me to focus. I am very much a goal-oriented person and the whole challenge with very concrete milestones is exactly what I need when I’m trying to get writing done. I should probably do more of it in my daily/weekly writing activities. Day 13 proved to be a day when I needed to find and maintain that laser-like focus. It was another exhausting day of deal with all the various things that are magically appearing regarding my ailing parent. We found more evidence of failures to deal with the various day-to-day things that make up our lives so we had to deal with those. None of it was […]

NaNo 2017 – Day 12, Relaxation Can Cause Word Shortages

Day 12 was a laid back day. Almost too laid back. I decided to take some time to not do much. I got up late and wrote some, then ran some errands then did some more words.   That’s pretty hard to stop and getting the motivation to put words down was pretty difficult. Challenges for the Day The biggest? Too comfortable and actually relaxing for the first time in days (weeks?), just like yesterday. Number of Words for the Day:  2240 words I had set a pretty aggressive goal of 4,000 words. If I hadn’t left the house, I might have achieved that. But, I didn’t stay home. I ran around doing other things. I’m still pretty happy with what […]

NaNo 2017 – Day 11 – Writing Almost Didn’t Happen

Day 11 was almost the day that didn’t happen. Okay, that’s a little bit dramatic. I actually would have finished the day with ~300 words if I had only done the one (small) writing stint. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I’m getting tired. A large portion of the fatigue comes from trying to juggle too many balls (including NaNoWriMo). So, this weekend we have been planning a mini vacation. The emphasis should be on the word “mini”. We are going North to do some more for my failing parent, but we decided that, since we can’t really do much until Monday/Tuesday, we would go North in stages. The first stage I talked about yesterday. We went as far […]

NaNo 2017 – Day 10 – A Mixed Bag

Day 10 was a mixed bag for writing. I didn’t start to work on my NaNoWriMo project until about 5:30 PM when we were driving up to Red Deer. I managed about 700 words on that drive. Then I had 45 minutes before I went to see Thor. I managed to go over the 2,000 word (about 1,300 additional words in about 45 minutes). Challenges for the Day I had lots going on. I had to find a couple spots to do my writing. Not really any continuous time. Number of Words for the Day:  2048 words It was another tough day of writing. I’m at a point in the story where I’m not entirely sure what is coming next. I […]

NaNo 2017 – Day 9 – Wow, was that Painful!

Every year I have taken the NaNo challenge I find myself sitting on my hands in December because I managed to wear myself out. Last night I was definitely feeling that way. I had lots of time to write (almost 3 hours), but it was hard to get focused. Challenges for the Day Tired. This has been a long, emotionally draining week. I found myself not as prepared to write as I normally am. Number of Words for the Day:  2355 words I decided the previous day that I was going to hit 20,000 words today. It was a real slog. I’m not actually sure how much of the writing was good and how much was ‘meh’ but it was […]