NanoWriMo 2011 - Almost there!

Current Day: 23

Word Count:  40,014

Almost there!

With just over a week to go until the end of the month, I'm sticking to my daily word counts and still enjoying the whole NaNoWriMo experience. Why didn't I try this before?

First of all I'd like to say a special thanks to AshHadAns. In my last update, I was fretting about dialogue and worried that it wasn't coming naturally to me. I was re-reading and nitpicking and doing all the wrong things, and then this piece of advice:

I have a lot of problem with dialogue, too. I kept going back and obsessing over what I had already written that it was really slowing my word count down. So now I just write it as it comes out and don't look back. At the end when you do your edits then you can re-read it and see how it flows and if stuff needs to change. The whole point of NaNo is not to produce a publishable ready book, it's just for the word count. And that thought has really helped my writing a lot. I'm getting through the story faster and skipping to my favorite scenes and shooting them out in just a couple days each.

Totally worked for me - thanks!

Will I make it to 50,000?

The word count shouldn't be a problem. I still have so much of my story to tell (probably too much - more on that later), but I'm away this weekend, and I won't have time to write. Well, I will, but I don't know how well I'll be received if I shut myself away in my room and write for the whole weekend. Hopefully I can sneak an hour or two, though. Even if I don't get to 50,000 I plan on sticking with this thing and finishing it. I've had a lot of fun with it, and I've kind of got a book crush on my own book boy (I still haven't given him a name - ridiculous, I know!) I have to find the perfect name. Sometimes I'm so turned off characters in books because they have the wrong name, although I get over it if they're hot enough!

I Go Round in Circles

I thought that writing 50,000 words or getting anywhere near it would be impossible for me, but I haven't even gotten to the fun part of the book yet, and I'm at 40,000. I'm well aware that there's a lot of trash in there though - abandoned story arc's, a lot of notes to self and TK's. I'm also concentrating way too much on the relationship, which is fun, but I've definitely been drifting way too much into soppy territory at times. Both characters have said a couple things that have made me cringe! I'm still avoiding Insta-Love, but I've given into Insta-Lust. Hey, it happens! Still, this is something of a summer romance situation, and they tend to happen quickly. 

Also, I now totally get what authors say about their characters talking to them, invading their dreams, invading their lives! They totally do that!

The Paranormal Element

I've been concentrating so much on all the relationship stuff that CHAOS has turned into something of a contemporary romance, which, er, its not meant to be. I want the paranormal element, and it is still there, although I can't write detailed account of this particular paranormal element here without research, because I don't really know what I'm talking about.  Still, the relationship stuff is cute, and the boy is cute, and I've just discovered that he's been hurt pretty badly in the past. I didn't know that about him before. This led me to some very interesting discoveries...

What do I do if I get there?

I have a question. OK, this is probably explained on the site somewhere...If I do get to 50,000 do I just automatically become a winner with my word count or do I have to verify it somehow? I could probably figure this out myself if I looked for an FAQ or something, I know...

That's all for now! 

I will update next week when I'll either a be a winner or a loser! ;)

To anyone else taking part let me know how your NaNo is working out! Good Luck in the final week!