# NaNoWriMo 2019



## PiP (Oct 17, 2019)

Who is going to attempt NaNoWriMo this year?


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## Aquilo (Oct 17, 2019)

*raises tentative hand*  I think I need the push back into the writing mosh pit.  Are you, Pip?


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## PiP (Oct 17, 2019)

I'm tempted, but I'll only have three weeks as we are visiting the UK for 8 days in November and I don't have a laptop. I completed NaNo in 2012 in three weeks but that was then. Lol ... I have too many distractions now!


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## J.T. Chris (Oct 17, 2019)

I think I'm going to go for it. I've never written a novel before so it should be interesting.


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## seigfried007 (Oct 17, 2019)

Probably not. Hopefully, I'll have my WIP done before the 50K mark from _now_. Story's already 201K, and I've been adding about 1K+ per day for a couple months now. Don't think I'll have enough story left to do another 50K after November starts (or at least, I hope not--this thing's too huge already). Technically, I think I'm supposed to start an all-new project for NaNo anyway, and that ain't happening because--even once I'm done with this first draft--I'll be stuck in rewriting hell for the foreseeable future.


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## PiP (Oct 18, 2019)

J.T. Chris said:


> I think I'm going to go for it. I've never written a novel before so it should be interesting.



That's great! We can at least try


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## Phil Istine (Oct 18, 2019)

PiP said:


> I'm tempted, but I'll only have three weeks as we are visiting the UK for 8 days in November and I don't have a laptop. I completed NaNo in 2012 in three weeks but that was then. Lol ... I have too many distractions now!



Welcome home.


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## Darren White (Oct 18, 2019)

I'll sit there watching you all, cheering you on


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## PiP (Oct 18, 2019)

Phil Istine said:


> Welcome home.



According to my Brexit 'leave' friends, the UK is not my home :dispirited::dispirited: I am a displaced person. Hey, we could certainly write over 50, 000 words about Brexit


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## Phil Istine (Oct 18, 2019)

PiP said:


> According to my Brexit 'leave' friends, the UK is not my home :dispirited::dispirited: I am a displaced person. Hey, we could certainly write over 50, 000 words about Brexit



But they aren't really friends, are they?  Did you have a say in the 2016 referendum?  I understand that people who have lived abroad more than fifteen  years didn't get a vote.
I don't know where in the UK you are headed, but if you're anywhere around Gatwick way I'd be delighted to meet up for coffee.  I'm in nearby Crawley, about four miles from the airport.

EDIT:
I've probably read over fifty thousand  words on Brexit, and written a few thousand myself.  However, I try to keep that off this site and post it to Quora.  Although you're not allowed to, I use a pseudonym on there.

SECOND EDIT:  There's a crucial vote in the Commons on Saturday.  It could go either way.  The vote is whether to accept the squidgy deal that Boris negotiated.  If it falls, there might be enough support to run another referendum with squidgy deal and Remain as the choices.  It could happen, but it's so close it could go either way.  I heard on Radio 4 earlier that they reckon it's currently 300 apiece with 39 who could vote either way.  Penalty shoot-out, I reckon.
The deal sounds like yet another fudge but, hopefully, fudge will be tariff-free.


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## PiP (Oct 22, 2019)

We have some cheerleaders but is anyone else going to sign up? Come on, at least try ...


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## Galen (Oct 23, 2019)

I admire anyone who tries to write a novel in one month.

The very idea of even trying intimidates me


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## PiP (Oct 23, 2019)

I've now signed up 
https://nanowrimo.org/
and making notes for each chapter. I'll write using stream of consciousness. I will not edit as I write ... just let the story flow.

Anyone else?


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## J.T. Chris (Oct 23, 2019)

PiP said:


> I've now signed up
> https://nanowrimo.org/
> and making notes for each chapter. I'll write using stream of consciousness. I will not edit as I write ... just let the story flow.
> 
> Anyone else?



I'm stuck at the title. :-(


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## PiP (Oct 31, 2019)

Anyone else signed up for National Novel Writing Month?  I need some writing buddies...


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## seigfried007 (Oct 31, 2019)

You know... I'm sadly not finished with the WIP... at 221K... so, what the hell, I'll join. I probably won't make it, but I'll try.

Signed up


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## PiP (Oct 31, 2019)

seigfried007 said:


> You know... I'm sadly not finished with the WIP... at 221K... so, what the hell, I'll join. I probably won't make it, but I'll try.
> 
> Signed up



that's great, seigs!


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## bdcharles (Oct 31, 2019)

Doing it, doing it. This middle grade gothic horror fantasy isn't going to write itself, you know. Well, actually, I'm sort of hoping it is.


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## PiP (Oct 31, 2019)

bdcharles said:


> Doing it, doing it. This middle grade gothic horror fantasy isn't going to write itself, you know. Well, actually, I'm sort of hoping it is.



Will you edit as you go or just write SoC?


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## J.T. Chris (Oct 31, 2019)

I'm signed up. I've never attempted a novel before. This will be interesting.


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## seigfried007 (Oct 31, 2019)

J.T. Chris said:


> I'm stuck at the title. :-(



Are you needing prompts to write by or title ideas for a project you've already got a good handle on? Or do you already have both now?


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## J.T. Chris (Oct 31, 2019)

I have a tentative working title now, as I usually do, but I'm sure it will change by the time I finish.


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## seigfried007 (Nov 1, 2019)

Ugh, made a booboo and had to delete my goal and start over. The "total words" option for adding words to the running total is not for total words on the project *my bad*. It had asked for how many words I'd had already, and I'd put 'em in, so I thought it might automatically subtract said number to find my total toward the goal. Alas, no. Thus, I wrote 223539 words in four hours. 

:coffeescreen: 

But now I can't find my original word count for comparisons, so I'm guessing it's 221,489-ish because I know I wrote 2050 so far for NaNo. I'll just stick with that. Sounds good enough.


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## bluemidget (Nov 1, 2019)

I'm attempting it again this year - no plan, no outline. Just going for it   :lol:  The title is "91 Days To Go" . Good luck everyone!!


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## PiP (Nov 1, 2019)

I started early this morning and I am at 2500 words.


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## PiP (Nov 1, 2019)

bluemidget said:


> I'm attempting it again this year - no plan, no outline. Just going for it   :lol:  The title is "91 Days To Go" . Good luck everyone!!



Hey, that's the spirit!


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## J.T. Chris (Nov 1, 2019)

I'm pantsing this thing. I'm going to attend some write-in's this weekend.


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## Tiger (Nov 2, 2019)

I am doing it! My second time doing Nano so it'll be swell!


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## Tiger (Nov 2, 2019)

PiP said:


> Will you edit as you go or just write SoC?


Does SoC stand for seat of couch?


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## seigfried007 (Nov 2, 2019)

Tiger said:


> Does SoC stand for seat of couch?


Stream-of-consciousness. No editing--just slur it all out as it pops into mind.


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## PiP (Nov 3, 2019)

Only wrote 2081 words yesterday. What about you guys'


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## Phil Istine (Nov 3, 2019)

PiP said:


> Only wrote 2081 words yesterday. What about you guys'



I'm not participating, but thought I might mention that 2081 words is higher than the daily average target (50,000/30=1667 to the nearest integer).


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## PiP (Nov 3, 2019)

I am going back to the UK on 21st for 8 days so need to get as much written as possible before I go. .... I am not a prose writer so this is a real test of endurance. My target is 2500 words a day and I'm struggling


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## Phil Istine (Nov 3, 2019)

PiP said:


> I am going back to the UK on 21st for 8 days so need to get as much written as possible before I go. .... I am not a prose writer so this is a real test of endurance. My target is 2500 words a day and I'm struggling



So it's 50000/20 then which is, I assume, from where you get the 2500 figure.  If you don't make 50,000 by the 20th and have no laptop, there may be other options.  I assume you will be busy visiting friends, family, and places.  There's nothing to say that NaNoWriMo must be completed on the same medium.  Although libraries are normally internet only and don't allow USB sticks etc. to be plugged in to their computers (to prevent mischief), you could use their copy of Word and access an online email account to send it to yourself.  Also, pen and notepad could make up your word count while in the UK.  If needed, you could write it up electronically after returning to Portugal and that part wouldn't have to be in November.  Have you considered a digital voice recorder?
Ultimately though, even if you don't make the 50k, having a decent stab at it is great.  I only tried NaNo once and got into the low 30k.  It's going to take a while but once I have my life sorted out better I will be writing a lot more.
Go on, Carole, you can do it.


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## seigfried007 (Nov 3, 2019)

PiP said:


> Only wrote 2081 words yesterday. What about you guys'



Done not quite 10K since it started. Did ~4311 yesterday.


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## Riptide (Nov 3, 2019)

I'm participating. Trying to knock out as much as possible on the weekend before I have to attend to school priorities. I'm at, like 8129, but I'm hoping to reach 10k before the night is up.


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## PiP (Nov 4, 2019)

8,267 / 50,000 WORDS


Hoping to exceed 10,000 words by the end of today.


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## PiP (Nov 5, 2019)

Okay I'm now at 10,707 / 50,000 WORDS
phew this is hard!


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## seigfried007 (Nov 5, 2019)

13,160 so far. 

Been stuck in an interminable but awkward conversation between four participants that seems to cover all kinds of shizznit throughout the entire 234K book.. so I keep having to go back and check stuff... plus, I've been really distractible these past couple days.


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## bdcharles (Nov 5, 2019)

Ah nano, nano. I've done about 8,900 words (I'm not killing myself over it) but my big risk is that even though it's mean to be a fantasy it reads in places like a soap opera - all horribly real-world-ish, with lots of humans having lots of human-type kitchen-sink dilemmas. I'm having to randomly insert fantasy creatures so that readers don't think it's a "what I did on my summer holiday" report. Oh and my 10-yo protagonist has tailspun from compelling to totally unrealistic. I half expect her to jump in a car and automagically know how it works, while at the same time making it evident that's it's just her vim and vigour and an unrealistic abundance of "luck" powering it because she's so damn "plucky". Urgh. Clearly I have mischronicled events / back to the trenches with me, etc.

I have had a brainwave though. I'm going to make it the story of a river*






_*what the hell am I doing?_


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## seigfried007 (Nov 5, 2019)

bdcharles said:


> Ah nano, nano. I've done about 8,900 words (I'm not killing myself over it) but my big risk is that even though it's mean to be a fantasy it reads in places like a soap opera - all horribly real-world-ish, with lots of humans having lots of human-type kitchen-sink dilemmas. I'm having to randomly insert fantasy creatures so that readers don't think it's a "what I did on my summer holiday" report. Oh and my 10-yo protagonist has tailspun from compelling to totally unrealistic. I half expect her to jump in a car and automagically know how it works, while at the same time making it evident that's it's just her vim and vigour and an unrealistic abundance of "luck" powering it because she's so damn "plucky". Urgh. Clearly I have mischronicled events / back to the trenches with me, etc.
> 
> I have had a brainwave though. I'm going to make it the story of a river*
> 
> ...


Oh, buddy, I hear ya on the kitchen sink drama. 

Writing a literary+psychological horror+cosmic horror+science-fiction+erotic romance set in a second Cold War. Involves an unusual critter--as in a "mind-reading, memory-wiping, skull-crushing, dream-weaving, emotions-manipulating, hallucination-inducing monster," "incubus," and "Cthulu"/"Lovecraftian abomination;" who can seemingly pause time on the planet for hours, possess the bodies (in whole or part) of thousands of people all over the planet at the same time and make them kill themselves; can literally eat the emotions, minds and memories of innumerable people from seemingly any distance, can drop whole military bases into Silent Hill. 

Also involves a lot of kitchen sink conversations. And conversations at the PX food court over dinner. And holding babies. And petting cats. Yeah, with all that power, said critter really wants to be playing with babies, petting cats, dancing to Madonna, and getting laid. 

Bigger issue is that the first-person POV gets progressively more limited throughout the story. He starts in a hospital, then goes home as a free man (small social life but he at least goes to work and drives around the state, so we get some scenery). Well, then he loses his job and is basically put on house arrest to help care for this next-to-dead Lovecraftian abomination. Then he gets hurt (involves a sink!) and winds up in the hospital again and gets to leave his hospital room once after being admitted (still in the hospital). Then he loses control of his body and can't even move. But after this, he gets to ride around in the head of said abomination for awhile before getting put back in his own body, which he still can't control... but "the new tenant" is... a nice young man who controls the body while the poor POV just gets to sit there and think and passively observe what this other guy's doing in his body. Good news is that the body can at least leave the room, but it can't leave the military base, so the POV's still limited to a handful of locations--like the PX and food court and the hospital room... and the recesses of his own mind (which is often nightmarish and full of traumatic memories). I'm going to stick him there semi-permanently by the end of the story. So, even when super cool crap is happening--Cold War stuff, catching spies and shredding their minds, nukes falling from the heavens--POV's stuck in a hospital bed, unable to do anything about anything. So I get kitchen sink drama instead of super cool sci-fi craziness. 

I've actually got lots of drama involving both kitchens and bathrooms and hospital sinks. Some of the biggest scenes in the book occur in rooms that have sinks, come to think of it. Most of the rest occur in bedrooms. Hospital rooms are all of the above, like sick bay studio apartment.


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## J.T. Chris (Nov 5, 2019)

I'm 15,000 words into it and essentially all I have, and will ultimately finish with, is a bare-bones outline. I'm writing a memoir that is very fractured, real stream-of-consciousness, with no inherent structure, direction or focus. I'm writing mostly hogwash here.


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## PiP (Nov 6, 2019)

J.T. Chris said:


> I'm 15,000 words into it and essentially all I have, and will ultimately finish with, is a bare-bones outline. I'm writing a memoir that is very fractured, real stream-of-consciousness, with no inherent structure, direction or focus. I'm writing mostly hogwash here.



15,000! Wow. Keep going, J.T. My NaNo effort is also stream-of-consciousness and hogwash  I keep jumping from one era of my life to another as new memories surface. To cope with this, I've divided my WIP into sections and given each memory a title so I can skip back and forth.

13,377 / 50,000 WORDS


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## seigfried007 (Nov 6, 2019)

14,677


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## seigfried007 (Nov 7, 2019)

18,109 total since NaNo started; did 3,432 today. WIP is up to 239,598 altogether. I'd really hoped I wouldn't have enough story left to do NaNo, but with the way these characters are bloating up their literary lifespans... yeah, I'm just hoping I don't cross 400K at this point.


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## PiP (Nov 7, 2019)

I wrote 1973 words yesterday which means I'm now at 15350. 

Today's target is 2000. Unfortunately, I am out all morning at art and this evening we are out to supper so got up at 6.30 this morning to get an early start. Fingers crossed I hit target.


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## Ma'am (Nov 7, 2019)

I'm not playing this year but sending wishes to those who are!


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## seigfried007 (Nov 8, 2019)

20,532 so far. 2,423 today
Total on WIP: 242,021


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## PiP (Nov 8, 2019)

Wrote 2189 yesterday, total now running at 17, 539. I'd love to hit the halfway mark by Sunday night but that goal may be a bit unrealistic as I write VERY slowly. We will see!


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## J.T. Chris (Nov 8, 2019)

I'm at 20,026 words. I think this is the longest I've ever written. What I enjoy about this is that I'm engrossed the process of writing, letting myself succumb to the rhythm of the language. It's not the finished product I'm concerned about here (because in all honestly thing is zero draft of likely four). It's a breath of fresh air to merely write for the sake of writing.


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## PiP (Nov 8, 2019)

J.T. Chris said:


> I'm at 20,026 words. I think this is the longest I've ever written. What I enjoy about this is that I'm engrossed the process of writing, letting myself succumb to the rhythm of the language. It's not the finished product I'm concerned about here (because in all honestly thing is zero draft of likely four). It's a breath of fresh air to merely write for the sake of writing.



:cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers:

Sometimes I think writers become too engrossed in the mechanics/theory of writing rather than just enjoying the journey and where your thoughts take you.


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## J.T. Chris (Nov 8, 2019)

PiP said:


> :cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers:
> 
> Sometimes I think writers become too engrossed in the mechanics/theory of writing rather than just enjoying the journey and where your thoughts take you.



Yeah, it's that self-deprecating inner-critic which is useful for revisions, but needs to mind their own business during the initial draft.


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## RHPeat (Nov 9, 2019)

PiP

Much depends on my personal life. As it sets right now; I won't be participating. There will be a lot of adjustments even if my wife is out of the hospital. 

A poet friend
RH Peat


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## PiP (Nov 9, 2019)

Ron, I think I've bitten off more than I can chew with National Novel Writing Month (writing 50,000 words during November) ... but I am a stubborn old bird (as you know) so I'm going to do my best to see it through. I hope your wife is on the road to recovery and by the time NaPoWriMo comes around in April, you will both be fit and well so you are able to participate.

Yesterday's word count 2729

Now 20268 words​


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## seigfried007 (Nov 9, 2019)

Did 1880 today. Too busy editing and doubting what I'm doing. I know I shouldn't. Plus, I've got the kids this weekend, and I want to spend time with them... but I'm stuck in a big, fat lump of sex scenes seemingly. Silly characters refuse to just move on with their lives. 

22,412 so far towards the 50K. WIP @ 239,901


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## PiP (Nov 10, 2019)

Now at 22997 / 50000
total words

I was hoping to hit 25,000 by the end of today but think that will be pushing it as I am out of 'focus' with writing today - too many distractions.​


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## seigfried007 (Nov 10, 2019)

At 24, 015. Did 2,378 yesterday (which is sad because I wanted to try for the double up thing). Total word count is 246,279. 

Making less progress 'cause I'm being bad and editing as I go (though I'm editing less than usual). Also researching, juggling scenes around, focusing too much on which one's I'm going to delete later... and trying to spend time with family.


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## PiP (Nov 11, 2019)

Only hit 1114 words yesterday. I thought I'd written 2114 but obviously I can't count  This means I failed to hit my goal of 25,000 by Sunday night. I did, however, watch a good film about the Beatles music.


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## seigfried007 (Nov 11, 2019)

25,799 now. Only did 1784. Meh.


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## Phil Istine (Nov 11, 2019)

PiP said:


> Only hit 1114 words yesterday. I thought I'd written 2114 but obviously I can't count  This means I failed to hit my goal of 25,000 by Sunday night. I did, however, watch a good film about the Beatles music.



I was watching a fiction film too yesterday evening about Beatles' music.  Was it the one called _Yesterday_?  A neat idea for a story.


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## PiP (Nov 11, 2019)

Phil Istine said:


> I was watching a fiction film too yesterday evening about Beatles' music.  Was it the one called _Yesterday_?  A neat idea for a story.



Yes, it was! It served to remind me what wonderful lyrics the Beatles wrote. haha... I thought the storyline a little weak and Hubby moaned all the way through the film.


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## Phil Istine (Nov 11, 2019)

PiP said:


> Yes, it was! It served to remind me what wonderful lyrics the Beatles wrote. haha... I thought the storyline a little weak and Hubby moaned all the way through the film.



I quite enjoyed it myself but (spoiler alert for anyone reading) ..................................................
..............................................................
..............................................................
..............................................................
.............................................................
..............................................................
..............................................................
..............................................................
..............................................................
.............................................................
...........

I wanted that man and woman who also remembered to be something a little more sinister.  I liked the beach house scene.


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## PiP (Nov 11, 2019)

So did I!


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## seigfried007 (Nov 12, 2019)

27,839

Did 2040 today, but it feels like I wrote a ton more than that. Might've just been the godawful stuff I was writing. 

Written several chapters' worth of material only to shove it at the foot of the WIP for use later. Spent most of the last 24 hours of writing time working on one of the longest, nastiest flashbacks ever. Going to have to cut it up and disperse it through multiple other chapters or scrap it entirely.


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## PiP (Nov 12, 2019)

Now at 26483 / 50000
but I am beginning to flag....​


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## seigfried007 (Nov 13, 2019)

29,166. Only did 1327 today. Having issues with Word, but mostly just distactible and didn't know exactly where to go or how to get there in the short term.


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## PiP (Nov 13, 2019)

Now at 28083 / 50000
total words

only wrote 1600 yesterday. Need to unplug the router and just write!​


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## Foxee (Nov 13, 2019)

Kudos to Seigfried and to PiP for racking up the word count.

My rebel-goal for NaNo is to write everyday, minimum of 15 mins. If I get to do that often enough to actually reach the word goal for the day that's great! If not, it's just chipping away at building a habit.

Also, kind of like cleaning, I seem to get more done when I'm upset. Who knew?


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## seigfried007 (Nov 13, 2019)

Foxee said:


> Kudos to Seigfried and to PiP for racking up the word count.
> 
> My rebel-goal for NaNo is to write everyday, minimum of 15 mins. If I get to do that often enough to actually reach the word goal for the day that's great! If not, it's just chipping away at building a habit.
> 
> Also, kind of like cleaning, I seem to get more done when I'm upset. Who knew?


Long time; no see! Glad to have you with us on NaNo (and the forums! and everywhere else!)


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## Foxee (Nov 13, 2019)

seigfried007 said:


> Long time; no see! Glad to have you with us on NaNo (and the forums! and everywhere else!)


Thanks, Seig! The welcome does my heart good.


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## Phil Istine (Nov 13, 2019)

Foxee said:


> Thanks, Seig! The welcome does my heart good.



Wow!  I don't recall seeing that name for a very long time.  Hello <waves>


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## Foxee (Nov 13, 2019)

Phil Istine said:


> Wow!  I don't recall seeing that name for a very long time.  Hello <waves>


Hey, Phil. *waves back* I've been out of the world for a spell...like to walk it awhile. Nice to see you again.


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## seigfried007 (Nov 14, 2019)

31,446

Ugh, so much kitchen sink kinda drama. Don't these characters realize they're in some sci-fi cosmic/psychological horror? Where's my dang horror and cool shizznit? 

Starting to feel more like a Stephen King novel where there's tons of relatively boring character drama that's briefly punctuated by cool horror shizznit. Only this one's chock full of *adult*

Lifetime presents: A Cold War Cthulu porn (starring Clark Kent, directed by David Cronenberg, produced by Hugh Hefner, special effects by Industrial Light and Magic, cinematography done entirely with 1960's soft glow techniques)


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## PiP (Nov 14, 2019)

Foxee said:


> Kudos to Seigfried and to PiP for racking up the word count.
> 
> My rebel-goal for NaNo is to write everyday, minimum of 15 mins. If I get to do that often enough to actually reach the word goal for the day that's great! If not, it's just chipping away at building a habit.
> 
> Also, kind of like cleaning, I seem to get more done when I'm upset. Who knew?



Thanks Foxee  Great to see you! You are right about chipping away at building a habit. It is so easy to find an excuse not to write, and since joining WF I've noted them all.


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## PiP (Nov 14, 2019)

Sigh ... I know I had a lot on yesterday but I've just checked my word count and I only managed 451 words.

Latest: 28534 / 50000

I am going to aim to hit the 30,000 mark by the end of today.​


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## PiP (Nov 15, 2019)

Feeling quite chuffed with myself. I knuckled down and wrote 3588 words yesterday. Now at 32,122 words.

How's it going with you J.T? RipTide? You've been quiet for a while


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## seigfried007 (Nov 15, 2019)

33,255 and still waiting for cool shizznit
Did 1809 today.


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## Ma'am (Nov 15, 2019)

Look at you two, Pip and Seigfried! Today is the halfway mark and you are both well over half of the goal. Woo hoo! :cheers::cheers:


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## J.T. Chris (Nov 15, 2019)

PiP said:


> Feeling quite chuffed with myself. I knuckled down and wrote 3588 words yesterday. Now at 32,122 words.
> 
> How's it going with you J.T? RipTide? You've been quiet for a while



I'm at 30,000 words. I've resigned myself to the notion that this is draft 1 of likely several, so I've been writing quicker with less worry about the final product. It's a liberating way to write.


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## seigfried007 (Nov 16, 2019)

Up to 34,394. Only added 1,139 today. Had a bad neurological episode while shopping this evening. Been off for days, but really, really off tonight. Hopefully going to get some more sleep tonight than I've been getting, and hopefully, that'll have me feeling better tomorrow. 

It's weird to empathize with a character while writing said character's descent into insanity.


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## PiP (Nov 16, 2019)

J.T. Chris said:


> I'm at 30,000 words. I've resigned myself to the notion that this is draft 1 of likely several, so I've been writing quicker with less worry about the final product. It's a liberating way to write.



Excellent. Yes, it is a liberating way to write! I now even ignore the red and green squiggly lines under some to the text which are alerting me to SPaGs. I started with a plan for each chapter and now I even ignore that and just write. I've found it to be far easier than NaPo (30 poems in 30 days) where I can stare at the screen or a blank page of my notebook for hours, while I search for the right words.



> It's weird to empathize with a character while writing said character's descent into insanity.



Siegs, just don't follow the character down the rabbit hole.



> Look at you two, Pip and Seigfried! Today is the halfway mark and you are both well over half of the goal. Woo hoo! :cheers::cheers:



thanks, Ma'am. The end result maybe a pile of pooh but I'm enjoying the journey.


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## Foxee (Nov 16, 2019)

seigfried007 said:


> 33,255 and still waiting for cool shizznit
> Did 1809 today.


IKR? What is _with_ that? There is supposed to be telepathy in this draft...telepathy! And I just wrote 500 words about how a guy bought a computer from the classifieds for $98.50 and was surprised it wouldn't go on the internet. You do not need telepathy to figure out that was a bad plan!



PiP said:


> The end result maybe a pile of pooh but I'm enjoying the journey.


I've become resigned to the fact that if a book is ever to occur there will be tons of writing and re-writing necessary anyway. So just get the ideas nailed down, they can be prettified later.



Also, holy cow, people, good job on racking up the word counts!


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## seigfried007 (Nov 16, 2019)

Foxee said:


> IKR? What is _with_ that? There is supposed to be telepathy in this draft...telepathy! And I just wrote 500 words about how a guy bought a computer from the classifieds for $98.50 and was surprised it wouldn't go on the internet. You do not need telepathy to figure out that was a bad plan!


Here's an earlier post where I talk about a resident telepath in the book who's supposed to be doing cool shizznit, but instead holds babies, pets cats, dances, and has (in some case, literally) mind-blowing sex ALL THE TIME. If I'd kept him up as the bad guy, I'd have some crazy cool shizznit, and the book would've been over by now. But noooooooooo, I had to go on a redemption arc over the frickin' rainbow with this dude, so now the book's chock full of drama, and "feels," and even more super deep, complicated, disturbing themes! Blech. Said character has been referred to as "the most dangerous creature on Earth" a few times, and while he is, I haven't been able to deliver as much proof of that claim as I'd like. And now that he's getting  a hold on his powers and growing so much as a person, he's less likely to flip shit and go hog wild with those super crazy, phenomenal cosmic mindpowers. Gonna have to find some good ways of twisting his arm into proving just how dangerous he is. Probably going to involve threatening his unborn child and having his job conflict ever more so with his desire to be with/provide for his family.


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## Foxee (Nov 16, 2019)

seigfried007 said:


> Gonna have to find some good ways of twisting his arm into proving just how dangerous he is. Probably going to involve threatening his unborn child and having his job conflict ever more so with his desire to be with/provide for his family.


Burn his world down. Don't go halfway. He'll get crazy and that sounds exactly like what you're looking for.


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## seigfried007 (Nov 16, 2019)

Foxee said:


> Burn his world down. Don't go halfway. He'll get crazy and that sounds exactly like what you're looking for.


I need him to do it on purpose and be sane. Story's become a bildungsroman for a traumatized Lovecraftian abomination. Making him crazy's easy, but making him grow up into a decent man has been a challenge. 

At the start of the book, said character is responsible for thousands of people dying because his powers got away from him in a time of need (he needed rescuing, so all these people came running... into traffic, off bridges, out of windows, etc.). It's basically an accident (although one he doubles down on because, instead of letting these men go, he squishes their brains to keep authorities from finding anything out about him), so there's this issue about "What could he do on purpose?" with the understanding being that if he trains said powers, understands them (and himself) better, and fully commits to do something heinous, the effect is going to be that much gnarlier.  

Throughout the book, he learns more control over his abilities but is also employed/used by other people towards their ends--and in ways which do not benefit the character. He gets duped into helping his abusive master, into terrifying a doctor (to prove how dangerous he was because a pretty lady told him to.. because she wanted his dangerous butt out of her dang house), and into killing someone who was basically a stepbrother/fellow victim (and didn't deserve it at all). 

He's now at a point where he's actively trying to understand how his powers work--but he also realizes he's played his hand, his employer (US military) knows what he's capable of and is taking precautions to keep itself as safe as possible versus him, is working to find ways of killing him off if things go sour or he's no longer useful enough to warrant the threat his existence presents, and is very likely to experiment on said unborn child if they find out about it. 

Currently, there are other creatures of similar abilities--and they're all hostile to him and America or held/trained/forcibly enslaved by countries which are hostile. One of said creatures has periodically taken partial control of this character's body and has used it to some devastating hallucinatory effect (hence his occasional utterances of "Daddy's home" and "Daddy's inside me." Yeah, dealing with some twisted, messed up shizznit here) but he can't let anyone know about that because he'd be a "compromised asset." 

Like a tick, he's burrowed into a civilian family that includes the POV, his wife, and their one-year-old son; there's a bun in the oven and doubts as to who put it there, so they're trying to hide the pregnancy. If it's his, it's likely to end in miscarriage because of genetic issues--if it doesn't get stuck full of needles in the womb or forcibly taken out early. So, of course it's his 'cause I'm a bastard and like upping stakes. He's now aware that the family is only be kept on base as human test subjects and can totally be liquidated/held hostage to ensure his good behavior. 

He's wising up to how he's being used, so when he does finally use his powers on purpose for his own ends in some grand (if terrifying) display, I want it to be while he has full possession of his own faculties--not because he's being manipulated by any outside force and not because he's temporarily crazy. No matter what he does, he'll probably regret it because the more dangerous he is, the more seriously everyone takes him, the more likely they are to feel threatened by him and, therefore, the more danger the family may be in. 

If it were just family vs job, he'd tell the job to go hang and kill off all of America if he had to in order to keep this family safe. But he needs the gov't to train him so he can be around the family without accidentally killing them (he's accidentally killed loved ones before and has nearly killed the infant son and the POV already), so he can take out Daddy and other enemy telepaths, and so he can "save the littles" who are being abused/coerced by hostile forces. 


Maybe I'm over-worrying about it, but it still feels like too much kitchen sink drama. This character isn't the POV and can't be... 'cause he might not be real (I leave it up to the reader).


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## Foxee (Nov 16, 2019)

Whew! If I followed all that (and it's twisty!) my gut says, "This is about identity and soul". Just sorting it out seems like one endeavor. Refining it into everything it can be might not happen until further rewrites. Keep it up, you are epic!


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## seigfried007 (Nov 16, 2019)

Foxee said:


> Whew! If I followed all that (and it's twisty!) my gut says, "This is about identity and soul". Just sorting it out seems like one endeavor. Refining it into everything it can be might not happen until further rewrites. Keep it up, you are epic!



That ain't half of how twisty this beast is, but you're right about the gist of it. Through the whole book, the POV is struggling with _every _facet of identity. Take away a man's memories, rewrite his memories, switch up all the roles he plays in life (friends, spouse, parenthood, occupation, lovers), take away his ability to do pretty much anything but think, put other people in his body and make him watch what they do in it (when he's not "in the backseat"), inflict all kinds of existentialist hell on him, stick his consciousness in another body, force out of character urges and emotions on him, make him doubt who he is or what he wants or what's real... yeah, it's a rabbit hole. Found out a lot of someone's identity is tied up in what they remember, what roles they fill in life, what they want, and what they're capable of... after mangling all of these things for the POV character.  

And I leave everything ambiguous so the reader has to determine what the heck is real. That’s part of the beauty of the WIP. I’ve got an unreliable narrator who may or may not:



be going insane
have started out insane
have suffered extreme child abuse
have DID
be possessed
be living in a science fiction setting
be harassed by literal Lovecraftian abominations as presented in the text
be in denial about his true sexual preferences
have been forcibly turned by outside forces to sexual preferences which weren’t his at all

It’s entirely up to the reader to figure out how real anything is, how crazy the narrator is, and if he’s lying about anything. I play all sides of the field. 

There’s also “between” options. For instance, there might be a combination of DID and Lovecraftian abominations/possession, but who has DID and who’s real is still up for debate and interpretation. There may also be introjection at play (some characters may be real in parts and fake/DID alters in others because the identity and/or hallucination of that person is based on someone real).

It's basically everything that "At the Mouth of Madness" was billed to be.


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## PiP (Nov 17, 2019)

35479 / 50000

My target is to hit a minimum of 40,000 words by Wednesday evening. I go to the UK on Thursday and I will only have the ipad with me. Fingers crossed.​


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## Phil Istine (Nov 17, 2019)

PiP said:


> 35479 / 50000
> 
> My target is to hit a minimum of 40,000 words by Wednesday evening. I go to the UK on Thursday and I will only have the ipad with me. Fingers crossed.​



Do ipods have a USB port to which you can connect a keyboard?


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## seigfried007 (Nov 17, 2019)

Up to 36,823. Added 2,429 today. 

Got some neater scenes out. Mr. Telepath managed (to pause time and then pause the already paused time) to suck how to drive a Dodge Demon out of a doctor over dinner at a PX food court in an underground military base. He's trying to craft a metaphor for the POV David, who keeps getting "stuck in the backseat" of the body.


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## PiP (Nov 17, 2019)

Phil Istine said:


> Do ipods have a USB port to which you can connect a keyboard?



I have a bluetooth keyboard. Thanks for the reminder! I better go and find it now before I forget to pack it.


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## PiP (Nov 18, 2019)

Now at 37895

​\\/:icon_bounce:


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## seigfried007 (Nov 18, 2019)

At 38,735. Added 1912 today. Project is at 260,999 now.


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## PiP (Nov 18, 2019)

Well done, Seigs! Do you have much more to add to the story? Is the end in sight?


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## Foxee (Nov 18, 2019)

seigfried007 said:


> At 38,735. Added 1912 today. Project is at 260,999 now.


Holy cats! That's quite a beast!

Added about 1,000 words today. Up to 22,014 words and merrily we roll along.


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## seigfried007 (Nov 18, 2019)

PiP said:


> Well done, Seigs! Do you have much more to add to the story? Is the end in sight?



I occasionally think that it is... and then... these characters are very good about lengthening their literary lifespans. 

Once upon a time, I hadn't thought it would make it to 40K (back when it was still supposed to be shallow serialized sci-fi erotica). Then, I picked it back up after a couple years of hiatus; it got deeper and deeper, and yet I still believed it'd be over by 60K. Picked it up again this summer, started falling down a rabbit hole, still thought it'd be over by 80K (nice length, I figured). 

But then the rabbit hole simply didn't end. It was like the one from Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey.
[video=youtube;vLt5ei598CY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLt5ei598CY[/video]

Then, it was 90K, 100K, 120K, 150K, 200K, 250K... swore up and down it'd be over by then... now I'm just hoping it's done by 400K. I know what the end is. I know the basic milestones to get there. 

I'm pretty sure I'm either going to have to cut out enormous portions of it or split it into multiple books (which I think would work better because this is just too much to cut at this point, and the book is enormously self-referential). I'm not sure where to put breaks between books--particularly around the first book. Somewhere around the 90K mark would leave it on a cliffhanger of sorts, but I think it might still be the best place. Don't know of any tremendously good places to cut it before that point. After that point, he's in the hospital, and it'd be roughly 70K till I could cut it again (~160K book; or two books at 90K and 70K, with the second being shorter, largely consisting of disjointed flashbacks and not so much telling its own good arc). 

After that point, the POV basically loses his body (and I've got almost 100K and counting without this poor bastard being able to move). After a few chapters riding around in a Lovecraftian abomination's head, the POV's body gets a new tenant, and the POV moves back into his own body... which he still can't move. But then I get a new POV character of sorts--a nice, wordy, neurotic one who's really good at pouring on drama and "feels." Book switches gears and focuses more on the interpersonal drama and helping characters heal, and this is why I get so much kitchen sink stuff. Tension is more dramatic and emotional without having as much of the same visceral punch or sci-fi/horror action type stuff (or at least, that's what it feels like to me; I might be over-worrying). I hand't thought this part of the story would last so long--figured I'd get the guy set up and happy, and then I'd do something terrible to him quick--except I want to show him heal, and he was a lot deeper and more messed up as a character than I'd given him credit for. He also helps showcase just how much that Lovecraftian abomination has changed for the better (good thing to prove and test for a redemption arc on that guy).But now that they're all on the good road to healing and getting along, I'm trying to ramp up the sci-fi/horror tension again and will probably stick in some flashbacks to maintain some of those threads I stuck in earlier arcs because said arc are taking longer to complete than I'd hoped.


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## Foxee (Nov 18, 2019)

Wow, Seig. All of that...and my villain just looked at a girl's butt.

Where. Is. My. Dang. Telepathy?!


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## seigfried007 (Nov 18, 2019)

Foxee said:


> Wow, Seig. All of that...and my villain just looked at a girl's butt.
> 
> Where. Is. My. Dang. Telepathy?!



My telepaths all wonder what's wrong with your guy since they can't turn off their ability to hear what other people are thinking. Means they hear a lot of useless garbage and noise. Just 'cause you can hear someone's thoughts doesn't make those thoughts interesting. Just 'cause you can speak with your mind doesn't mean you've got anything useful to say. Any abilities which require effort may not be thought of as useful or worth that effort. Why blow up a thousand brains or stop time or teleport or any of that jazz if you don't have to?

But mostly, they're all leaning over to check that lady's butt out. Scoping out the finer things in life is important, y'know? 

(Sir Mix A Lot's "Baby Got Back" is go for launch in T-minus 3...2...1...)

[video=youtube;X53ZSxkQ3Ho]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X53ZSxkQ3Ho[/video]

D-d-d-daaayumm


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## seigfried007 (Nov 19, 2019)

Added all of 1501 today. NaNo count's up to 40,236; WIP's up to 262,500. 


Everything I added was God the Father flashbacks today (including--of all things--a sex scene). After finally getting to cool sci-fi shizznit yesterday, I paused said cool sci-fi shizznit to write these flashbacks. Blargh.


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## Foxee (Nov 19, 2019)

seigfried007 said:


> My telepaths all wonder what's wrong with your guy since they can't turn off their ability to hear what other people are thinking.


Well, one thing is that he's not my telepath. LOL 


seigfried007 said:


> Added all of 1501 today. NaNo count's up to 40,236; WIP's up to 262,500.


Darned impressive.


> After finally getting to cool sci-fi shizznit yesterday, I paused said cool sci-fi shizznit to write these flashbacks. Blargh.


Haha it's all uphill. I set my MC's house on fire and then had him contemplate Cheshire cat vs Cat in the Hat while on painkillers. I dunno...


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## PiP (Nov 20, 2019)

wOw, Sigs. The book is quite the beast.  Splitting it into several books sounds a good idea.

I am now at 41731 

​Fingers crossed I can get some writing done in between packing and clearing the house ready for our holiday.


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## seigfried007 (Nov 20, 2019)

42,076. Added 1840. WIP's at 264,340.

Added a whole chapter of God the Father flashback, plus tidied up and finished several more. 



Foxee said:


> Well, one thing is that he's not my telepath. LOL


My telepaths weren't talking about telepathy with your bad guy (they were scoping butts with him) 

 If it's any comfort concerning your bad guy checking out ladies ala Sir Mix A Lot, I'm leaving off for the night on this note: 



> _Damn. _Infusing the room with the smell of key lime pie and something akin to watermelon candy, Ashling turned around on his stool enough to smirk at us over his shoulder. _Bo, have I told you that I love it when you’re sassy?
> _
> _Oh_, _but how much do you like it when I’m sassy? _we said, a very flirty smirk on our face. _Because I can be sassier.
> _
> ...



Dunno where that's gonna go, but hey, _them's NaNo words._ They count.


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## PiP (Nov 20, 2019)

Now at 42904. Hopefully can keep going while I'm on holiday.
Good luck everyone - keep going!


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## seigfried007 (Nov 21, 2019)

44,093. Added 2017 today. WIP's at 266357. 

Probably should've continued on with--oh, I don't know--the present plot?! but, of course, I didn't, being that I'm somewhat in the God the Father vibe and able to juggle shizznit around later.


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## seigfried007 (Nov 22, 2019)

45,872

Added another 1779 on that same flashback. #-o


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## seigfried007 (Nov 23, 2019)

46,523. Added all of 651 words today. 

Wore myself out discussing really, really emotionally draining stuff on the NaNo forum, so even once the migraine had dimmed, I was just not in the write headspace to be working on the WIP. Needed to work on something lighter to save my sanity (even a little) but I just could not get out of the funk. Wrote 2739 worth of trauma discussion (tried to explain the victim's struggle after rape/child abuse for a blessedly normal person). Feel so wiped, but I at least wrote a lot--it just wasn't on the WIP. Then I followed it up by a big bunch of funk discussion with my darling husband and got us both in a funk. 'Cause I'm a terrible person who just has to ruin everyone's Friday night.


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## seigfried007 (Nov 24, 2019)

47,277. Added all of 754. 

Ugh, exhaustion, depression and SAD, and plain ole burnout rear their ugly mugs. Waah.


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## Foxee (Nov 24, 2019)

seigfried007 said:


> 47,277. Added all of 754.
> 
> Ugh, exhaustion, depression and SAD, and plain ole burnout rear their ugly mugs. Waah.


This is the slog for sure. Kids have been down one after the other with flu. I have been running to the BR all day and tried to sleep it off between that. Just getting any words every day is a win.


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## PiP (Nov 25, 2019)

I only managed to write around 1000 words while travelling. Although Nano has become an itch I need to scratch I have managed to resist while playing  with grandkids.


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## seigfried007 (Nov 25, 2019)

49,236. Added 1959 today. Beast's up to 271,500. 

However, said count includes project-related notes and scenes which will be moved elsewhere, deleted, etc. so the word count's going to go down after NaNo by quite a bit. I normally keep the beast tidier and prune off notes as I finish up said parts related to the notes; I also don't keep scenes I've hacked out on the tail end normally. Written a ton of NaNo-countable scenes only to decide I don't want them in just yet (or possibly ever, in some cases).


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## seigfried007 (Nov 26, 2019)

51,082
:champagne:
Added 1846 today. 

Now I get to trim off some of those other scenes and continue working them in as I can. And, you know, continue working on the book 'cause it still ain't even kinda done yet. ](*,)


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## Foxee (Nov 27, 2019)

My little point-graph on the NaNo site has flatlined for several days. I mean, more days than not I added a negligible amount just to try to get my goal of writing everyday but no serious wordage. Today I did manage a couple of writing sprints. Plus some voice-to-text that I did on my phone, just thinking things through, that I did while waiting for my mom to meet me to hand my kids back. 

30,456 wds. Slog, slog, slog.


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## PiP (Nov 29, 2019)

I only managed to write 3000 words while away
New total 45940 /

which means I need to write 4000 words by tomorrow night!​


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## PiP (Nov 30, 2019)

Finally! Now I can relax and focus on writing crap poetry


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## Ma'am (Nov 30, 2019)

Woo hoo, PiP. Congratulations!!!


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## Darren White (Dec 1, 2019)

Congratulations, PiP 
Looking forward to a crapload of poetry


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## Phil Istine (Dec 1, 2019)

Well done, Pip.


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## seigfried007 (Dec 1, 2019)

Congratulations, PIP! 

Made it to 56K total... still not done with the beastie, which is 271K and counting (even after I took all the extra notes and "deleted scenes" and such out).


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## PiP (Dec 1, 2019)

seigfried007 said:


> Made it to 56K total... still not done with the beastie, which is 271K and counting (even after I took all the extra notes and "deleted scenes" and such out).



Well done, seigfried! I don't envy your task of editing the beastie  I am nowhere near finished my beast but I'm now wondering do I still continue to write using SOC and just lay down the bones of the story or do take a more organised approach?


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## Gumby (Dec 1, 2019)

Wow! Congrats! Take a breather then back at it, eh?


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## Phil Istine (Dec 1, 2019)

It's a pity that NaNoWriMo has passed because I've dreamed up a corker of an idea for a story.  Yes, I know ideas are two a penny, but I'd be surprised if this one has been tried before.  I know everyone says that but I'll start planning it out in a couple of weeks - after the hagglers have been and gone from viewing my flat.


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## seigfried007 (Dec 1, 2019)

PiP said:


> Well done, seigfried! I don't envy your task of editing the beastie  I am nowhere near finished my beast but I'm now wondering do I still continue to write using SOC and just lay down the bones of the story or do take a more organised approach?


SOC is frequently tiring and irritating to read, so I try to avoid it when I can. It can also devolve into meandering navel-gazing. 

I do some of both. Not writing a memoir, but the effect is somewhat similar in that I'm using a first-person perspective. I'm using SOC more to show the emotional state of a given character. One of the POVs is a rather neurotic fellow, so SOC gets used to show how scattered, emotional and overwhelmed he can be. That character outwardly appears to have his shizznit together; dude lies something fierce with his body language, so I have to give an insider's perspective on what's going on in there. Even non-neurotic characters get their moments to shine in SOC or something closer to it; but again, it's about showing just how overwhelmed said characters are..


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## Foxee (Dec 1, 2019)

Congrats to the winners, good job.


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