NaNoWriMo - Day 30 (Final!)

My word count (in Scrivener) passed 50,000 words last night and that's what I posted up on NaNoWriMo but when I validated the word count in MS Word, it was only 46,700.  That's because I'd excluded 4 files of text (from the re-write of Chapter 7).  I re-included them this morning, since I actually did write those words, and validated my manuscript up on the NaNoWriMo website and passed!

Here's my final stats:

Here's the winner's banner that I can now post:

So, now I have an incomplete 50,286 word manuscript.  What's the next step?  Find some alpha readers and continue pushing it out to the end.  Then do a major re-write, find an agent, and see if I can get it published.

Woohoo!

NaNoWriMo - Day 29 (penultimate)

I completed almost 4700 words today for a Scrivener word count of over 50,000 words since November 1st.  I have to validate the word count in my manuscript on the NaNoWriMo website, so I decided to save the manuscript out as an .rtf file and load it into Word.  There the word count was only 46,700.  So, I'm still 3300 words short to complete NaNoWriMo.  I leave that for tomorrow.

Everyone is over in Jutland, even the observers.

Music: the Electronic for Studying Radio channel on Pandora.

Tea: Murchie's Prince Charles.

Headgear: Jayne hat from Firefly.

NaNoWriMo - Day 28

Today was, gratefully, a good day for writing.  I completed a crumb over 4100 words today so that I just pushed myself over 45000 words since November 1st.

All of the work I did yesterday on the plot outline REALLY HELPED today.  I did find some things that I'd missed in the outline, but it really helped to know where everyone was at what time.  I've re-written most of that scene up to the point of the inquiry by the constable.  I'm concerned that if I cut out the original scene, its about 6000 words and that'll put me way behind.

I feel like there's a 3 axis camera on a telescoping boom in my head and I'm moving it around from one group to the next as I write.  I guess that's a good thing.  A real writer would talk about POV and perspective.  I don't know enough yet.

Everyone's still in Mæthelfar even though one quarter of the King's party has been moved over to Snoghøj in Jutland.  The couriers and the observers are still trying to play cat and mouse.

Music: the Electronic for Studying Radio channel on Pandora.

Tea: Murchie's Queen Victoria tea.

NaNoWriMo - Day 27

Today was a bit frustrating in terms of word count (only 1335 words) getting me to 41000 words since November 1st.

That mostly because I was wrestling with a difficult scene: the morning after a murder is discovered with the fishermen in the town pitted against the farmers and the constable in the middle.  Meanwhile, the King and his party are trying to leave town by being taken across the smallest of the Danish straits (called the "Little Belt") except that the sailors and fisherman are all involved in the controversy and none are willing to sail.  Then on top of that, our couriers are indirectly involved in the murder and are trying to remain inconspicuous.

I wrote most of it last night, but in re-reading it this morning, it was spaghetti, so plotting that out took all day.  Here's what just part of the plot outline looks like:

I then printed up a map and simulated the movement of each of the parties:

Needless to say, this all took time away from producing words towards NaNoWriMo.  Hopefully, I can use today's planning tomorrow .

Music: the Gregorian Chant Radio channel on Pandora and brown noise.

Tea: Murchie's Prince Charles tea.

Plotting Chart

I revised the Plotting Chart so that it now has time of day horizontally across it.  I'm at a part of the story where I'm having problems keeping track of who is where when...

NaNoWriMo - Day 26

I completed a tittle over 3300 words today so that I'm within striking distance of 40000 words since November 1st.

Our couriers have left town to rendesvous with their "ride".  The King's party has finally gotten a way off of Fyn over to Jutland.  The constable is investigating three deaths in town that night.

Music: the Gregorian Chant Radio channel on Pandora and brown noise.

Tea: none, only water.

NaNoWriMo - Day 25

I completed almost 1400 words today for a total of a trifle over 36,000 words since November 1st.

The scene that I'd written last night morphed into something completely different!  Ninjas and zombies.  Well at least zombies.  Well, maybe one zombie until they hacked his head off.

Music: the Gregorian Chant Radio channel on Pandora.

Tea: Murchie's Prince Charles.

NaNoWriMo - Day 24

Between necessary errands, the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, and a new ultrabook which wasted way more time hammering Windows 8 into usefulness, I got no words done yesterday.

I completed a speck over 2000 words today for a total of a trifle over 35,000 words since November 1st.

The King and his party have left Fyn.  Our couriers have almost left Fyn and hope to do so in a way that strands their followers.

Music: the Gregorian Chant Radio channel on Pandora.

Tea: green.

NaNoWriMo - Day 22

I completed a smidge over 2000 words today for a total of a lick over 33,000 words since November 1st.

Essentially no writing the previous two nights, hence no posts.  The third week has been harder than the second week: things undone are clamoring to be caught up plus I'm just exhausted.

The couriers have scouted the town and found where the King is staying.  Lærke is attacked but her attacker is killed.  She is injured.  The next morning they have to cross the Lillebælt over to Jutland.

Music: the Baroque Radio channel on Pandora.

Tea: green.

NaNoWriMo - Day 19

I completed 1515 words today for a total of a freckle over 30,000 words since November 1st.

All parties have made it to Mæthelfar.  The King's party is staying in the middle of town, the couriers ducked their watchers and made it over to the chapel and Brother Jesper, leaving the observers in the stable of the inn (because there was room there).

Music: the Baroque Radio channel on Pandora.

Tea: none tonight.

NaNoWriMo - Day 18

I completed 1988 words today for a total of almost 28,500 words since November 1st.

The couriers woke up to one of the observers asleep in their room.  He'd gotten up to relieve himself during the night and had wandered back into the wrong room, gratefully on an unoccupied couch.

Music: the Baroque Radio channel on Pandora.

Tea: none tonight.

NaNoWriMo - Day 17

Today was a half marathon day of writing even though I was catching up for 2 days of more or less 0 words written.  I completed 3971 words today for a total of 26,400 words since November 1st.  I'm over half way done.  I got a lot done on the Introduction (including 2 new maps) and was able to draw the map of the tavern.

The couriers have reached the Hound and Bear tavern and have met their host, Donal McKelvey.  The observers are also staying at the tavern, in the room next to them.  The King and his party are in the field to the east of the tavern.

Music: synth chamber music by James Walraven, the Baroque Radio channel on Pandora, and lots of "brown" noise.  I'm so grateful for these Bose noise-cancelling headphones.

Tea: Prince Charles from Murchie's.

Map of the Hound and Bear Tavern

The next place that they come to is the Hound and Bear Tavern.  This is the map for that location:

Map of Denmark

Next, I added the labels to my map of Denmark (I'd adapted the map from a screen capture from Google Maps last week).

It includes all of the major areas of Denmark (and its surrounding countries) and the 3 straits feeding water from the Baltic Sea to the North Atlantic.

This went into the Introduction this morning as well.

Map of Scandinavia

This morning started by taking a  map of Scandinavia from Wikipedia...

...cropping it and recoloring the countries to that I could identify them in my Introduction by referring to the color:

The blue is Denmark (not showing Greenland on the map).

NaNoWriMo - Day 16

Today was a good day for the family, nuclear and extended.  No writing.  I am way, WAY behind.  Tomorrow I hope to be a marathon day of writing.

NaNoWriMo - Day 15

Essentially no writing today.  The new Acer netbook arrived, so I set it up.

The main frustration is that after 24 hours all networking (wired and wireless) failed so it's going back to Amazon on Monday for a full refund; Acer would take the laptop for a mininum of a week and try to fix it.  If the hardware breaks after 24 hours, they should just replace it with a new one.  No more Acer hardware for me.

NaNoWriMo - Day 14

Today was a good day of writing.  I completed 2542 words today for a total of 22,200 words since November 1st.  I'm over 2/5s of the way to my goal and I caught up a bit .

The couriers are on the road, as is the King's party, and the Bishop's "spies" Brothers Bent and Torben.  They're playing leapfrog as they make their way from Odense to Mæthelfar.

No music tonight.  Just "brown" noise in the headphones.

NaNoWriMo - Day 13

I completed 1540 words today for a total of 19,600 words since November 1st.

Today generated less words than I hoped for but there was a dialog in Wittenberg that required a lot of research.  I'm past that and things should pick up tomorrow.

NaNoWriMo - Day 12

I completed 2141 words today (much better!) which means I've written over 18,000 words since November 1st.

Today was a good day for writing.  I had a good handle on the plot.  All three parties are on the road headed southwest away from Odense towards the highway.

I also added a bit of the Wittenberg backstory for Prince Hartaknud (Hamlet); this is made a bit more challenging for me than for Shakespeare since the University of Wittenberg wasn't founded until 1502 and I'm stuck here in the eleventh century.  So I've contrived a Herr Professor Swithin who was kicked out of Oxford (founded in 1096, close enough), rejected by the University of Bologna, who has set himself up in Wittenberg as a professor of the arts, law, medicine, and theology for students of wealthy families (who don't do their due diligence).

An amazing map of Denmark

As I was searching for a topological map of the island of Fyn, I came across this amazing map of Denmark.

This map is from the Latin edition of Willem Janszoon and Joan Blaeu's Theatrum orbis terrarum, sive, Atlas novus, the "New Atlas".  At least it was new in 1645 when it was first published.

The maps are amazing.  The one for Iceland shows an erupting volcano.

Source: http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/cris/blaeu/

NaNoWriMo - Day 11

I only completed 1356 words today which means I've written just a bit over 16,000 words since November 1st.

I did better today than I did yesterday.  The plot is falling into place.  There are a number of groups traveling south along the Odense Å towards the highway that runs west-east across Fyn.  Timing is critical.

Plotting Chart

I'm a tool builder and since I'm struggling with the plot, I thought I'd throw together a quick "plotting chart" so that I'd remember what threads are tangled up in the current ball of yarn and who is doing what when.

It's possible that looking at this chart too closely might be considered a spoiler before reading the actual book...

NaNoWriMo - Day 10

I only completed 998 words today which means I've written just a bit over 14,600 words since November 1st.

I've come to a bit of a wall in the plot.  I know in general what is supposed to happen, but not in enough detail to actually write it, so I feel I'm vamping a bit trying to get words that are wandering until I get a strong enough sense of what's supposed to happen.  I'm not sure how to force this in order to get the minimum 1666 words a day...

NaNoWriMo - Day 9

I completed 1873 words today which means I've written just a bit over 13,600 words since November 1st.  I'm still behind but will try to be more consistent.

The couriers have faced the Bishop of Odense and the King's brother.  They have left the abbey for Jelling.

I'm still listening to Gregorian Chant Radio on Pandora tonight as I was writing.  Since I've left the abbey, I should probably change the music I'm listening to.  I can't find a Viking Radio channel...

NaNoWriMo - Day 8

Yesterday was pitiful, only 267 words.  I was exhausted after a long week of training prep and recording.

NaNoWriMo - Day 7

I completed 2014 words today which means I've written just a smidge over 11,500 words since November 1st.

The couriers are about to face the Bishop of Odense and King Knud of Denmark.

I'm still listening to Gregorian Chant Radio on Pandora tonight as I was writing.

NaNoWriMo - Day 6

I completed 2092 words today which means I've written just a smidge over 9500 words since November 1st.  Not caught up but a good word count since 1666 is the daily minimum to meet the 50K word goal by the end of the month.

The couriers are in a proper dilemma and don't know whether they've had the correct solution chosen for them.

I was listening to Gregorian Chant Radio on Pandora tonight as I was writing.  It helped that the words to the songs they were singing were in Latin.

NaNoWriMo - Day 5

I only completed 415 words yesterday.  With Tech Forum at work, it was a very long day and there was not much time to write.

I have discovered that it's far easier to fall behind than it is to get ahead (in NaNoWriMo and in life).

NaNoWriMo - Day 4

I was only able to write 633 words last night.  Not enough but still ahead of schedule.

I did update the Map of Fyn and posted that last night.

Map of the Island of Fyn (Funen) - Update

I added a bit more detail to the map of Fyn including the 2 straits on either side of the island: the Little Belt (Danish: Lillebælt) between Jutland and Fyn and the Great Belt (Danish: Storebælt) between Fyn and Sjælland.  Also, the route between Mæthelfar and Jelling was added.

NaNoWriMo - Day 3

I completed 2220 words today (for a total of 6368) so I'm on target to complete on time (actually, if I'm consistent, which is more than I can hope for, on November 24th).

I seem to be taking 3 hours to complete the daily 2000 words.  Part of that is doing a bit of research (like the determining the ecclesiastical organization of 11th century Denmark) and then getting distracted like a hound after a rabbit.

I'm in Chapter 2 and Sten andLærke are about to choose whether to become couriers for the Abbey and for the Catholic church.

My work environment is my Windows 7 desktop PC at home, Scrivener for writing, Evernote for research, Bose noise-cancelling headphones, and a pot of Darjeeling tea.

What's the story behind A Strong Tower?

This novel is a re-telling of Hamlet (actually a pre-telling), slid from the 14th century into the 11th century and moved 6 months before Hamlet's dad is murdered.  While it starts on the cold parapet of Elsinore Castle (as Shakespeare's play does), there is no ghost since Hamlet (Sr.) is not dead (yet).  The characters in Hamlet will not use Shakespeare's un-Danish names.

This period of history in Scandinavia is a time of affluence.  Most of the wealth of Europe is here.  Life is easy.  Holding onto it is difficult.  Saxons (what will become northern Germany) are moving north into Jutland.  Normans are moving into the Danish-held British Isles.  Norway, Sweden, and Denmark constantly fight each other.

The story is told from the point of view of 3 Danes who go to work for the Roman Catholic church as a courier team delivering messages (and collecting information).  They work out of a Benedictine abbey (the Abbey of St. Knud) on the island of Fyn.

They are being led/trained by a monk, Brother Einar, from the abbey.  He is the quiet voice of God's wisdom in the background.

They will increasingly encounter Hamlet (Sr.), his son Hamlet, his mother Gertrude, and the uncle Claudius.  Most of the cast of Hamlet will be represented (Horatio, Polonius, Laertes, Ophelia, etc.).

At this point, it looks like I will be abandoning Shakespeare's non-Danish names for ones more consistent with that time in history.  For example, Hamlet's father is Knud II ("the Great").  Horatio is Hrothgar.  Elsinore Castle is Kronborg (the historic site Shakespeare used for the setting of his play).

Now, back to writing...

NaNoWriMo - Day 2

I completed over 2500 words today (plus the map of Fyn) so I've caught up to where I'm supposed to be.

I'm in Chapter 2 (of the first draft) and a newly killed warthog has been delivered by Lærke to the kitchen; the cook is happy.

Map of the Island of Fyn (Funen)

I've not gotten around to writing yet today because I was held up by needing a map of the island of Fyn to help me know where each of the characters are.

Fyn is the 3rd largest island in Denmark.  The largest city on Fyn is Odense which is the 3rd largest city in Denmark.

Odense is also where the Abbey of St. Knud is located.  Today, Odense Cathedral stands on the spot where the abbey had been located.

Now onto writing...

NaNoWriMo - Day 1

I completed 1580 words today and 5 out of 6 scenes in Chapter 1.