NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 30 - 101%

Writing will resume on Monday, December 1st.

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 29 - 101%

Writing will resume on Monday, December 1st.

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 28 - 101%

Day after Thanksgiving. We're up at my sister's family's ranch and I'm writing through a tiny Verizon "hot spot" device.  I completed NaNoWriMo but still estimate that I need to push the word count target from 50,000 to 75,000 words to complete my novel.  Writing will resume on Monday, December 1st.

50290 / 50000 words. 101% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 27 - 99%

Only 400 words today.  Too much turkey!  Still, I'm continuing to fill in the "stub" scenes and that is progress.  I'm hoping to have several hours to write tomorrow which means not only should I complete the NaNoWriMo challenge, but be able to validate my manuscript.  I am estimating my novel to require about 75K words though.

49600 / 50000 words. 99% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 26 - 98%

Today was another good day of writing, filling in stubs, not just creating empty ones.  Brother Einar and Lærke leave Odense and arrive at Krogen to find out that King Knud and his entourage left two days ago.  They borrow two horses and ride down to the small village of Copenhagen, then continue on, catching up around the merchant town of Køge.

49210 / 50000 words. 98% done!

A Suspicious Death...

My novel is nothing like this:

Source: http://www.savagechickens.com/2014/11/a-suspicious-death.html

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 25 - 94%

Wow.  Almost 2000 words today.  Not just "stubbing" but actually writing out a few of the stub scenes.  I have Gunnar and his henchmen getting ready to try to kidnap the prince on his way to meet his father.

And note that the percent complete is to for the NaNoWriMo goal, not the percent complete of the actual book.

46920 / 50000 words. 94% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 24 - 90%

I'm getting really good at stubbing.  I wish I were as good at filling words into a "stub scene" as I am at instantiating empty stubs with bits of detail.  I did work three quarters of the way through the plot outline (in a Google Docs spreadsheet) creating missing stubs and making sure that things happen in the correct order.  The end is coming a lot clearer.

45200 / 50000 words. 90% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 23 - 88%

This seemed like yet another wonderful day of writing with almost 5000 words written.  Alas, most of it is stubs (empty scenes with one level of detail below that of my plot outline).  I did get a LOT of stubbing done.  The King is Jelling.  I know what the bad guys are doing (until they get to Jelling with the King).  I'm very close to discovering exactly how the climax will happen.  Lots of loose threads either need to tied back into the weave or snipped off.

44211 / 50000 words. 88% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 22 - 79%

Today looks like a spectacular writing day (4000+ words) but it wasn't.  Oh, it was fun.  But most of the expansion were stub scenes filling out the plot outline and copying/pasting text from last year's scenes in ready to be edited tomorrow like a butcher trimming the fat and grizzle off of a flank steak.  It was very good progress though.  I will have an easier task the next week just filling in stub scenes and fixing mechanics.  Tonight's NaNoWriMo Write-In was small but fun.

39432 / 50000 words. 79% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 21 - 70%

This was a good day for writing (2000 words today).  Lærke arrived in Odense and made her way to the priory.  It's now the next morning and she's being brought to a tavern ("Odensblót") for the next step.  She saw a "crucifix" in the town center.

35006 / 50000 words. 70% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 20 - 66%

A normal writing day...  about 1600 words - enough to break even.  Sten has joined the King's entourage in Krogen as they're about to leave for Jelling.

33005 / 50000 words. 66% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 19 - 63%

A pretty good day of writing.  I got a lot of stubs filled in as well as responding to some feedback from a respected alpha reader - many changes to the beginning of the story.

31340 / 50000 words. 63% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 18 - 58%

No words (zero, zip, nada) were written on the 18th day of NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 17 - 58%

This was a weird day for writing.  It wasn't that I got met my word count (2700+ words), but that it was mostly stub scenes with the action described but no text written out.  My plot outline (in a Google Drive spreadsheet) is about 3/4s full and ready for the villain to start plotting what he'll or she'll do.  I have more than enough outline to fill in tomorrow before than happens though.

29000 / 50000 words. 58% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 16 - 53%

A very good day for writing.  3300 words!  And this is despite getting to go to a birthday party for the mom of a friend.  I've gotten Sten from Snoghøj across the Lillebælt to Mæthelfar arriving at the Priory after dark.  He's waiting outside the locked gate for Brother Einar to unlock the gate (if they'll open it for him after dark).  Scanraithe is with him!

26259 / 50000 words. 53% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 15 - 46%

Today was a good day for writing.  It wasn't good for much else though.  I got a number of things smoothed out in the story and the plot outline extended (it needs a bit more work tomorrow).

We had a great Write-In at our home tonight with 4 people total (twice the number of people from last week).  We all made our word counts!

23237 / 50000 words. 46% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 14 - 42%

Not a good day for writing; only 400 words.  My primary trigger (lunch) never really happened.  We got to go down to an "Open House" down at the Lyceum Theater to see my son's artwork as part of a show put on by Platt College.

21205 / 50000 words. 42% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 13 - 42%

Today was a good day for writing.  I completed the scenes in Lund (but came up with some new questions) and got Brother Einar back to Krogen.  The two ambassadors have arrived in Wittenberg after their mission to Boleslaw in Pomerania and are looking for Prince Hartaknud.  They nap.  More tomorrow...

20762 / 50000 words. 42% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 12 - 36%

Not a massively productive day for writing because the bulk was spent getting passports for 3 members of our family.  Still, I was able to put the suggestions from last night's critique group into the first section of the book and edit the last section in Lund.  I'll start to catch up tomorrow.

18056 / 50000 words. 36% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 11 - 34%

No (zero) words today.  But I did have a wonderful lunch with a friend that I haven't seen for 10 years.  And I had the first 3 pages of my novel critiqued by 4 other authors tonight.  They gave me great feedback.  Oh, and I gave up trying to keep up with Twitter today (only).  That counts for something.

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 10 - 34%

Yet another good day of writing.  I'm about 80% done with the scene in Lund where Brother Einar is trying to convince Jarl Erik to let his daughter Lærke join Queen Emma's attendants.  I'll finish that scene tomorrow and move back to Wittenberg.  I split that scene into 6 separate text files.  I also added some text to the Appendix on Danish Geography.

17246 / 50000 words. 34% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 9 - 31%

Another good day for writing!  Not only am I about 400 words over today's goal but it's before 7PM which means I'll get to watch some TV with my wife and rub her feet.  Today I filled in most of the last half of the Lund, Sweden scene.  Brother Einar was telling riddles during dinner; they were throwing bones at him when they'd already heard them.  Jarl Erik didn't want to head into yet another winter with the same set of stale riddles.  Now they're standing outside next to a pig sty talking about Lærke (with her standing there).

15380 / 50000 words. 31% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 8 - 29%

Today was a very good day for writing.  I was able to write almost 4000 words today and am caught up.  We hosted a Write-In tonight and there were two of us here who met our word count target.  About three quarters of the Lund scene was filled out as well as the upper room in Wittenberg.

14424 / 50000 words. 29% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 7 - 21%

Okay, I'm behind again.  Not by much.  I just needed to spend this day doing things other than writing (like taking my wife down to her favorite quilt shop).  I did outline a couple of the scene stubs and did some research on Anglo-Saxon surnames.

10600 / 50000 words. 21% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 6 - 20%

Another good day for writing.  I'm certainly not far ahead of schedule but I'm not behind at all.

Brother Einar has been to Wittenberg, Germany and Lund, Sweden, two very different scenes.

While this writing is all very "seat of the pants" and NaNoWriMo-ish, tomorrow, I'll need to pause and actually think about the overall plot, otherwise, I'll end up with another useless manuscript like last year.

10113 / 50000 words. 20% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 5 - 17%

Today was a good day for writing.  I'm back on track with the required word count.  I've dropped 3 weeks into the past as Brother Einar visits Wittenberg to meet Sten.  The appointment is set in the Old Pink Salmon tavern which also turns out to be where crown prince Hartaknud and his troupe of fellow students come between and after classes.  The prince finds out that his father wants him to meet him in Jelling before Christmas (to celebrate Hartaknud's birthday).

8384 / 50000 words. 17% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 4 - 12%

Not a good word count day.  Many distractions and research needing to be done (like skimming Books 3 and 4 of Saxo Grammaticus: The History of the Danes, Books I-IX (Bks.1-9)).  Good things that happened were a positive doctor's appointment for my wife!

5803 / 50000 words. 12% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 3 - 10%

Today was a good writing day despite a late start. I read some more in Save the Cat and Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success. The King's party has left Krogen. Brother Einar is back at the Priory of St. Alban doing a "debrief" to the prior. I think it'll be a good first draft but still needs a stronger plot outline.

5163 / 50000 words. 10% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 2 - 7%

Today was a better both in research, progress in the plot outline, and in writing.  I caught from yesterday and am a smidge ahead of schedule.  To be completely honest part of that was accomplished by taking some of last year's story and incorporating it into this year's story with adjustments.  It's the same story.  It seemed fair at the time.

3409 / 50000 words. 7% done!

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Day 1 - 2%

It's the first day and I'm already behind.  I spent the last week working on all of the historical research and background material to lead into the plot outline and it was slow going (not the research, the inspiration for the plot).

Today I wrote the preface, 3 appendices, and the first scene.

I have made significant progress in the overall timeline of who's doing what when and how long it takes each person to travel to the next place.

1224 / 50000 words. 2% done!