Friday, November 23, 2007

Nano update.

Day 23 - 3,356 words. Taking the total to 15,739 words. Five chapters and I think 74 pages. If I keep up the pace I'll go close to making the 50,000 but at this point with only 7 days left I'll be happy to make the half way mark.

Keep the dream alive.

Rachel.C

Did you miss me?

Well? Did ya?
I know I miss me.
I've discovered a bit about myself this month that I really could have done without. Oh, not altogether, just after Nano. I sooooo wanted to make the 50,000. I bet you all thought I was shut away somewhere tapping away at the keyboard. Don't I wish. No such luck.
My boy and his girl arrived from Sydney on the 6th of Nov and we went as a family to Phuket for a week on the 8th, which, if you remember I accounted for those lost days of writing. So I was cool with all that. You know I made the 5,895 on the first day, I didn't tell you about the 3,104 on the fifth day, taking my total to 8,999 before going on hols. Manageable. Doable. (did I just make up a word?) What I didn't count on was a health crisis. Day surgery and a bacterial infection that's slowly eating my insides. Not as bad as it sounds, so don't panic, but it is an eye opener. Top that with being weighed down with multiple amounts of antibiotics, enough to kill a small nation, and you have a recipe for lots of lazing around. I'm on the road back to good health even if a do rattle a bit with all the tablets I'm taking, and I've got some good things going on as well.
I had such a wonderful time with Tim and Tam, and seeing how it was the first time in 6 months we've been together as a family, it was balm to a very sorry for herself mum. Getting the news of the impending hospital visit before they arrived I think gave me a push to really enjoy just being with my family. Not knowing what any of the outcome would be was enough to get me to forget about all the shit happening and just be with everyone and enjoy ourselves. And enjoy ourselves we did. Phuket was a blast.
Having them still here when I went in was both a pain and a comfort. The only down side was having to say goodbye to them last Sunday. It didn't help that Chris flew to Sydney for work half an hour after they left. My results weren't all in yet and I spent a very sleepless night on Sunday and a restless day Monday till the doctor rang with the good news. And really, if it wasn't for the fact I was looking pregnant but losing weight I probably wouldn't have gone to the doctors when I did. But eating enough to feed a small nation and still losing 2 kilos in one week has got to be a wake up call. It seems I've been feeding a greedy nation of bacteria and leaving nothing for me. Typical mother behaviour. So now it's all about me. That small nation is being evicted as I write.
So I'm back in the hot seat and I've managed to get some writing done on my Nano project. Day 19 I did 3,384 words and already today I'm over the 3,000 mark. Now if I can just stay awake to get the words out. That's the most frustrating part. The story is there, finished, in my head. I'm just too exhausted to sit and write it. (killing a small nation is tough work) But I'm happy with where I am because of where I've been. And even if this doesn't get finished at the end of Nano and I don't make the 50,000, I still have a really great story that I didn't have before. One good enough to be polished and submitted. Remember this started life as one line for the Karin Tabke one line comp. I'm pleased to say, that as of this week I'm still in. The next round comes out Monday night US time. Fingers crossed for that.
I mentioned in an earlier blog about two pieces I'd entered in another contest. Well, I got those results during my troubles and haven't had a real good look but so far, even though I didn't make the cut, I'm happy with the judges comments. And the scores. Particularly on one that hasn't even been polished yet. I only did the bit needed to enter it.
Well, I'm off to do some more writing to crank up the word count and hopefully I'll be able to stay awake long enough to get to 50,000. Not today, I'm not that hopeful. I just want to get to the 50 by the time I head to Oz for Christmas. I'd be happy with that much.
'See' you all soon.

Every breath you take is precious, use it to the fullest.

Rachel.C

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Day one.

Day one.
What can I say?
I'm shocked, I mean I know when I write it always surprises me when I check the word count but today I got the surprise of my life. See the thing is, when you look at where we are and how far we're into the story you think, not much there. Well, d'oh, yeah there is. So far we've had heroine and three lines. Yep, that's where we started. Remember this is the entry I've got going in the Karin Tabke one line comp. And each week I've added a new line. Off the top of my head, no clue about a story, no ideas about a story. So when we start with that we can be forgiven for hesitating when stepping up to the keyboard. But the show, or in this case story, must go on. And go on it did. We've had the heroine, Lana, hiding from the bad guys. Meeting of hero, Trey, and then escape with hero. Zooming off into the dark of night to end up in hero's shower, with hero (no hanky panky). Then sleeping in hero's bed naked, without hero. Waking in hero's bed naked, with hero, who is fully clothed (mmm... something wrong there). Anyway, that's where I've left them, in bed. Again for the slow ones, no hanky panky. (Definitely something wrong there.) Think I better have a word with Lana tomorrow, I mean Trey is one hot dude, what is she thinking? Oh, I know what she'd thinking. No hanky panky. Mmmm.... these people really do take on a life of their own. Trey is big and dark and for some reason I'm thinking of Vin Diesel when I write. Not so much the face but definitely the bod. And Lana is coming across as a tiny blonde. She may be tiny in size but she's not tiny in spirit. So, doesn't seem like much yet, I mean I've just summed it up in a couple of sentences, right? Wrong.
At the moment ON A WING AND A PRAYER weighs in at: (drum roll)
27 pages
2 chapters
5,895 words
Now remember my aim is 1,700 per day. Whoa! That's nearly three and a half times what I need to put out. Now I'm sure this pace is not going to last, we have to get to the dreaded sagging middle yet, and then there's the days where I won't be able to write at all. So getting this much out when I can is probably a good thing. The scary bit is I wasn't really pushing that hard. I could have worked a lot harder and for longer, but once I started seeing how far I'd gotten I slowed down a bit.
For me Nano is turning out to be enjoyable and I'm thinking that this is probably the calm before the storm. So I'll keep my fingers and toes crossed.
I'm stealing my quote from someone but I don't know who so I'll just say it's not mine and leave you with it.

What doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

Rachel.C