Day Thirteen

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Please post today's updates/excerpts/thoughts/etc. in comments.

Here's today's daily prompt for your updates, excerpts, any thoughts, etc.

Yesterday's post: Day Twelve

Comments

[quietann.livejournal.com]

hm. Because the update posts come out in the morning, I usually post the previous day's news.

Donna/Ivan has been stuck back on the shelf because the Novella is eating my life again. I wrote over 4000 words in about 3 1/2 hours last night for the final chapter. It is still very rough, but the major plot points are all taken care of. And it feels good!

Ges held a cup so his father could spit blood and mucus into it. The coughing fits were getting steadlily worse; the doctors had told the old Count had at the most two weeks to live, and he seemed to have made peace with it. Getting him to go to the hospital at ImpMil, according to Ges's older brother, now the acting Count, had been a chore. He'd wanted to die at home in the District, but the technology required to keep him comfortable could not be installed in a home with no heat, hot water, or electricity.

"So Father, I am going to be a little scarce for the next few days," Ges said. "Always reachable, of course, and the nurses know how to find me if you should... take a turn for the worse."

"Eh, Ges, I seem to be on a slow downhill course here, no cliffs for me to fall over. It's a pity; I'm not afraid of death, but this dying business is getting to me." He coughed again, and Ges held out the cup. More blood this time, less mucus. "So, Aral's going to be in town?"

"Father, how do you always know?"

"A certain look you get in your eyes." Count Vorrutyer smiled, which made Ges blush.

[tawek.livejournal.com]

Woah! Over four thousand words in three and a half hours? I'm lucky if I can manage a thousand. Congrats :)

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Wow! [Falls over backwards in amazement.] It sounds like your subconscious has been doing overtime on this one, while you've been writing D/I :)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Sorry the updates are in the morning for you: I do them mid-afternoon here - we have at least one person who is twelve hours further ahead of me, so it seemed the happiest medium. But previous day's news is good, particularly when the word count is so awesome!

[quietann.livejournal.com]

I'm just doing what works best for me, since I see the daily update post at about 9 or 10 a.m. and rarely have anything to report for that day!

[octavialuna.livejournal.com]

i wrote 607 more words last night. Here's an excerpt:

Breakfast was served in the small "living room" -- a common area that held a
Plexiglas-encased television and some round tables with chairs. The lady that had come to get me motioned toward one of the tables. A woman with long brown hair and puffy red eyes sat eating her breakfast off of a plastic tray. Across from her was a full breakfast tray and an empty chair. Hesitantly, I walked over to the table, until I was close enough to see a paper on the tray of food.
.

[tawek.livejournal.com]

607 more words in just another evening. You'll have done your 5000 words in no time :)

And so what's on the mysterious piece of paper on the breakfast table?

We wait for the next exciting installment...

[octavialuna.livejournal.com]

Yeah, i'm thinking i might even end up amending my goal to make it a bit larger. :-)

Not really all that exciting, but thank you!!! :-)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

i'm thinking i might even end up amending my goal to make it a bit larger

Go for it! :-)

[tawek.livejournal.com]

That's a relief! Once my stuff gets critted at CWIL, I often can't put the re-editing genie back in the bottle 'til it's worn itself out. But I got it back in the bottle yesterday, and I've pulled my total nearly back on track.

Another 1091 words brings me up to 41.6%, still behind the 43.3% I should have, but that's doable by the end of this evening, if the demons of prevarication and distraction don't strike.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

That's brilliant! Getting the forward momentum going is really great.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Hope you kept the demons at bay!

[tawek.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I seem to be fighting off the demons at the moment. Must be the new brand of Holy Water :)

State of play at end of yesterday follows (nothing done today so far)

[tawek.livejournal.com]

Re: keeping the demons off. From the NaNoWriMo site, I see a certain someone has them fleeing in terror. 23343 words and counting is it? You must share the invocation you use to keep them away.

[ex-lark-asc.livejournal.com]

Well, Torchwood 5 took me about ten minutes to sumarise, althogh episode 4 is giving me greater grief. I'll put 'em up in the right order once 4 is complete. My only comment for today is that Jack is NOT THAT KIND OF FAIRY. ;-)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Just so much can be said about episode 4, I think.

[ex-lark-asc.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm finding plenty to lampoon, particularly with a bit of artistic license; it's just a bit of a slog getting through the episode because it is a bit unimaginative really and I'm essentially rewriting it :)

[six-old-cars.livejournal.com]

OK, so I nearly lost all of today (busy at work and a church meeting this evening) but I am determined not to let myself even start on that slippery slope. So when I got home (fifty minutes ago) I turned on the laptop, made a cup of lemon tea, and wrote 340 words. That brings my total to 5130. It's looking like the chapter will be over 6000, though, because I'm only half way through scene 6 of 7, and 7 is a chunky one too.

Today's excerpt:
The crowd parted swiftly at the back, but the corridor that was formed narrowed to a point behind the resolutely stationary spokesman. As the A'groff approached, even those in the second row moved aside, but still the man tried to stare Owutt down. Those around him began to look nervous.

[tawek.livejournal.com]

You said: "but I am determined not to let myself even start on that slippery slope"

Good for you. I've slipped a few times myself and had to sprint to make up. Much better to keep a steady pace.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on making steady progress, despite the barriers thrown up by real life! I do think just plugging away at it every day is the key.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Well done not taking a day off, by far the best strategy. I had to be really tough with my NaNo effort last night.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Bit of a lean day so far, only 417 words, mainly dialogue, but I think I may just have cracked the block on this chapter, for now...

‘A handsome devil, was he then, my grandfather?’ he enquired.

‘Yes, very! But it was more his air of dissipation to which I referred. Which reminds me, I have yet to congratulate you upon your betrothal. I am sure Lady Eugenia Sheringham will make a most delightful addition to your family.’

‘Eudora, ma’am,’ he corrected. ‘Eudora Bagshot.’

[tawek.livejournal.com]

You said: "‘Eudora, ma’am,’ he corrected. ‘Eudora Bagshot.’"

Not the Bagshots of Bag End, surely? (Sorry, couldn't miss the potential for a LoTR crossover)

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

:) That might explain why he's so anxious to ditch her -- can't imagine hairy feet were in vogue for Regency ladies...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Heh! (And 417 words is excellent, as is the block-cracking.)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

The story however is only about 50% done. What do I do when I hit the 5000 mark? Just stop posting here?

Excerpt:

Determined that this time I was staying, I looked through the rest of the newspaper to see what I was getting myself into. The front page had a story about the Princess Iriana who had been locked up because of her friendship with Narnians. As in animals. Apparently it was for her own good, while she learned to be a well-behaved Telmarine royal, and this worried me a bit. It smacked of Deltas being fourth-class citizens, and people like me who didn't quite fit being reprogrammed so they would (not that it worked with me).

Octavia looked over as she poured the tea. "Oh yes, that's a sad state of affairs. Poor princess."

And in a tower too, just like all the stories. Sounded like she needed a dashing knight to rescue her--and here was me all out of Tarrants.

[tawek.livejournal.com]

You said: "The story however is only about 50% done. What do I do when I hit the 5000 mark? Just stop posting here?"

Well, Altariel tells us there's no rules for the Pico. But I'd suggest just raise your target to 10,000, and make it a DuoPicoWriMo :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

OK, good idea!

[tawek.livejournal.com]

But of course, when you do pass the 5000 word mark, you *have* succeeded in your original target, so you deserve to congratulate/treat yourself :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I shall combine it with my wedding anniversary dinner out tomorrow night!

[spiralsheep.livejournal.com]

Happy anniversary to you both!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :-D

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Well, I've passed 5000 and am still posting... As Tawek says, the only rule is that there are no rules :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

:-) OK then! And that's my sort of challenge.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

What do I do when I hit the 5000 mark? Just stop posting here?

Keep it coming! I'm with tawek, make the target 10,000 words, or the completed story.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'll go with 10,000 because I don't know how long my piece of string is yet.