The tension mounts!

Well, all attempts at writing a daily blog have of course gone! NaNoWriMo had to be abandoned for several days while I prepared a submission ( a completely different novel) for the Scottish Association of Writers conference next March - the deadline is 25th November so hopefully it won't disappear in the post.
Not to mention struggling with a tax return! Now where did I put those receipts?
Back to NaNoWriMo today and am now at 25,500 words. Can I make the final word count by the 30th November??
Time will tell!

Excuses...or not?

I've had a busy week including a great evening talking to the North Bute Literary Society and now have to buckle down to increasing the word count. Just over 25000 words written but I'm running out of time as NaNoWriMo is more than half way through. Can I keep going?

I've found the plot!

Hoorah! The main plot of the NaNoWriMo novel I'm writing has resolved itself and I at last have a good idea what happens(though not yet who did it). This way of writing is pretty haphazard but I just can't plot before I start as many other writers do.I have to let the characters behave as they wish -and rein them in when they become too uppity.
Now I have to deal with the subplot and that always causes me a lot more angst. Still, today I'm at almost 20000 words so if I can keep going.......

Where is the time going?

Almost half way through the NaNoWriMo and at just over 17000 words. I now have this  terrible need to keep going in order to make the target, but life is crowding in!
Most of what's happening is pleasant (except for the trip to the dentist) including a great night on Tuesday at the Erskine Writers' dinner, of which I have the privilege currently of being President. Joan Fleming took some great photos of the prize giving event and Rosemary Gemmell has written about the evening in more detail on the Erskine Writers' blog.


This year was very productive  for me and I won the Quaich for the children's story, the Betty Munnoch award for poetry (and my other poem was second) plus I came second in the Article competition.
This yearly dinner and prize giving is one of the highlights of our year: good company and good chat!

We meet on Tuesday afternoons but postal members are very welcome.More details can be found on our website www.erskinewriters.co.uk

The Missing day

While I managed the word count yesterday (mostly written on the ferry!) I didn't manage the update. Have to try harder I suppose. I'm now at over 16000 words and if I manage a day with no distractions (little hope of that!) I 'm trying to convince myself I'll soar ahead.
The researcher Tara is causing me a bit of bother - I think she knows more about the bearded man than she says!

Slow... but sure?

The new novel is still chugging along but I'll have to have something dramatic happen soon. On the plus side there's a dead body, on the minus side the characters don't seem too concerned about it.And though today's count of 1592 is fine I calculate I won't make the final total of 50000 words at this rate.
Had the very pleasant distraction of the Erskine Writers' dinner last night -good food and good company at the Ingliston Country club. Even writers deserve a night off!
Back to the dead body and prodding the characters to action.

Another day, another thousand words

Or 1174 to be precise! I feel I'm becoming a bit obsessed with counting every single word but I've developed a kind of rhythm, doing a bit every day and that seems to be settling at just over 1000 words. I would like to write more on a daily basis-I've some concerns that there may be days when it proves impossible to make progress for one reason or another. And while I managed today, I'm not sure this chapter will still be there in the final version.
Lots of luck to everyone else who is doing this in November-it's a great way to keep motivated!

The going gets tough!

Made 1128 words today to add to the total but it was pretty difficult! Nothing to do with time available (well, only a bit as I have several other things to write) but more to do with the characters refusing to move on. They appear to want to sit in the library doing nothing useful at all. Perhaps they need a break? Hopefully by tomorrow we'll all be refreshed, after an afternoon doing other things.
Hope a photo of Bute will inspire the characters to take action!

A day of rest...not!

Very tempting to have a day off but the thought of falling behind in the word count has spurred me on and I'm now able to enter 10174 in the little 'novel update' box on the NaNoWriMo site.
It's thanks to writing buddy Rosemary Gemmell I was able to do that at all, as I guess I must have wandered off into cyberspace last night instead of connecting with the others signed up for this.
I wonder where I was?
Now to all the other neglected tasks -I'm certainly not keeping up with them!

DAY 5...just made it!

Today didn't look at all hopeful for writing,but have managed 1252 words,bringing the total to 7249. I've had to put Susie's startling news on hold because I realised there were huge gaps in the previous chapter.There's always tomorrow!
Went into one of the NaNoWriMo chat rooms last night,but it just seemed to be me and someone whose nickname was Timmy so I can't say I stayed long. Was everyone else too busy writing or had I wandered into the wrong place? That wouldn't surprise me at all.

DAY 4 NaNoWriMo

Slightly easier to write today on dry land!
Just over 7000 words counting today's total of 2212 and I feel I'm really getting into the plot now.
If I can manage this,I might adopt it as a strategy for writing -a novel in a month and then eleven months off!
The bearded man is still lurking and Alison's friend,Susie, has returned from America with some startling news.I wonder what it is??

Day 3...enter the bearded man!

An interesting day trying to write my quota of words on the ferry to and from Bute.Fortunately it was a smooth crossing both times!
The only problem was I had to handwrite it and then key it all in when I came back but I did manage 1122 words so I'm almost at 5000 words. However I haven't actually read the NaNoWriMo instructions and was unsuccessful yesterday in logging on, so I may be heading in completely the wrong direction.
A bearded man appeared today -he seems faintly menacing,but will he be there in the final version?

NaNoWriMo....day 2

Managed 2057 words this morning before I flagged! I've introduced Alison to a couple of characters, one of whom has had a nasty accident and one who has something to hide. Of course none of this may feature in the final version and I'm worried that one of the characters is already trying to take over,but I'll deal with that tomorrow. As I'm off to Bute for the day, I'll have to write the next instalment on the ferry. Hope it's not a bumpy crossing!

WRITE A NOVEL IN A MONTH

A tall order,but I'm going to try it! I also hope to keep a daily record of what I manage to achieve,painful as that might be.
Will I have time for anything else? Probably not.

TUESDAY 1st November

Had to squeeze in the start of the novel between a trip to the dentist this morning and an afternoon at my writers' group,Erskine Writers.
I managed to write 1,820 words (every word counts in this task) but it was comparatively easy as I already had some ideas in mind and it was only a matter of getting them from my head and on to the computer.
I've decided to use the month to write the third Bute novel. I had always intended to write a trilogy -at least- and hopefully this will give me the motivation to get the bones of it together.
It's the same cast of characters as in my last Bute novels -Alison Cameron and her family and various friends.
Only now Alison has decided she's had enough of teaching and has set herself up as a non-fiction writer, with her first conmmission to write a history of the Pavilion in Rothesay which is undergoing refurbishment. Stand by for a few dead bodies, though at this stage I have as little knowledge of what will happen as Alison does.
Tomorrow,as they say, is another day!