I did it!

I did it :)

Back on the first of November I foolishly embarked on my second NANOWRIMO attempt, with a plot in mind about mob violence.

And that's what I started to write about - honest! But then I noticed that the writing was drifting away to a village setting, not quite the London riots I was envisaging.  Not only was it becoming a rural tale, there was a death - and no murderer caught.

So, Mob Mentality became Forgive Me Father over the course of the month - that's just the way it goes, and I believe it's best to go with the flow.

Now comes the really hard work, that of pruning and shaping, because I certainly wouldn't want anyone to read her as she is at the moment - she's an incoherent babble currently, and needs taking in hand.

But hey, be pleased with me - I wrote over 50,000 words in the last twenty nine days - whoo hoo!

Nanowrimo

I've managed to pick up some bug or other, and have a sore throat and hacking cough.  Undeterred, I have made three pints of lemon barley water to soothe my throat, and having a cough doesn't stop the creative juices from flowing - fortunately.


So, now my fingers are tired.  I've been slaving away over a hot laptop for what seems like hours, and have clocked up just over 8000 words.  Actually, it doesn't seem like hours at all, it never does when you're into a plot, but my back is ready for a different chair, and my characters are very patient, and will wait for me to rejoin them either later this evening, or tomorrow.


Here's a tiny chunk, just to prove I really am writing, not just pretending!

“Nothing new on the menu, is there?  I think I’ll have a burger and some chips.”

“Ashley Brown you’ll look like a burger before you leave this school!  I don’t know how you stay so slim.”  Hannah looked enviously at her friend’s slender figure.

“It’s in the genes, my girl, you know that, we did it in biology.”

“I’m going to have the carrot and coriander soup, and a bread roll.  I like the way they put coriander in the rolls, too.  I wish Mum would bake more bread at home, but she says she doesn’t have time any more.”

“Did your mum get that Christmas job, then?”

Jen nodded, “Yup, Father Christmas will visit the Jennings household this year, after all.  Tom and me, we were getting a bit worried about it – you know, not asking for too much on our Christmas lists, but not making it look as if we were cutting back on what we wanted, so Mum wouldn’t feel bad.”

“Yeh, must have been hard.  I’m glad she’s got a job; I bet she’s happier now, even if she doesn’t have time to bake any more.  Where’s she working?  Does she get a good staff discount?”  Sara liked to save money wherever she could.

“There’s a table over there, I’ll go and bag it for us.”  Hannah left the others chatting, and made her way over to an empty table and put her lunch box down.  The dining hall was very noisy; the clattering of plastic trays, the rattle of cutlery, not to mention the non-stop babble of hundreds of girls who’d had to be relatively quiet for the last hour in their classrooms.

Soon the friends were tucking into their various lunches.  Hannah tasted Jen’s soup, and pronounced it almost as good as her mother’s – praise indeed.  But peanut butter and marmite sandwiches – well, that’s just an unbeatable combination of saltiness and sweetness and savouriness!  She was soon crunching on her Egremont Russet apple to finish off her lunch.

“I’ve got to go to the library – anyone fancy coming with me?”  Jen asked.

Nanowrimo update - extract

The sun is beating down outside (which reminds me, the washing machine must have finished by now, excuse me a minute!)  yes, it had finished, so I've hung out the washing, and made a cup of barley to warm my fingers up again - the sun might be out, but it's still pretty chilly from the frost early this morning!

I'm currently exceeding my target of a couple of thousand words a day, which is just as well because I'm off to see my parents for a long weekend, and doubt I'll get very much writing done then, so I need some words in the bank, so to speak.

Anyway, I've several characters fighting for their stories to be told, so here's the beginning of one chapter in my new novel WLTM - I hope you enjoy meeting Jim:-)  Keep warm!

Jim

***

“Snail WLTM similar, or lugger. Male, 62, seeks fellow traveller for friendship and holidays.”

***

Duvet – check. Pillow – check. Wash bag – check. Towels – check. Grocery box – check. Fridge stocked: sausages, bacon, butter, cheese, ham, lettuce, tomatoes, beer, soda water, bread – check. Jim ran down his list out of habit, not because he thought he’d ever forget anything, after all, he’d been doing this for thirty odd years, he ought to be well versed by now.

He whistled gently as he methodically worked through, loading the car carefully, following the plan he and Anna had worked out years ago. That way the car was properly balanced for weight against the caravan, and there was no chance he’d omit anything vital.
Jim walked back into the house and looked around. He caught sight of the small green compost bin at the side of the sink – oops, nearly forgot to empty it, that would have been a nasty surprised to return to after a couple of weeks away! He took it down to the bottom of the garden, warned the worms that he was about to lift the lid of the large, black, compost bin, then gave them their breakfast, and bid them goodbye. If Prince Charles could talk to plants, he saw no reason not to talk to his worms, they worked jolly hard for him, but then, he looked after them well.

He rinsed out the green bin and left it to drain. What else might he have forgotten? Oh, yes, the fridge. Jim removed the half bottle of milk, and the potatoes left over from his dinner last night. He took them out to the Lunar waiting patiently on the drive, and added them to the fridge. Surely now that was everything? He’d arranged with a neighbour to empty the post box, stopped the newspaper delivery, yes, he was certain that he was ready for the off.

Two hours later Jim indicated and pulled over into the lay by he always used on his way down to Norfolk. He lit the gas under the kettle, took down the tea pot, put a spoonful of leaves in, and sat down to read the paper for a few minutes. This was one of the good things about caravanning, a fresh cuppa whenever the fancy took you, with no exorbitant prices to pay. When the kettle whistled, he made his brew, then returned to the paper. He took out a pen from the top drawer, and began to do the crossword. He found it kept his brain agile to do the puzzles in the paper every day, he tried to complete the crossword, word wheel and sudoku, feeling very disappointed if he failed.

He’d made good inroads into the crossword by the time he’d finished his tea and a couple of chocolate digestives, and was ready to continue on his way.

Nanowrimo - write a novel in November

Insanity obviously runs in my family!  Or so people think - but they're wrong!

For the last few years my daughter has participated in Nanowrimo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month - you do what it says on the tin in the title, write a novel of a minimum of 50,000 words in the month of November.  30 days of dedicated novel writing, strictly no more than 30, entries submitted after the 30th November won't count.

I've longed to join in, but was afraid to complicate my aging brain by writing a long novel whilst concentrating on my degree work.  However, since I'm taking a year out before I start my PhD, I'm going to give it a go this year, so, beginning tomorrow, I shall be striving to write going on for 2000 words a day so that by the end of the month I shall have achieved my 50,000 wordcount.

It'll be different, they suggest no revising and editing, which is contrary to the way I usually write, but hey, it's going to be fun and different.  Cross your fingers and toes for me and wish me luck!