Today’s word count: 2,006
Total word count: 21,085
Daily average: 2,342
Projected total: 70,283
After yesterday, I could have stopped early today. But not when it’s one of my favorite characters. So we’re into Chapter 4, and I think that’s the last of the catch-up work. Everything else is present and future. Or so it seems.
Today’s word count: 3,973
Total word count: 19,079
Daily average: 2,384
Projected total: 71,546
Talk about bouncing back. Chapter 3 is done, and I’ll admit that I indulged a bit. But now the setup work is done, and the story is moving along. People are coming together. Plans are made. And the other world awaits.
Today’s word count: 1,328
Total word count: 15,106
Daily average: 2,158
Projected total: 64,740
Still in Chapter 3, but it’s raining, it’s cold, and I got a later start than I’d like. I might come back to this today. If not, I’ll just have to take a below-average day, but everybody deserves a break once in a while, right?
Today’s word count: 2,522
Total word count: 13,778
Daily average: 2,296
Projected total: 68,890
Finished Chapter 2 and started on Chapter 3. This one’s starting to get fun, even if there’s no real action yet. I just like this part of the story-building. Lots of character interaction, dropping hints, and getting things ready for a big payoff in the future. That’s my favorite kind of writing.
Today’s word count: 2,237
Total word count: 11,256
Daily average: 2,251
Projected total: 67,536
More work on Chapter 2, but this was mostly connecting threads from previous stories. Still, we’re getting somewhere. If all goes well tomorrow, I’ll probably be able to get into Chapter 3, shifting back to Earth and the most ambitious character interaction I’ve ever written.
Today’s word count: 2,266
Total word count: 9,019
Daily average: 2,254
Projected total: 67,642
Still on a good pace, and now we’re into Chapter 2. And back into the Otherworld, where we belong. So far, this is more setup, but that should change tomorrow.
Today’s word count: 2,385
Total word count: 6,753
Daily average: 2,251
Projected total: 67,530
One chapter down, eight to go, and we’re out of the intro phase. Now it’s time to switch to the other side for a bit. It’s been a couple of months of story time since we last looked at anybody in the Otherworld, so what are they up to? We’ll see tomorrow.
Today’s word count: 2,263
Total word count: 4,368
Average word count: 2,184
Projected total: 65,520
More than halfway through Chapter 1, and now we’ve met one of the new main characters for this season of Otherworld episodes. Other than that, not much. Just a lot of setup work for now, but we’ll get into the action soon.
Here we go again. Winds of Change is our title this time around. Strictly speaking, I did some worldbuilding and planning early, but that’s okay.
Today’s word count: 2,105
Projected word count: 63,150
Nothing too strenuous this year. In fact, that projected word count is a lie. This book won’t be that long. Not if I have anything to say about it, at least. But who knows where the story will take us?
I know it’s late, but I felt awful yesterday. I just didn’t think I’d be able to write anything, let alone a wrap-up of the last month. So here it is a day late. Seems like that fits everything else in my life right now.
Seasons Change was, by the rules of the game, a success. I completed a story of at least 50,000 words in the month of November, and I did it without stressing myself to the breaking point. (Other factors in my life took me there, of course, but that’s neither here nor there.)
The story itself isn’t my best, I’ll admit—that honor still goes to Nocturne. This one I’ll call solidly average. It didn’t have any big moments. Instead, it was more of an opening piece intended to fill in the backstory of the Otherworld. In that, I think it worked. Especially the ending, as it directly connects to Falling Into Place, the penultimate entry in the “season 2” set of Otherworld tales that I’ll bring to you in 2019.
On the writer side, I also had a lot of good fortune, relatively speaking. Except for this head cold (or whatever it is) I’ve suffered the past few days, most of the month was decent. Not great, but passable. I didn’t get into a bizarre sleeping schedule that effectively took away a writing day. The weather was both unusually clear and unseasonably cold (highs for November averaged 7 degrees below normal!), so no storms knocked me out of the zone. Debian was kind enough to hold off on any breaking upgrades. And my family made it through what’s often a tough time without too much hassle.
All in all, this year was both a nice change of pace and a great return to form. The last time I truly “won” Nanowrimo, in the sense of completing both objectives, was 2015, with The City and the Hill. Maybe that’s the trick. Otherworld seems to work for me. Which is a great thing, because I’d really like to spend more time there. It can’t be worse than here.