Breaking News: 2013 NaNo Is Complete + Snippet

2013 NaNo Winner BannerWe interrupt the regularly scheduled programming to bring you a news flash. NaNoWriMo for 2013 is now complete. Details to follow, including a short snippet from the raw text. The book review will be posted tomorrow.

Yes, that is correct, though probably not much of a surprise what with the extent of my cushion and my largely consistent, and above minimum, progress. I have completed NaNo at the last second several times. I have also completed NaNo at the end of the 5th day, and practically every variant in between. I do not believe, for some reason, that I’ve hit the 50,000 mark during the third week however, either coming in very early or in the last week each time.

What does this mean for my novel?

Not all that much as it turns out. The “end” for NaNo is a very soft one this year, and I plan to continue writing on this project (though likely without the pace of NaNo and more specifically the past-midnight writing binges) until I reach the true end, at which point the plan is to start editing the series for release. Unless things turn out differently from what I suspect, there’s one whole book left still to write, but with a three book cushion, I should have it done well before I need to have it ready to go.

So, what did I learn this year?

Most of the lessons came in the form of reminders, things I knew but once again let circumstance get away from me like not to start without a synopsis and at least a bare bones outline. In some ways, NaNo has built up an expectation best stated in Shakespeare in Love:

Philip Henslowe: Mr. Fennyman, allow me to explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster.
Hugh Fennyman: So what do we do?
Philip Henslowe: Nothing. Strangely enough, it all turns out well.
Hugh Fennyman: How?
Philip Henslowe: I don’t know. It’s a mystery.

I have won every year. I have written something I’m proud of every year, preparation or not. Any other time, I make sure I’m ready before I jump in. For NaNo, I just jump and it turns out all right…tear your hair out frustrating at times, but all right in the end.

Not much of a journal this time, as only two days have passed, but here are my thoughts as I went:

Date: 11/25 Total: 48,949 Today: 1,920

Seems a little pointless to stop with so few words to go (barely over 1,000), but it’s been a long, hard day, and I’ve been suffering from a migraine for most of it. I almost decided not to write at all. I’m glad I did. Getting there was a slog, but once I got past the headache and into the world, interesting things happened. At the start, I recognized I needed to switch point of view to write the one scene, something I hadn’t anticipated but which worked out nicely. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

Date: 11/26 Total: 50,759 Today: 1,810

Sad to see that I’ve crossed the finish line because I don’t have the excuse to make this a super priority. However, there’s more of the story to be told, so I will keep going forward until I reach the true end of the tale.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The snippet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nat tried to present a cool exterior as he and Samantha swung down the rope ladder into the shore boat. His efforts were helped by Samantha’s amazement.

From the way she tested her footing on the rope to how she gauged the stronger sway of the small boat, she acted as though she’d never been on a boat before. He knew she’d had a sheltered upbringing–as a natural, she’d have had to–but to have never been on a vessel smaller than their ship seemed inconceivable.

“Oh, look, Nat. Those trees are so different from the ones at home. They have flowers growing from the bark itself.”

He leaned over to get a closer look, and Sven had to catch his shirt so Nat didn’t tumble over the side.

The big sailor gave Nat a wink and kept quiet, but Nat knew he’d failed to pretend any more sophistication than Samantha showed.

Sand grated against the bottom of the boat, and Nat was the first to spring over the edge so they could tug it far enough up the beach so it wouldn’t float away.

They’d come back with additional supplies, and the first few moments on this foreign soil were taking up with unpacking the boat and trucking the supplies to a rough hut designated for storage. The captain had clearly shared the word about Samantha’s new look, because the sailors working alongside them made no comment, though Nat caught them sending sideways glances in her direction.

“A place as lush as this has its fill of pests,” Seamus told them, putting action to words as he slapped a bug that came to rest on his neck. “Nothing’s safe from them. The one good part of all these trees is their sap. It makes for strong caulking.”

He jerked open the door to the storage hut and pointed out how they’d filled in the cracks between rough split boards with the tree sap. “Doesn’t keep out everything,” Seamus told them as he closed the door, “What with people coming and going, but we lost a lot in that first day before we came up with this.”

Nat took the time to admire the work they’d done, as Seamus clearly wanted, but he found Samantha’s hand shadows using the light filtered through the translucent sap more amusing, especially when a rabbit peered over Seamus’s shoulder at Nat.

He struggled not to laugh and offend the sailor, blurting out, “Is there much hunting? Rabbits, maybe?”

Seamus twisted a glance over his side, showing Nat hadn’t been as successful in masking his amusement as he’d hoped, but he saw nothing with Samantha on the other side of the room. “Nothing like rabbits, or rats even, but we’ve caught a snake this wide round.” He made a circle with both hands, showing a width bigger even than his thick neck.

“In the trees?” Samantha added, coming over to join them. Her eyes had widened in amazement, giving her an odd-animal-like appearance with the pupils stretched in the dim light.

Seamus patted her on the head much like a small child or pet. “You better keep an eye out. They come right down from the trees, or up out of the water. Ground’s not too steady in places either.”

Nat shook his head. “Some paradise.”

“It is what you make of it. Food, water, wood enough to repair the ship so it can take us safely in to port. No better paradise than that.”

This entry was posted in Challenges, NaNoWriMo, Writing Process and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

Share Your Thoughts

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.