Author: Jeff Deck

Author and administrator of this site.

12/2

The Shadow over Portsmouth: 53,931
Player Choice: 103,056

Slow start today– very slow.  Perhaps starting with Player Choice was part of the problem.  It’s a lot more complicated of a story and has a less obvious central struggle than, say, an entire town being pulled into the shadow world.  Still, I hacked away at it until the blood began to flow… I mean, the words.  The words began to flow.

Then the Shadow went a little better, but still not at a great pace.  I had to take a little stroll in the aisles of the library.  Coincidentally, one of the best working carrels in the library, at which I am now stationed, is right next to the 973-974 section, where all the old books on Portsmouth history can be found.

Pizza’s waiting for me in the fridge back home, just a short walk away.  I think that’s enough for today.

Beyond 50,000

A month later.  I certainly did get sucked into the NaNo vortex.  And I’m proud to report that I won, with a grand total of words over 50,000, including a tacked-on ending.  (Your NaNo book should technically have a beginning, middle, and end.  I’m still missing quite a bit of latter middle, though.)  But this is no return to the normal world, as has been the custom for my last several Decembers.  No rest for the possessed.  You see, I want to keep going.  I feel like these characters and this town deserve to have their story continued while it’s still on fire in my easily distractable (distractible?) brain.  But what to do?  The NaNoWriMo site is still active but is no longer accepting words– the game is over for another year.

I’m going to make this my new wordcount logging site.  There’s something about being able to put your latest numbers up someplace after a writing session (or occasionally in the middle of one).  Rejoice, gentle readers– you’ll be witness to the daily current wordcount of not just one novel but two:  The Shadow over Portsmouth (only a working title), this year’s NaNo project, and a book called Player Choice (also only a working title), which has been in the works for, well, a long time and has been subject to frequent grinding halts, including the most recent halt that occurred on October 31 at approximately 10:49 pm.

Player Choice is the one that I’ve long regarded as the most probable candidate for my first fiction book to be published.  It has, however, been dragging for a while.  Benjamin has demanded to see a draft by Christmas Day or else daily harassments will begin.  (I’ve made a similar demand of him for a draft of his novel in progress, Ar– whoops, almost dropped a secret there with the title.  He may not be willing to put it out in the open yet.)  So in essence, another game has begun, at least as far as Player Choice goes.  A smart fellow would concentrate his energies entirely on Player Choice in December, yes?  And leave The Shadow over Portsmouth for later.

I have this crazy idea, though, that I can do both.  (It might have something to do with having a rather light freelancing schedule right now.)  So folks, without further ado, here’s our starting wordcounts, at 12:00 pm on December 1:

The Shadow over Portsmouth: 51, 327
Player Choice: 100,410

Now you might look at that latter number and say “Holy crap, you’ve already got a whole pile of words for Player Choice— time to wade in there and start cutting!”  But I already know for a fact that about 25,000 of those are destined to be deleted.  So we need some more bulk beforehand to make up for that impending gouge.  An ending to the book, for example, would really be helpful.

Onward!

It’s NaNoWriMo time

Well, it’s November 2nd, and we’re already more than a day into National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo.  How’s your novel coming along so far?  I’m working on a book of interconnected horror tales set in Portsmouth, my little haunted town on the coast.  Last night I gave a brief talk and answered some questions at the local library, which is hosting various novel-writing events this month, with a quiet workspace and free pens and snacks.  I thought it might interest you to include the basic text of my speech below– maybe it’ll inspire you to start tap-tapping away on your next great work!

Fellow Wrimos,

Allow me to quote from my own t-shirt, using the immortal words of NaNoWriMo founder Chris Baty.  “Novels are written by everyday people who give themselves permission to write novels.”  Today is the beginning of an epic writing journey.  Even if you don’t finish it on time, you’ll still come away with something to be proud of.

NaNoWriMo is a mission to write, and finish, a novel in the month of November.  For the next 30 days, you’ll be doing your best to write a 50,000-word fictional story.  NaNoWriMo is a way to challenge yourself and be part of a writing community, knowing that there are thousands of other people struggling toward the same goal.  It’s a kind of competition, but it’s one where everyone can win if they put in enough effort.  There are no prizes except the satisfaction of being able to call yourself a novelist.

I’ve been participating in NaNoWriMo since 2003, and I’m proud to say that I’ve reached 50,000 words every year except one.  I wrote a book called The Great Typo Hunt, published by Random House, that just came out in paperback last month.  It’s nonfiction, but I was able to write it using the discipline that I learned from NaNoWriMo, writing fiction year after year.

There’ll be rough spots.  There’ll be times when you’ll consider giving up.  But as Winston Churchill said, “If you are going through hell, keep going.”  If you get stuck, the forums on nanowrimo.org are a great place to turn to for help or inspiration.  A quick look at a news site might give you fodder for the next crazy plot twist.  Character names can be easily found in the spam folder of your e-mail.  And you can find material for your characters themselves by observing your crazy uncle, or your classmates or officemates, or the mysterious lady sitting outside Breaking New Grounds.  Just don’t forget to change the names!

I’d like to wrap up with a note about this library, which has been kind enough to offer a place for quiet work on your novel.  Let’s respect the space this month by staying quiet while we write, remembering that it is still a library.  If you’d like to discuss stories out loud with other writers, just head over to one of the fine cafes in town.  The folks at the library aren’t NaNoWriMo organizers, so you should go to the NaNo site for any general questions about the contest.  And feel free to ask me anything here tonight or on the website—my handle is vincent3rd, that’s Vincent 3 R D.

Thanks very much and good luck!  Any questions?