Finally finished the first draft! I’d been putting it off, not wanting it to end, knowing that Samuel, Lou Dan and Ciss would be parting company in various ways. That along with family duties, scrimshaw, work, etc.

The novella ballooned from my target of 42,000 words to 54,322 before edits. I pushed the NaNoWriMo meter up to the default 50,000 words, and I’m still beyond it by 9%.

So what now? Time to print it out, double spaced and put it in the drawer. It actually feels good finally; it’s been a long haul. It also means a decision: should I pick up and start writing the next in the series timeline or step back to the badger’s beginnings to tell of Samuel’s childhood and youth? I have three more books sketched out with a possible fourth in the series.  I think a break and some consulting with “Chuck” are in order, wherever she is.  Last time she was caretaking a mansion donning a full mohawk. Now? Who knows.  About nine emails and a few more skype or facetime messages in rapid succession may tease her out again, she’s been awfully quiet.

Another thing that spurred me on was an email from someone on Librarything (librarything.com). They kindly mentioned they were still waiting for their copy of Samuel’s first adventure. Oops! I had bookmarked the site and gone back there after the contest and didn’t find the area where people would have responded, figuring there were other books people were more interested in and shrugged, carrying on with writing his next adventure, going on my own and didn’t give it another thought.  As it turns out there are ten people patiently waiting to read Samuel’s adventure in The Meadow. With books on their way here for a short stop before reaching their final destination, I’ve written them to reassure them they have not been forgotten.

Been awhile since I sat down and wrote, as carnivals and other things have taken my time away. The setting seems idyllic except for a nagging suspicion that Dan has when he sees Atkins watching “Buddy” (Lou).  Just realized Samuel is out of the picture completely in this section, but that may just be the way it is – he’ll probably find someplace to snooze.

At 49,816, about 900 words per hour.

Also started to fashion a mechanism for puppets/automata to allow for eyes not only to move left and right, but orbit around, too.  A real off the cuff video can be seen at https://plus.google.com/115933060867614274453/posts/1x2stGymCKz

Also finished the how-to for scrimshaw that is an exclusive to the newsletter readers at scrimshaw.com.

That took awhile! We’ll see how it holds up to editing. It’s the longest section I’ve written so far coming in at over 3,000 words. Four more sections to go, though they may expand out to six.

At 47,934 words between assisting my daughter, taking the dog out for a walk, applying meds, etc.

Samuel, Lou, Dan and Ciss get a ride out of the city, their hovel decimated by the zombies and the geemo chihuahuas (can’t believe I finally spelled that right). “The troll” makes another appearance and Samuel’s secret weapon saves the day (or night, as it was).  Had a lot more dialog was in my mind which may get back into the story, but we’re in the “vomit onto the keyboard” phase, which is the longest hurl I’ve ever had.  We may reach 50,000 words on this one, but that’s not really the point: the point is telling the story.

Been away from writing here with business on other blogs, it felt good to get back to writing for an hour.  Now it’s time to do battle with the ailing sump-pump – digging up the line and finding out where it failed.  Hoping for coolish weather as I grab my shovel.

It’s looking like the first draft is going to exceed the 42,000 word goal I’d set myself.  I was busy busy, with work, home, schooling, scrimshaw and more taking my time from writing, hitting The Dip that Seth Godin speaks of, avoiding committing to writing a couple of scenes yet knowing they had to be done.  As the weekend loomed closer I worked into the night, using the pomodoro timer and sticking with it, moving from writing to cooking dinner, writing to answering emails, writing to writing the scrimshaw.com newsletter, to experimenting with a couple of audio files of the “Survivalist Log” (preliminary mp3 here – or you can read it here).

Sometimes I think I take the “Idle hands” proverb a little too far, between parenting, writing, scrimshaw, work, garden and house, I don’t have idle hands unless I’m asleep.

The scenes I was in the dip about were several actions scenes right in a row, toward the end of the book, although there is one more ~5,000 word chapter to go before it gets put in a drawer for a few weeks and C.D. and I plot out the beats for the next book or two or three.

We’re at 41,888 words, averaging 1,000 words per hour with some minor interruptions.

I’ve been so busy with other things I haven’t had a chance to write much. Graduations, recitals, gardening, scrimshaw, etc.   Have just gotten the fifth post for the survivalist POV side story out though. The story is from the last survivalist near the Meadow. He writes down his adventures in a log book kind of like his diary. Going to the “Survivalist Log” will lead you through the story post at a time, or you can go through the following links that will open in a new page:

• Excerpt 1
• Excerpt 2
• Excerpt 3
• Excerpt 4
• Excerpt 5

There’s an idea that you “puke out the story” first, then go back and fill it in afterward. Personally, if I’m puking something out, I’m either pushing the lever on the porcelain throne or I’m grabbing a mop and am not in the best of moods. I prefer a different metaphor, though I’m not sure if I want to formulate it: giving it a voice or defining it is kind of like boxing it in, making it final, like an equation. Saying “This how I did it:” versus This is how I do it:” is a subtle difference where you’re not beholden to your statement. “This is how I do it:” gives your subconscious (or at least mine) the directive that you must follow the guidelines you stated, versus the freedom of saying “This is how I did it:” which means you can refer back to what you did but still gives you the option of trying something different. It reminds me of when I was writing music: I’d want to write a piece that was hard and driving, and sometimes a catchy country western tune would spring from my fingers. I’d fight to get back to the hard-driving prog-rock genre tossing out what could have been an interesting piece in it’s own right, the intended music would come in time, just not this time.  If your muse wants to sway to a country western beat, go ahead and dance with them: they’ll love you more for it and won’t go off and dance with someone else, leaving you alone in the middle of the floor.

35473 words, ~ 1000 WPH

It’s difficult to stop when you’re on a roll.  The chapter is moving along and there’s a bit right in the middle as Samuel strikes off on his own in the city, the Zorphans panhandling with Lou. While I could continue on I know stopping here will spark me tomorrow to continue on, and letting it gestate can only help.  Delayed Gratification 101.

Holding steady at approximately 1000 WPH. now at 33,321 words, and 79% of goal.