NANO 2012 - DAY 25

STOP THE CLOCK, I HAVE MADE IT!

@ 17:45 today (Sunday 25.11.12) I broke the 50 000 word barrier.

I cannot describe how I feel right now, apart from being very very happy and chuffed at me efforts. I have accomplished something I did not think I could do.

Thank you so much for your support, without which I would still be at the starting blocks.
You are all Gold!

NANO 2012 – DAY 19

Well, where do I start??? 

After the early success of meeting my goals the week before and our lovely Wales trip, week Three started with a Bang, and a big one at that.

At work things were busy as always, but life added a few extras that made my time even more scarce which left me mentally and physically drained.  I managed only two, five o’clock early-bird-sessions, before I had to make the decision to take it easy. These extras saw me getting home well past nine and there were just no way to sustain the early mornings, lunchtime and evening sessions and on Friday everything came to a halt as I was knocked for a six by the news that my family was about to be directly affected by the current violence en the Western Cape.

As things stood, I only managed to write two days during my working week, which turned out 3791 words and I seriously started to doubt if I could complete the challenge at hand, not to mention finish my book which I completely love. Earlier the week I withdrew from all social media networks to keep my focus and thought if I just kept my head down and worked through everything, I would be ok, but soon realised that it would be impossible without my loving Feetjie and wonderful friends.

I therefore dedicate the past week to her and all my friends that helped me with advice, encouragement and lending their ever-patient ears. Your wonderful friendship pushed me on, gave me confidence and helped to ease some of the worries, so much so that just past 22:00 last night, I reached 35 000 words, on track and well on my way again.

I would love to name you, but it would be wrong. You know who you are.  

Thanks for keeping my dream alive!

May I please add that I had to pass on certain opportunities this week and I am sorry for the ones I disappointed in the process, believe me it was not easy.

NANO 2012 - Day 9

My dear friends

Friday 09.11.12 saw the start of a big day in my Nano writing month.

As I set my goals the Sunday before Nano started, I knew that if I could reach my weekly personal word count goals and certain milestones on the way, I stood a good chance to finish my book on time.  Well Friday 09.11.12 was a milestone day and when I saw how the week was playing out, I was able to book a day’s holiday to ensure that I reached my goal.  Yes, that is how important this is to me.

Reaching my milestone would not only mean that I could go on a guilt free, no writing weekend to Wales, but more importantly that I would have completed the first part of my three part Thriller. Well Friday evening I completed Chapter Eight and were over 16 000 words into my first ever book. I pushed the voices and characters back as I shut the laptop, very satisfied and chuffed with my progress.

I learnt a lot during the second week of NANO, about myself and my writing and made a few decisions, of which the most important I think, is the fact that I will finish this first draft during or just after Nano. I will then concentrate on another project I was working on and afterwards get back to my story with fresh eyes, ready for editing and then publishing.  Step by step I will move this story forward and I cannot wait to see the end result and your views on it. Now to keep going and finish it!

During our time in Wales the most hilarious short story popped into my head and I had to laugh out loud.  You will love it, so keep a lookout, it will soon appear somewhere. Dare I also add, that whilst we enjoyed the lovely Welsh Countryside on Sunday, a story that dwelled in my head for at least six months, suddenly came together. It will be in the genre I enjoy most, Historical Fiction and I cannot wait to start the exploration thereof on paper.

So there you have it! It’s the start of week three, I have written 16 324 so far and will move on to the second part of ‘Numbers’.

NANO 2012 - DAY 3

NANO 2012  - DAY 3

Well it is 07:40 on a Saturday morning and I have not contributed anything towards my daily target and word count today, but thought I should at least do what I promised to do almost a week ago now and that is to keep you posted on my progress.

With the most horrendous flu underway and nurturing seriously congested sinuses, looking at the Autumn Rugby Internationals and what we had already planned for November, I realised that I won’t be able to write this novel without some careful planning. November will be a more than usual busy month and I will not fail before I even started. I will reach my goal, with my writing buddies, of 50 000 words in 30 days.

So Sunday afternoon as my headache slowly started to show mercy, I took the opportunity to start my planning and the accountant in me jumped at the opportunity to open a spreadsheet, off course. I listed the days in November, filled in our engagements, added the details of the upcoming Rugby events and the deadlines I have on other commitments. It soon became apparent that I would not be able to write the 1667 words a day, but would at least have to write 2000 words, if I wanted to claim my gold certificate on Friday 30/11/2012.

My spreadsheet obviously grew by now (2 days in), because not only have I an overall ‘planned’ section, divided into mornings, lunchtime and evenings, but what use would it have without an ‘actuals’ section. Over the last two days I also added a column to see when I write the best, i.e. most amount of words an hour. This spreadsheet will be close to hand during the month and will give me enough data and food for thought for my next novel, not to mention NANO 2013. 

Anyways, I managed to get back to work on Monday and before I could wipe my eyes, it was the eve of NANO 2012 and geared with my plan, 1500 words in the morning and 500 after work, I was nervously excited about this life changing event that was about to start.

Wednesday morning I watched the clock until it reached 04:50, before I jumped out of bed and armed with a warm coffee, by 05:07 I wrote my first words. I was surprised how quickly I got into the story and how all my characters jumped forward to be first onto the page. Well I made my morning target, quietly went upstairs to where my little fairy still peacefully slept. I joined her for 15 minutes before we had to get up and start our normal daily routine. During lunchtime that day I finished my first chapter and by doing so reached my daily target.

Yesterday did not start well, the flu or cold (what’s the difference so by the way?) bogged me down and I only managed to do some writing during lunch time.  In the evening I wrote until I finished my chapter and let me tell you now, it’s easier in the mornings than late at night, I could feel it and it showed on my stats…

This morning I am still nurturing a dull headache, but geared with lots of pills to keep the flu aches and pains away, I will keep indoors and write. Due to the flu/cold thing I have been carrying around for almost three weeks now, I had to cancel a combined Birthday party of a close friend of mine and Guy Fawkes fireworks display. No, I am afraid, again I will have to stay indoors this weekend and try to get rid of this blasted thing. As least I have lots to keep me busy with.

My friends, I better get cracking (as they say). I can report that I am two chapters in and that the characters are (apart from one) straining at the bit to leap onto page and together we will produce something that I hope you will enjoy reading, as much as I enjoy writing it.

The book is currently titled “Numbers” and the synopsis on my NANO page reads:

It all started with Jonny’s boy…