Having just wrote about a character tagging a baby penguin with her son's name on Facebook, I figured it was time to start a post--
what's the strangest thing you've written so far that you totally didn't plan on writing?
(50 words or less.)
Once the character did that, she can now have vague images of penguins (and you do know what baby penguins eat, right?) in her brain for the next several days. I had no plan on writing about penguins, but it's making me smile.
Katherine
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56,306 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 08 05
You know, I thought 6922 words was a decent total until I saw people in the 15,000 range already.
Yikes.
50,659 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 09 12
Well, to me at 5011 or something like that, 6922 is a good total. It's all in perspective. :)
----------NaNo 2007: A New Kind of Power (around 30000)
NaNo 2008: Hell's the Pits (25000)
NaNo 2009: Cadence
67,243 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 19 31
My main character now has a pet ferret. He neglected to tell me he was getting one last month when we were chatting.
I also just learned that his aunt and uncle are sister and brother to his mother and father. Not plot shaking, but interesting, I thought.
S
37,101 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 19 47
I wrote about a ritual my Utahraptor has after being wounded in battle or killing someone - she paints the scene in blood on the walls of her cave. I really like the visual effect that has. :)
----------Nan07: Stradivarius' Legacy - WIN!
Nan08: Let's Dance - EPIC fail.
Nan09: Raptors and Rifles - on it's way to a win!
156,781 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 04 24
Yikes.
There are always people who are way ahead of your total. (Unless you're one of those insane people who write 50K in a day--says the insane person who wrote 16K the first day. ) My trick is to find someone in my range--and try to stay ahead of them, by at least a little bit. And ignore the ones that are ahead by a huge amount. It doesn't hurt to have someone who is chomping at your heels. (Hi, Dave! Hi, Sabrina!)
Katherine
16,821 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 07 41
My surprise is a last minute addition of a subplot of Gentlemen Thieves....something I literally woke up thinking about at 6 am on Nov 1, and became my preface. :)
----------42,002 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 07 42
For me, and I know it's only day 3, it is that my enthusiasm level is still high. At only 5K I matched my 2007 output when I ran out of steam and plot. Today I’m ahead of the average daily word count with lots, and I mean lots of story still in my head.
I attribute that to some (very minimal) planning, and lots of impromptu writing exercises throughout the year.
Like everyone I’m tracking my word count against a few friends and others as a method of keeping me on track. In 2007, I wasn’t affiliated with any region and went it alone and failed miserably. This year looks very promising – the story might be horrendous, but that’s what editing is for, right?
Tom
45,066 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 08 31
My suprise came right away when I was staring at the blank screen sometime around 11:30 P.M. on the 1st trying not to let the first day pass without starting. I finally typed my first line and then said, "Oh - this is in first person, I never thought about that and I've never really tried writing in first person, this should be fun."
50,659 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 22 19
My group of friends for my MC decided to give each other cake whenever one manages to sleep with someone. Didn't see that one coming.
----------NaNo 2007: A New Kind of Power (around 30000)
NaNo 2008: Hell's the Pits (25000)
NaNo 2009: Cadence
3,221 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 22 46
My main character's estranged wife began being reborn, too, for him to find until they worked through their issues. I blame Tim for that unplanned sub plot. XD And the fact that the first time they meet up in the book, he's a hungry wolf and she's a tasty rabbit. (Don't worry. He doesn't eat her. He starves and comes back later as a raccoon. So it's all good.)
----------NaNo 2004- WON! 56k | NaNo 2005- WON! 54k | NaNo 2006- WON! 93k | NaNo 2007- WON! 51k | NaNo 2008- WON! 50k
Planning to win for the 6th yr running!
56,306 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 22 31
I initially planned on my MC's father playing a larger role at the beginning but he's been mostly absent so far, and I've already done my dimension-hopping thing (itself a bit earlier than scheduled). I don't know what to make of it.
Oh, and my adult mercenary character just beat up a trio of soldiers earlier than planned too. XD She just couldn't wait to show off her skills, could she?
156,781 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 06 58
This one was so unexpected that Wednesday night at the Caribou write-in, I demanded to know who was writing fantasy -- figured it had to be in the air--when twenty-something Will meets Iris, a sixty year old woman who is part of the improv theater group--he immediately pictures her as a queen in a fairie glen.
Weird thing is, it will totally work in the main-stream novel I'm writing!
Katherine
Check out this post for details on write-ins:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3343121
41,469 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 08 39
I wish I had been back at your table to hear that design of a faerie queen of the glen! That would have been one heck of an interesting right turn.
After I got home from the write-in, somehow my main antagonist ended up stumbling out of a dark alleyway after being assaulted by a chip bag and frightened off by rhythmic panting sounds. I had a clear image of someone nearly frozen to death, staggering towards a Citroen car (my friend's, no less, which can only do 80 km/h with a tailwind going downhill, it's so small) parked on a curb. And being utterly terrified.
It may sound unimpressive, but she was speaking to herself in a language that hasn't been heard in some thousand or more years.
I haven't decided if this is going to be a novel of pure garbage or not, leaning towards the former, but at least we have the woman terrified by crisps and foreign-make cars! :D
60,891 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 12 37
...I just had two cheetahs driving a train, and wearing conductor hats. My main character didn't tell me he lived in a magical africa where cheetahs do that sort of thing. Oh, and they just committed incest with their sister in the room next to where my MC was sleeping. Do I and my highly disturbed imagination win anything?
156,781 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 13 06
I have a woman vowing to quit eating salt & vinegar crisps--close, but yours is funnier.
I've taken the 'queen of the glen' image to heart, with the char having random thoughts of stabbing the woman's unappreciative husband in the gut, ridding the world of the blackguard. Hey, I just realized he's having random pirate ranting as well. This could be fun.
Katherine
156,781 / 50,000
Nov 18, 2009 - 07 25
It was a good thing his species didn't blush. Too bad that his reaction to embarrassment was a reset of his brain synapses. He stood there, waiting to be able to speak.
Totally didn't see that one coming, but it should make for some amusing situations.
Katherine
37,146 / 50,000
Nov 18, 2009 - 13 45
I knew my MC was going to get thrown into the dungeon for a crime he (sort of) didn't commit, but I didn't know that he was going to meet a wall covered with sentient slime and a talking black widow spider that will soon be his ticket to freedom.
----------2009: TBA
2007 [dud], 2008: [major dud]
2006 51,432: Repetition for Ransom: A Quinn Miller Mystery
2006 51,981: Queen's Gambit Accepted
2005 54,447: O'Leary's Secret
48,731 / 50,000
Nov 21, 2009 - 19 41
The most unexpected thing that i have written so far is that during the aliens attempt to board the spaceship, the control freak CEO on the ship actually picks up a gun and helps fight them off. I did not expect him to do that.
16,512 / 50,000
Nov 21, 2009 - 21 26
My FMC (who appears to be a little girl) gets in a bar fight, then ends up being chased out of town with torches and pitchforks. :D
----------41,019 / 50,000
Nov 23, 2009 - 07 32
For reasons I'm still not sure of, I just killed off my main antagonist last night. Still wondering why I did that and who is going to step into his place.