This is my first NaNoWriMo and I haven't written any fiction since I was a teenage, about half my lifetime ago, so nobody is more surprised than me by what I'm about to post. Today, less than a week into November, I hit the halfway mark. Not only have I written 25,000 words, but I have also reached a natural halfway point in my story. I can't believe it! I will certainly need the whole month to finish the next section and go back to the chunks of plot I left unwritten in the first part (I didn't even try to write bits that I had no clue about - just wrote [AND THEN HE DOES SOMETHING AND ENDS UP IN BLAH WITH BLAH] notes to myself), but I love the story. I was describing it to somebody else earlier today and she seemed genuinely interested in the first part, and I can't wait to find out what happens in the second.
My novel has a large historical element to it; the first part is set in Christchurch in 1890. The research is fascinating! I only moved to New Zealand two years ago so I am completely new to the history of this part of the world. I am so pleased that my plot ended up in here at this time, because I'm learning more about the history of my new home town than I ever thought possible :)
What have you enjoyed most so far about your story?
----------
37,631 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 01 50
My greatest joy has come from pushing myself to actually keep writing. I'm finally facing up to the fear that maybe I'm not an amazing writer - something I've always avoided before by never finished anything. This time, I'm gonna. And seeing my word count go up every day is an incredible feeling.
In terms of the story itself, so far I've really loved seeing my characters come out of the woodwork and navigate around each other; they keep changing underneath me, and while it's frustrating knowing I will have to go back [eventually] and make them consistent, I love how alive and real they seem to me.
30,439 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 02 00
That's awesome, Isobel :-)
We're on a similar page in terms of novels maybe - mine is set in Nelson in 1850 - it seemed natural after spending the last couple of years researching family genealogy there. I came across some incredible characters and outrageous happenings while I was reading old newspapers. I'm taking a very different slant with the information though - melding history and magical things.
What sources have you been using for your research? PapersPast is a big favourite of mine.
113,562 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 02 13
Well Done!
I find a lot of the history of NZ to be fascinating to research and to read about, whether fiction or non fiction. I'm still too scared to try and take some of my fascination with it and attempt to put it into a novel - maybe next year? Okay, that's not strictly correct, part of last year's NaNo novel attempted to add an Ancient Roman flavour to the real NZ history - and I didn't succeed. I'm still sure it should be possible, but I didn't get enough time to research what I wanted to know.
As for the 25K mark, I was really hoping to hit that tonight, but it's past 11 o'clock, and I'm not sure I will. Congratulations on getting there yourself!
----------..... Aaaaaaarrgggh!
60,045 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 03 23
Aw, that's really great Isobel! Especially since you hadn't written in so long, hitting the 25k mark is awesome. Good on you :)
The thing I've enjoyed most about my story would be the experience. Usually, I'd start a story and never finish, or it would take me months, because my inner editor hates me. So telling that editor to stick it up the you know where and writing freely has been great. I don't really like my novel yet, because nothing much has happened. But I plan on changing that soon... *evil laugh*
Oh and ratesjul, I see you made it after all. Yay!
----------Long live me and long live anarchy!
- Drunkard, for whom the bell tolls...
113,562 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 12 28
Yeah, I got there right on midnight. If it wasn't for the whole Friday thing, that wouldn't have been possible. The late nights are killing me, when I have to be productive the next morning.
----------..... Aaaaaaarrgggh!
31,501 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 12 31
I'm honestly just proud that I'm writing.
----------I've started a LOT of stories that aimed to be novel length, and I always got stuck on the secon of thrid page.
Then I'd say "I'll come back to that later", which I would, and then be "Oh I'm stuck. Ok." until I forgot the story existed.
So being on my 20th page is a big thing for me.
Death count so far? two.
-Falling on a tree root, staking himself
-Running into a girl holding a piece of a chair, staking himself
50,462 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 23 40
Taonga1, I use PapersPast for my research too - it's fascinating, isn't it? Some of the articles are hilariously snippy, and the advertisements are utterly bizarre. What on earth is an electric body brush? It seemed to be quite well advertised at one time anyway.
It's been interesting to read what everybody else is getting out of this. I hope it's going well for you all still :)
----------46,268 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 00 19
I don't normally do research for nanowrimo projects (that's one advantage of writing SF/fantasy/horror - as long as you keep it consistent within itself it doesn't matter if everything runs on unobtainium power) but have used Papers Past off and on at work when I get really weird questions. (Case in point: last week I got asked to help decipher an ancient handwritten land title, at about half linear size (because that's the best quality you can get from Lands and Survey these days). I made a stab at the last name on the title, searched for it in Papers Past and found that I'd guessed the spelling right because there he was, playing cricket for Orepuki against Otautau in 1910).
Although if you want to read something really dirty sounding in Papers Past, just search for the phrase "kissing the Book". ... Don't do it if you're of a naturally queasy disposition, though...
----------2006 - Title: "Awakenings"; Genre: Horror; Words: 50,000+.
2007 - Didn't take part.
2008 - Title: "From The City Of Demons". Genre: Fantasy. Words: 50,000+.
2009 - Title "Thief". Genre: Steampunk. Words: Not nearly enough.