Word count: 51,392

Over 74,600 participants fell by the wayside. But after typing the last sentence in my novel, I uploaded the document, and was declared one of 15,329 winners. National Novel Writing Month Founder, Chris Baty, wrote on the resulting victor's page that it was one of the hardest years on record.

Then he put a question forward.
"If you ( Read more... )

Word count: 47,053

We Are Heroes, but We Can't See

Where permanence glides away on wings of
Certitude's disfavor, dissonance and
Circumventive memory, our times' sand
Expansive to behold where rides eyes' love
Ningirsu; Thor; a thousand heroes shove
Inward through mighty doors which mortals band
Together, unexamined, minds unmanned
Sighs vexatious, one hand ( Read more... )

Word count: 44,627
This entry was edited after NaNoWriMo 2007. See below for note.

Featured in Chapter Nineteen: an entirely italicized paragraph, wherein the protagonist considers the likelihood of artificial women built complete with female problems... right before remembering that such problems have been solved for several centuries. What?

Malcolm ( Read more... )

Word count: 41,941

What bores me or depresses me in novels?

Half-complete thoughts and intimations of the narrator's inside knowledge (i.e. authors who forget about their audiences on their road to catharsis).
Characters who are aware of the reader or the author (doesn't apply to the first-person perspective).
Horses. Ponies. Dogs. Kittens. Middle- ( Read more... )

Word count: 38,841

Ever say something stupid, wish you could take it back? Noveling could be your playground. In chapters Sixteen and Seventeen, I began using italics to set passages aside for later evaluation by my Inner Editor, who has been drunk on some park bench for the past few weeks. Some of these sentences and paragraphs aren't necessarily ( Read more... )

Word count: 35,174

The best thing about today is that 35,174 makes the remaining 14,826 look more manageable. The worst thing about today is its 1,081 words.

There are five days left in National Novel Writing Month. I believe I can write 14,826 more words. The dilemma of not-enough-story has long-evaporated. Too-much-story, and too-little-time have ( Read more... )

Word count: 34,093

What, to me, makes a good novel?

A story that evokes feeling, characters who inspire people to action.
The demonstration of philosophical ideaologies by believable characters.
Science fiction that entertains without sacrificing science for fiction.
A balance between character development and plot progression.
Main characters who are ( Read more... )

Word count: 31,333
"He glanced ahead and saw the light at the end of the tunnel. It grew quickly as it sped toward them."

What a note to end on for the night. Let's do some quick math.

In order to write 50,000 words in thirty days, you could divide it into thirty, 1,667-word segments.

This would lead to 38,341 words written on the twenty-third day. ( Read more... )

Word count: 30,063

The phone call I mentioned at the end of the first week, I haven't brought it up because it would be more courteous not to mention names. But it's worth mentioning something about it. During the first week, I was full of inspiration and hubris for my noveling adventure. I coasted on that initial rush of adrenaline, until it ( Read more... )

Word count: 28,426

Today (tonight, this morning) is a huge disappointment, because I wanted to write 3,000 words or more and be asleep by midnight. Still, I am not so disappointed that I won't be able to sleep for five hours, wake up and down a Red Bull (or two) and merrily feast on a bunch of Thanksgiving crap with my awesome relatives. I'm going ( Read more... )