NaNoWriMo Progress, Day 6

[kaasirpent]

I'm charting my daily progress on NaNoWriMo. Since you may or may not care, I'll kindly hide it behind a cut. Thanks for taking the time. :)

NaNoWriMo Progress: These Are the Dreams that Keep Sleep from Me
	Actual	Required
Progress
New Words Today	7348	1667
Daily Average	6556	1667
Remaining Req'd Daily Avg	427	1667
Expected Total	52000	50010

Notes:

• So much for 'maybe I'll get shorter.'


• The central idea for "F Is for Fangs (that Are Sunk in Your Leg)" popped into my head after a reader (dchenes) suggested the word, but I wasn't at all sure where I was going to go with it other than the Idea that was basically all I had to run with. I sat down this afternoon (I took the morning off) and started by selecting a name for my main character. I wanted something 'ethnic.' As soon as "Fernando" popped into my head, I knew the world. Now I just had to describe that world. Basically, it's a world in which Mexico is the dominant power at least of the organization that explores and categorizes new worlds for potential human colonization. Fernando Cortes (don't hate me) and his team of 18 total are dispatched to Nuevo Mexico to determine its suitability. That took me something like 3500 words to describe, and get character development, and set up the rules which have to be broken. I also had a false start where I got 616 words in and thought, "This is crap." But since this is NaNoWriMo, I didn't delete them. I just marked them as strikeout and started the story over right below that. So technically, the story is not 7348 words but 6731 words, so far.


• I didn't finish this one, either, but I think it needs about 2000 more words to wrap it up. Well, to be more honest: I don't think it needs 2000 more words; I think it will take about 2000 more words. Most of the 9000 or so words it will eventually be will end up on the cutting room floor, as it were, and I'll be left with a much tighter, smaller, more direct story. I did a lot of meandering, expositing, and telling instead of showing because I didn't know where I was going with the plot until I had so rigidly defined my parameters that I finally saw the gap to slide my stiletto in between its ribs. That is one lousy analogy, but I'm tired, so I'll let it stand.


• This story is functionally similar to "E Is for Egg" at the base, but maybe not so obviously if you were to read them not back-to-back. I'd say that both stories bear a superficial resemblance to different aspects of the "Alien" movies.


• My wrists continue not to hurt.


• Since today was Sunday, I rested. :) I didn't start the story until well into the afternoon and I took frequent breaks. Also, my eye isn't completely healed from the tear yesterday morning, so I am still not seeing at 100% capacity.


• The stories for G (Gravesite) and T (Twilight) got a little more gelid, today. Which is a damned good thing, considering I have to write "G Is for Gravesite" tomorrow. I really, really, really am going to really try (really!) to make G a flash piece. Really. Oh, and J Is for Jackpot got a tad closer to gelling as well. I have a potential plot.


• It occurred to me as I thought through the stories A - H (and possibly I) that they all share a common theme: transformation. Anchor is a young woman coming of age and coming into her own powers. Bard is about a man forced to give up the thing that defines him, and then forced to do it against his will to hurt others. Clowns is about a man's descent into madness (OR IS IT?). In Dragon, a prince transforms from someone the princess doesn't notice to someone she definitely does, and all because of his actions. In Egg, Fangs, and Gravesite, the theme is a more direct and physical transformation. In Haunted, not only is it about the transformation from alive to dead, but from dead to whatever comes after that. And Investigation...might be about transformation. I'll let you know Wednesday.


• Character names: Dr. Fernando Cortes, Dr. Flora something Spanish (I'm not at my laptop), and several other characters with Spanish first and last names, including Natalia, Roberto, Marquez, Ramirez, Gonzales, and a couple more. I studiously avoided Vasquez because of the Aliens connection.


• Interesting things I had to look up: Lots of Spanish words and names, the Greek alphabet, and what a prion is. The rest of it is all conjured up out of my fevered imagination, including "vampire vine" and "fang-thorn."


• Genre: Hard Science Fiction

This table shows each story and how many words I have written on it, regardless of the daily count. Titles or letters in red ("tomato") are ones where I'm not sure, yet, what the story will be.

A Is for Anchor 8398	B Is for Bard 6549	C Is for Clowns That Creep Through the Yard 5700 (complete)
D Is for Dragon 6369 (complete)	E Is for Egg 4975 (complete)	F Is for Fangs That Are Sunk in Your Leg 6731 (617)
G Is for Gravesite 0	H Is for Haunted 0	I Is for Investigation Unwanted 0
J Is for Jackpot 0	K Is for Kiss 0	L Is for Lightning A Hit or a Miss 0
M Is for Moons 0	N Is for N_____ 0	O Is for Oath __________ 0
P Is for Prey 0	Q Is for Quest 0	R Is for Rite __________ 0
S Is for SkullCosm 0	T Is for Twilight 0	U Is for Unicorn __________ 0
V Is for V_____ 0	W Is for Witness 0	X Is for Xenogamy For Maximum Fitness 0
Y Is for Y_____ 0	Z Is for Zombie 0