A Brief Recommendation

In a break from my usual type of post, I want to plug a book that was completely and totally awesome.

It's called Schrödinger's Ball, and it's pretty much the best thing ever. It's the first book I've ever read that crashes in the middle, that has a long passage of spot-on Shakespearean dialogue, that features a faux-Biblical description of the actions of a schizophrenic bum, the diary of a whore-turned-bag lady, a dead guitarist, and a main character that is so scarily like me that I kept expecting to read my name instead of his.

And if that hasn't convinced you to read, then nothing ever will. Go to your local bookstore or buy it on Amazon right now.

Why are you still reading this? Go! Go now!

A Drink in the Desert

Just checking in again on my third day without consistent internet access. I've been taking advantage of this enforced break to do both editing and plotting. The edit is only a quick edit, using a red marker to indicate passages that need work (along with an idea of what needs to be fixed) and a green marker to note bits that I think I did particularly well on. There's more red than green, but the green lets me know I can just skip over that passage in my first round of editing.

As for plotting, I'm pretty much going through and layering in details in the first novel that I feel could be improved or reordered, then drawing those threads through to where they need to go in the subsequent novels. I've also started to further develop the character of the central enemy of the story, whom we have not even met yet. Still, at some point we'll learn how profound of an effect he has had on the story all along. He will be introduced clearly in the second novel, and will rise to prominence in the third.

To be honest, I had not planned for him, but he makes perfect sense. I feel like there was a hole in the story that he has filled perfectly, and that I was planning him subconsciously whether I knew it or not.

By the way--Bryony's story does not exactly end at the end of the novels I've planned. No, there will not be another novel that features her as the sole main character, but I have a vague, overarching idea for other stories set in this world, and once those stories are told, a novel which would sum them all up that would definitely include Bryony. I think that this world is large enough to play in for a long, long time, and it would be entirely possible to write novels set in this world for years to come.

As for right now, though, I need to concentrate on editing, picking up the loose threads, and plotting... oh, and getting a replacement computer so that I can go about catching up.

By the way, I have decided that I do want to catch up. There have been three days now that my 1,689 word a day goal has not been met, and I don't want that state of affairs to continue indefinitely. So when the time comes that I can write full time again, I will try to write extra days worth of material and start filling in those gaps. I've done it before to get ahead, and I can do it again to catch up.

Technology Fall Down, Go Boom

Due to an unforeseen laptop malfunction, I find myself temporarily without a computer outside of work. As you can imagine, this will put quite a dent in my online writing output for the foreseeable future.

The good news is that all my writing is on my external hard drive. Nothing has been lost--I just can't get to it right now.

Now, I'm not so tied down to technology that I can't pick up a pen and write on real actual physical paper. But I don't think I'm going to be able to write online until I can rectify the laptop situation. I don't know how long it will be before I can resume regular updates, but I will try to continue to post on this blog to let you know what's going on.

Day Fifty-six - 106,528 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

What a coincidence! I'm writing a scene about breakfast at breakfast. The biggest difference so far is that I haven't had to curtsy to anybody.

I just saw The Queen the other day, the 2006 movie in which Helen Mirren played Elizabeth II. If my view of protocol is influenced over the next several days of writing, well, it's no wonder. It was also that good of a movie.

I know that there's no point in editing now, but damn, I'm itching to go back and tidy stuff up. I look back at chapters that I've finished, and it feels more like I've left the behind, abandoned them. "Don't worry!" I want to say. "I'll come back and develop your setting better! I know you need a couple of really good, trenchant metaphors, and you'll get them, I promise!" I don't think they believe me at this point. Some of my early chapters have abandoned all hope entirely.

Composition is getting easier, though. I kind of think that I'm approaching my writing in the right way--set small but achievable goals on a daily basis, goals that fit into my schedule, and meet those goals every day without fail. At some point, I may increase my daily word count by a hundred words or so. I'm getting myself in the habit of being able to advance the story continuously, and that's a good habit to be in.

Unfortunately, once the composition stage is done, I'm going to have to come up with a way of shifting that energy over into editing, which is a different creature entirely. I guess I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

Now, onto today's section of writing. We left Bryony in the middle of a curtsy, and I'm sure her knees are killing her by this point. Let's see if we can put her out of her misery.

--

Oh, we're getting into the deep, deep mythology now. Remember, you can't believe everything that Merona says, because she doesn't know all the answers either. She can only tell Bryony what she believes to be true, and that's assuming she's being completely honest. This scene introduces a concept that becomes integral to Bryony's understanding of magic.

We'll learn a bit more as the scene picks up tomorrow. Not a lot, but a bit, and then the action shifts in a different direction. You'll just have to see what I mean tomorrow, as chapter 6 continues.

Today's Total: 1,960/ 1,689 words (116.0%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 47,301 / 42,225 words (112.0%, 3.0 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 47,301 / 50,670 (93.4%)
Book 2 Est. Completion 22,659 / 84,450 words (26.8%, 37 days to go)
Est. Completion: 106,528 / 250,000 words (42.6%, 85 days to go)

Day Fifty-five - 104,568 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

It's time to start figuring out how I'll be working my writing in and around Thanksgiving. The Panera I write at is going to be closed that morning--go figure--so I guess I'll have to write at home. That hardly seems fair, does it? I suppose I'll manage.

Let's assume I manage to write effectively on Thanksgiving morning. Will I be able to get another section finished before 10pm on Friday? I'll give that a qualified yes. Saturday and Sunday will take care of themselves, so it sounds like I shouldn't have any disruption in my usual output.

Although I haven't mentioned it a lot, I'm using this month's writing to participate in NaNoWriMo. If my progress continues as normal, I should reach the goal of 50,000 on Thanksgiving Day itself, and meet my own monthly goal of 50,670 the following day. I know I keep saying it, but I never would have guessed that I could manage it, much less two months in a row.

This morning, I got an idea about today's section of writing. I was half asleep at that time (it was 4:45am, what do you expect?), and now it doesn't sound like such a good idea as it did. But I'm not sure if that's because I don't remember the idea fully, or whether I was just coming up with bad ideas in the shower again.

My original plan for today had been for Devan to sneak out and go visit Yancy, Sili, and Zeoly, but now I'm not so sure. Yeah, it would be sweet of him, but I don't have anything that such a scene would accomplish in terms of the overall narrative. My early morning brainfart was for Devan to see someone in the hall as he went there, or in their room, watching them. Problem is, how would I explain that later on? It doesn't really fit with the motives of the shadowy figures. (I know them and you don't, so there.)

The problem is, none of Bryony's friends are important to her enemies yet, because Bryony's enemies don't yet need to do bad things to them in order to manipulate her. Only Gessica even considers them in her plans, and right now, it's in Gessica's best interest for them to just get well and go back to being normal.

So I think I may have to leave Devan's POV for now, short though it was, and start the next scene. I'll pick up with Bryony, I think. I have a general idea what the scene will be today, but I'm going to be figuring out quite a bit of it as I write.

--

I'm satisfied with the scene so far. I think it's contrasting nicely with Devan's experiences and with Bryony's experiences in the future. Which reminds me--in the next Devan POV, I believe he might just have a run in with a certain groundskeeper (not Willie), a man that Gideon will no doubt be looking for as well.

Now that today's section is over, I have a clearer idea of where I'm going to go tomorrow. I'm using this scene to get the protocol out of the way. It's such a huge part of the story, I have to address it, but I don't want that to be what I focus on when she's meeting the Patroness. She needs to have a level of comfort with it, and this scene gives it to her.

Also, the last time she had the sense of duality was in the last book, and I needed to bring it back this time. It's huge clue, and will come into play much later on. Not in this chapter, probably not in this book, but eventually.

Chapter 5 concludes tomorrow, and most likely I'll get to chapter 6.

Today's Total: 1,840 / 1,689 words (108.9%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 45,341 / 40,536 words (112.0%, 2.8 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 45,341 / 50,670 (89.5%)
Book 2 Est. Completion 20,699 / 84,450 words (24.5%, 38 days to go)
Est. Completion: 104,568 / 250,000 words (41.8%, 86 days to go)

Day Fifty-four - 102,728 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

There's one thing that I've noticed about my 1,689 word a day commitment--it never relaxes. Sure, I managed to cross the one hundred thousand word mark yesterday, but so what? Today, I still have another solid, workmanlike 1,689 to go. I guess they're called milestones for a reason. If you got to stop there, you'd call it a destination instead.

Keeping that steady pace every day definitely makes me move, but it also makes me worry. To continue the driving metaphor, I feel like in writing this story, I'm driving through fog. Sometimes it clears and I can see quite a way ahead. Sometimes the fog closes in, and I'm almost driving blind. But I keep up the same pace either way, and I'm afraid of going faster than my metaphorical headlights at times.

Because of that, I've made a decision. I'm quickly approach the end of my November goal, and I'm on pace to meet it a few days early again. Once I have finished out November, it will be time to set a December goal.

My original plan was to do another 52,347 words, since that worked so well in October. But I'm starting to think that I need to take a longer break. I've got lots of bits and pieces of story that I've left behind, and I need to start picking those up. But to do that, I need to get a much better handle on the story I've already told, and that means several days, perhaps even a couple of weeks, of work on things that aren't new composition.

So here's my plan. My goal for December will be to do a half month. Some days I will post new material, some days I won't. My goal will be 26,180 words, or just over half a month's worth. I think it's important that I continue to move forward with the writing, even as I go back and regroup. Unfortunately, work and other commitments won't allow me to effectively do both on the same day.

I'm going to make another commitment now, and since I have kept all my other commitments in writing since I started this, I feel confident that I will stick with it. Starting January 1st, I'm going to write all the way through to the end without a break except for a one day break between books 2 and 3. I should be completely finished in March.

That feels like a long way away, and it is. No matter how far I feel like I've come, I still haven't exceeded the halfway mark in the entire story, and that is a sobering though to consider about a project you've been working on literally every day for almost eight weeks.

Enough of that, on to the writing for today. I left off yesterday with our new friend Captain Gideon, as he is informed that the attackers have been captured. Is your plot twist alarm going off? It should be. You can never believe it when the bad guys are captured in Chapter 4.

--

The astute reader will recognize the reference to Carver, the alter ego of Lord Tynofast. Did he frame Jorgen and the others? That is certainly what we are being led to believe. We know that Tynofast has magic powers, although we do not know the extent of them. Spoiler alert! Tynofast wanted to give the official searchers a scapegoat so they would stop looking, thereby giving him free reign to continue the investigation without the real culprits thinking they were suspected. It doesn't work perfectly--Gideon will continue his investigations quietly too, and at some point, the two of them will encounter each other. That ought to be fun.

I'm not entirely sure where this subplot is going, just like I wasn't sure at first where I was going with Merona and the poisonous plant. That is a setup that will still payoff later on, but the part that I did in the first book established Merona's character and also brought her deeper into Gessica's confidence.

I had said before that Chapter Five would pick up with Bryony, but I don't think it will. Instead, I think it's time that Devan had his POV. Let's see what happens with that.

--

Oh, poor Devan. Is Mistress Gessica trying to drive a wedge between him and Bryony? Yeah, probably. Gessica would consider friends a weakness. They're people you tell secrets to, and she believes that to tell a secret is to give up power, and she hates giving up power. It's why she's powerful, and also why she's alone.

I look forward to developing Devan's relationship with Tristan. The question now becomes, how will I continue this chapter? I seem to have wrapped up Devan pretty well. Back to Bryony, or forge on ahead with Devan? Maybe the latter. He could go check on the others... yes, I like that. Tomorrow, he could sneak out of his room and check on Yancy, to see if she had heard from Bryony.

Okay, I have a plan, and I'll put it into place as Chapter 5 continues tomorrow.

Today's Total: 1,821 / 1,689 words (107.8%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 43,501 / 38,847 words (112.0%, 2.8 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 43,501 / 50,670 (85.9%)
Book 2 Est. Completion 18,859 / 84,450 words (22.3%, 39 days to go)
Est. Completion: 102,728 / 250,000 words (41.1%, 87 days to go)

Day Fifty-three - 100,907 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

I'm not there yet, but today I'm on track to bust through the 100k barrier. I would never have thought this possible six weeks ago. I think what surprises me the most is that I'm still not tired of writing. Sure, there are some days that I'm more enthused than others--yesterday was a low energy day for sure--but in general, I haven't had any problem motivating myself to get up and get the next 1,689 words out there.

I know I've said it before, but part of what has helped is doing my writing in the morning. I don't have a full day of work already wearing down on me, and my mind is still clear and fresh, for the most part. Plus, there's nothing like a café at 6am for feeling like you're the only one awake in the world.

I have a tough time writing at home, although I do so whenever I finish up a section in the evening. There are simply so many distractions at home. When I am out in the world, I only have the distraction of coffee (sweet, sweet coffee) and whatever I bring with me. In this case, it's my laptop, and once I'm done with Google Reader, all that's left is my blogs and my story.

Speaking of which, time to get started. I left off last night at the pivotal moment when Bryony was about to leave the market for the first time in her memory. I didn't feel capable of rendering that into prose last night--for that matter, I still don't, but at least I don't have the excuse of lack of sleep holding me back. Let's see what happens next.

--

I counted. The 100,000th word in the story is "Bryony." What are the chances?

--

My original plan was for the scene with Bryony and Merona to round out the chapter, but I didn't feel like it went quite long enough, or end with enough of a bang to round out the chapter. But I did have a brief scene with Gideon planned. I didn't quite manage to get through it today, but there's only a few hundred words left, and those will end chapter 4 early tomorrow.

I then have a decision to make about chapter 5--do I continue with Bryony or switch to Devan's POV? I think a switch to Devan will be best, because it allows me to catch up on Bryony's friends, advance the timeline while Bryony is on the road, and start up his subplot. It's about time he got a POV anyway. There's a huge major important scene near the climax of the book for which his POV will be super important.

By the way, I think I'm going to carry the two timelines throughout the entire novel. the earlier timeline is how Bryony went from a simple student to the heir and successor to the market. The later timeline is what she's doing with that position. Both timelines have a related climax, one that I can already tell you I'm going to have a hard time writing.

So chapter 4 concludes tomorrow, and chapter 5 begins!

Today's Total: 1,965 / 1,689 words (116.3%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 41,680 / 37,158 words (112.2%, 2.7 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 41,680 / 50,670 (82.3%)
Book 2 Est. Completion 17,038 / 84,450 words (20.2%, 40 days to go)
Est. Completion: 100,907 / 250,000 words (40.4%, 88 days to go)

Day Fifty-two - 98,942 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

So... sleepy....

Contrary to form, I hit the snooze alarm once this morning (horror!) before getting up. I mean, that's nine minutes I could have spent... well, I'm not quite sure what, but I'd have been awake, dammit!

Seriously, though, my coffee is not functioning properly, and if it weren't for the fact that I'm already at Panera, I would blow off writing entirely. Score one for momentum in actually getting me here this morning, and score two for the lack of any form of entertainment that would give me another reason to be here. (Bonus point for not bringing a mouse to reduce the temptation to play flash games on Newgrounds.)

It's days like this that I prefer to begin in the middle of a chapter, a far less difficult task. Starting a new chapter always involves a little bit of forethought and planning, something I did not do last night, and something which I don't feel capable of this morning. I'll plod along regardless, though.

Today, Bryony is on her way to visit the Patroness. It's her first time outside the market, that she remembers at least. She's going to feel some trepidation, which is only natural. I'm going to give her a lifeline when she gets there, but until then, I should focus on her sense of isolation--cut off from her friends, leaving the only world she's ever known, uncertain future, etc.

Man, I've been here thirty minutes and that's all I've managed? And I have to leave early, too. All right, time to start writing.

--

This may be the closest I've come to the 1,689 word minimum, but I'm so tired, and I don't think I can handled taking the conversation and the description out into the city. Better to tackle that when I'm better rested. Still, I like where the conversation with Merona went, and it's about to come to a head in a very satisfying way (for me), because it establishes something that I've planned since the beginning.

Chapter 4, therefore, continues tomorrow!

Today's Total: 1,695 / 1,689 words (100.4%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 39,715 / 35,469 words (112.0%, 2.5 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 39,715 / 50,670 (78.4%)
Book 2 Est. Completion 15,073 / 84,450 words (17.8%, 41 days to go)
Est. Completion: 98,942 / 250,000 words (39.6%, 89 days to go)

Day Fifty-one - 97,247 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

Since the LIWG meeting and board meeting are tonight, I'm going to have to push this morning, and at lunch today if necessary, to get my words in. Last weekend I managed to catch up by one day to make up for the Friday I took off. This weekend I need to make up a couple of days, because I have no idea what Thanksgiving is going to look like, and I want to get ahead if I can.

I wish I could come up with a better way of indicating my time jumps. This morning I thought about dividing it up with a page that says "Six years earlier," or "Six years later," all by itself, but in a way that's a crutch. I'm going to see if the changes are clear without something like that, which can always be added back in later.

Yesterday, we left Bryony as she was approach an island, although I have not yet named it. That was intentional, as I wanted to leave the name of the island for when she was greeted when she arrives. I'm afraid that today will be more new character introductions. I wouldn't mind this so much if it didn't mean having to come up with their names.

I hate coming up with names. I could come up with an entire backstory for a person before I managed to come up with a good name for them. I think it's because in general, I love names. I mean, of all the words that there are in the world, this is a word that means you. Names are awesome. So I never like to give a name casually.

All right, no more musing. Time to write.

--

Mistaking Bertie for Yancy was an inevitability in a place where prejudice against Islanders is extreme. Fiya probably won't approve of the interchange, but it was too priceless to leave out. I hate having to stop writing at this moment and go to work, because this whole scene is about to go in a completely unexpected direction, and I can't wait to get to it. But lunch is only a little more than four hours away, and I can wait if I must.

--

It's a cruel thing I did to end the chapter the way I did--especially because we're not going to return to that moment for several chapters. Is he dead? Alive? Who can say. To be honest, I haven't decided yet. I know that the scene which just occurred will serve the story either way.

Tomorrow, we begin chapter 4, in which Bryony goes for a visit in the country. The Patroness might make an appearance at the end of the chapter, too. We shall have to see. Regardless, she gets underway tomorrow!

Today's Total: 2,011 / 1,689 words (119.1%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 38,020 / 33,780 words (112.6%, 2.5 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 38,020 / 50,670 (75.0%)
Book 2 Est. Completion 13,378 / 84,450 words (15.8%, 42 days to go)
Est. Completion: 97,247 / 250,000 words (38.9%, 90 days to go)

Day Fifty - 95,236 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

Wow, fifty straight days of writing. I mean, I've already broken my personal record, but this just throws the record down on the ground and pees on it. And since I ought to hit the 100k mark this Saturday, well, it's looking like a good week for writing.

I'm going to take a brief look back and see what I've accomplished so far. In the prologue, I showed a glimpse of the future, where Bryony is in a position of some authority, but has other, mysterious goals. Then I picked up where the first book left off, and had Bryony make a deal of sorts with Gessica. Neither trusts the other, but there are no open hostilities.

I then go to two short scenes, one through the POV of Gideon, the captain of the market guard, and the other through Tynofast, whom we know as the personal magician of the Patroness. Both have the same goal--to identify Bryony's attackers. I thereby imply that neither party is responsible.

At this point, I have the choice to either skip ahead to the future again, or pick up with Bryony as she leaves to go to visit the Patroness. I think... the former. Yes, after two chapters, I need to revisit the other time frame if I'm going to at all.

--

It's coming slow today. I got stalled around 300 words, and by the time I got started again, it was time to go to work. So I'm left with another 1,000 to try to get through at lunch. Tonight I've got a bowling night, which I'd like to go to if possible. There just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything, even when you get up at 4:30am.

--

And as it turns out, I got nothing done at lunch, so it's evening again. But the good news is that I got a great idea for how to end this chapter, though you won't see that until tomorrow.

Bertie is one of those characters made necessary by the plot, but I tried to make her interesting, with a backstory of her own and a distinctive manner of speech. I may give her a larger part to play at some point, but regardless, I think it's better to have an interesting character than a nameless backdrop.

I like the wordplay with Fiya. Neither she nor Bryony quite knows how much the other knows, and neither wants to give an inch. They can't help needling each other sometimes, but both are aware of propriety, and do not want to go overboard with anything. It makes for an interesting dynamic.

One of the challenges is going to be switching between mature Bryony and teenage Bryony. She's done a lot of growing over the six years that have passed, so I'll want to make sure that the difference is clear, but that they differences grow less as I cover that six year span.

Interesting stuff is about to happen later in chapter 3. It continues tomorrow!

Today's Total: 1,776 / 1,689 words (105.2%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 36,009 / 32,091 words (112.2%, 2.3 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 36,009 / 50,670 (71.1%)
Book 2 Est. Completion 11,367 / 84,450 words (13.5%, 43 days to go)
Est. Completion: 95,236 / 250,000 words (38.1%, 92 days to go)

Day Forty-nine - 93,460 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

At this point, I'm sort of in the same position I was yesterday. I've got upcoming scenes that I want to get to, but I'm not quite sure how best to get to them.

If this were a film, I'd have a brief shot of Bryony looking around her empty room... all of her friends are gone. In five seconds, I could establish that loneliness. In a novel, though, it doesn't work out quite so well. I would have to have a scene with a clearly defined beginning, middle, and end, and a hook onto the next section. I could do that, perhaps, with some thought, but it would still feel like filler to me.

Problem is, I don't really want to continue with Gideon right now, since I left him with a such a great hook at the end. And I don't want to end the chapter there. I've already stated my reasons for not switching to Merona's or Devan's POV. So, where does that leave me?

One answer is another new POV, but I don't really like that thought either. There are no candidates out there... or are there? What about Tynofast? I want to make sure that the first time we meet the Patroness it's through Bryony's POV, but I don't have to have Tynofast get all the way out to the country. On the contrary, he wouldn't have that much time.

So, where could he go? What would the purpose of such a POV be? The big, meta-purpose is to have someone to be our eyes and ears with the Patroness when Bryony is not around, just like Merona was for Gessica. But to be effective in a novel, he'll have to have a more immediate purpose too, and this scene is my opportunity to set that up.

An investigation of his own... yes, he also wants to know who attacked Bryony, because the Patroness does too. The Patroness takes it personally. All right, there we go. I have my direction for moving forward now. And it will bookend nicely with Gideon's part of the chapter--they're working toward the same goal, if in different ways.

Time to write! Let's see what happens.

--

Tynofast's POV is allowing me to explore something that I think is good to introduce at this point--the origins of the market. There has been a structure on the site for hundreds upon hundreds of years, and its purpose was not always to sell things. What that original purpose is will become apparent in time, but for now, it is enough to establish that the surface and currently inhabited areas are only the tip of the iceberg.

Oh, and did you catch that reference to the lowmen? Yeah, we'll be getting more of that later.

I'm really, really glad I wrote this chapter. I understand Tynofast a lot better than I did before, and as he will be rising in importance as time goes on, I think that's a good thing.

Chapter 3 picks up tomorrow, and we're back to Bryony. See you then!

Today's Total: 1,917 / 1,689 words (113.5%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 34,233 / 30,402 words (112.6%, 2.3 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 34,233 / 50,670 (67.6%)
Book 2 Est. Completion 9,591 / 84,450 words (11.4%, 44 days to go)
Est. Completion: 93,460 / 250,000 words (37.4%, 93 days to go)

Day Forty-eight - 91,543 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

Shhhhh... do you hear that? It's the sound of not knowing where to go next.

Don't get me wrong, I have dozens of scenes for the future of this novel mapped out, but there's no really good, vital scene for me to write right now that would connect them. So I'm left with a couple of choices. One is to writing a lame connective scene to get me where I want to go, and just revise it into something better later. I've done that before, and invariably it's the hardest kind of writing to slog through, and I feel dirty after I'm done.

The other option is to put in some thought right now and write a scene that is vital to the plot. But doing that would mean restructuring the plot somewhat, and might bring down the house of cards I've set up for later in the book.

The choice is clear. I've got to try to make today's scene worthwhile, even if it means rethinking everything that happens later. So what can I do here? I can switch to another POV. Devan is still recuperating, so his POV would be dull right now. Merona has nothing really to do right now either, and anyway, we're going to be seeing more of her almost immediately, as soon as Bryony gets on the road to visit the Patroness.

How about other POVs? I have to be careful here, because I made a decision early on that, except for the brief Lowell POV in the prologue, I wasn't going to do any one-shot POVs. So if I choose another character to do a POV for here, I'm going to want to carry it through the whole book.

As I've been typing this, the answer has started to seep from by subconscious into my conscious mind. Who attacked Bryony? The reader doesn't know, but at some point, I'm going to want the reader to know. So how will I convey that information? I could just have Gessica tell Bryony the results, but what if I don't want Bryony to know yet, but I want the reader to?

For that, I'll need someone who's actually conducting the investigation... Gideon, in other words. It's funny, but I hadn't intended him to be a POV character, but the more I think about it, the more I'd like to explore his voice. The same thing happened with Merona... she went from a minor character whose POV I used out of convenience and became a driving force behind a subplot of her own, and a great perspective on Gessica. It let me keep Gessica in the story when Bryony wasn't around.

With Gideon, I'll be able to keep the market in the story at a time when Bryony isn't there... in either timeline. I'll get to see it from a different perspective as well. I've introduced several characters in the guard, including Lowell, Tonio, and Tagget (and Rondel, remember him?), who can now rise to greater importance.

So is it decided? Chapter 2 is now officially a Gideon POV. And I think I know where it's going, too. It won't mess up my later chapters--in fact, it will probably strengthen them. Okay, let's try it.

--

I like the Gideon chapter, and I like his voice. Tomorrow, I'll have to decide whether to continue with it, or pick up with Bryony. Either way, it will be the end of chapter 2, and it starts tomorrow.

Today's Total: 1,754 / 1,689 words (103.8%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 32,316 / 28,713 words (112.5%, 2.1 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 32,316 / 50,670 (63.8%)
Book 2 Est. Completion 7,674 / 84,450 words (9.1%, 45 days to go)
Est. Completion: 91,543 / 250,000 words (36.6%, 94 days to go)

Day Forty-seven - 89,789 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

It's always more difficult to motivate myself to write in the evenings--it's why I prefer to write in the mornings, when I'm fresh and my new Kids in the Hall DVDs aren't quite so enticing. (It's not all wasted time in front of the television--I'm also making a scarf for a coworker's Christmas present at the same time. After three episodes, I've got eight inches made, so I'll probably finish around the end of the season.)

There's something a little intimidating about starting over with a page count of zero. That's why I've kept my running word count above cumulative for this entire project, instead of restarting it. In a very real sense, this is all one large story, and it won't really be finished until the end of the third book. So there's no point in believing that I'm starting over in any sense. Still, I'm only up to page 11 in the file I'm saving it into... I got used to being up in the 200s!

I just reread this morning's section. Bryony was being a little bitch! I like it. It's a side of her character we didn't really see yet. She spent most of her time in the first book reacting to the people around her. Now she's got friends to think of, and that has given her a reason to be more proactive.

--

Well, now that I've finished the drafting for today, I see that I didn't have to worry about low motivation at night. The Gessica/Bryony scenes always get me going, and today is no exception. I ran nearly 30% over my word count target, and managed to close out chapter 1 as a result. Tomorrow, I will be left with the task of figuring out where to go next, either back to the future/present, or to remain in the present/past. I'm not going to say either way right now... you'll find out when chapter 2 starts tomorrow!

Today's Total: 2,181 / 1,689 words (129.1%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 30,562 / 27,024 words (113.1%, 2.1 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 30,562 / 50,670 (56.0%)
Book 2 Est. Completion 5,920 / 84,450 words (7.0%, 46 days to go)
Est. Completion: 89,789 / 250,000 words (35.9%, 95 days to go)

Day Forty-six - 87,608 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

I had a late last night, so the 10am release probably won't be on time. You'll never know, though. It's not like you're up this early, and I'm going to set the posting time at 10am no matter what. I'm all about revisionist history, as long as I'm up front about it.

As I implied yesterday, the trickiest part about today is going to be the transition from present to past, or from future to present, depending on your point of view. I need to make it apparent from the very start so that the reader gets used to the idea of a story occurring in two different eras. I've already established a different setting, so when all of a sudden we're back in the market, and Bryony's still injured, the reader will hopefully get the idea that we're picking up where the last novel left off.

There is a certain amount of parallel structure between the beginning of this novel and the first. It is mostly intentional, although I did not realize how similar they were until I started actually drafting the chapters. The good thing about parallelism is that it provides a clear narrative thread, and also gives the reader a chance to contrast the present situation with the past one. What is interesting about Bryony awakening from her injuries this time is how it is different to last time, now how it is the same.

One of those contrasts is her anger. In the last book, she awoke as a highborn and was the soul of politeness and modesty. Now, she awakes as a middling, and behaves in a haughty and high-handed manner. She's angry and not inclined to be fair.

Gideon was a late addition, but I think his character will be important later on. Spoiler alert! He's the captain of the guard. Gessica does not (at this point) know who attacked Bryony, or if they're likely to do so again. She trusts Gideon implicitly, and he is the only person that she trusts to guard Bryony right now.

Chapter one continues... today. Then I'll be caught up, and the normal 10pm update schedule will continue.

Today's Total: 1,769 / 1,689 words (104.7%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 28,381 / 27,024 words (105.0%, 0.8 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 28,381 / 50,670 (56.0%)
Book 2 Est. Completion 3,739 / 84,450 words (4.4%, 48 days to go)
Est. Completion: 87,608 / 250,000 words (35.0%, 96 days to go)

Day Forty-five - 85,839 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

They're just sitting and watching the rain. Why won't they leave my table?!?

I must be a creature of habit, because the loss of my favorite table has hobbled me this morning. Instead of immediately launching into writing, I've spent the last half an hour rewriting the macro that I use to update my statistics down there. Yes, I wrote a VBA script in Excel to same me the trouble of doing it all with a calculator. I'm such a nerd.

Of course, maybe it has something to do with the fact that I didn't write anything yesterday. Sure, I did a bunch of outlining, but what of that? It's not word count, and word count is the goal these days.

Good... they're leaving. Slowly, but surely. Come on, put on your coats... that's it... no, stop talking about your grandkids, they're not here. Clean up your trash.... free!

Oh, that's better. Now I can write.

But what shall I write? Biggest question to start with is whether I should begin with a prologue, or just launch into Chapter 1. It all depends on which tactic I plan to use. I decided that I wanted to structure this novel, or at least the early chapters of it, through flashbacks. In other words, the story picks up several years after the last one ended, and the reader isn't sure of what happened during that time. In fact, part of the mystery is going to be how Bryony and our other characters wound up where they are in the future.

I'm going to flashback to the time that the last novel ended, do some scenes there, and then return to the future. I'll need a way of distinguishing them, so I decided that a different setting would serve that purpose. You'll see what I mean at the end of the first scene.

Okay, so if I were to structure the opening scene as a prologue, it would make less sense to return to that time period later. Doing it as chapter 1 makes more sense. That's what I will do.

Now I'm excited about getting started. More on the flip side of writing.

--

I am free to change my mind, of course. And by the time I finished the opening section, I decided it was a prologue after all. So there.

I like it. I think it sets up the book pretty well, and allows me to jump time periods however I like. The trickiest part will be the transitions, to make sure the reader can follow the timeline, but I think I can manage that.

So, chapter 1 starts tomorrow, and tomorrow morning at that! Remember, I've committed to a 10am and a 10pm release tomorrow, so we may just see the end of chapter 1 too.

Today's Total: 1,970 / 1,689 words (116.6%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 26,612 / 25,335 words (105.0%, 0.8 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 26,612 / 50,670 (52.5%)
Book 2 Est. Completion 1,970 / 84,450 words (2.3%, 49 days to go)
Est. Completion: 85,839 / 250,000 words (34.3%, 97 days to go)

Bryony's Market - Part One Wrapup

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

Check out my total down there. No progress today. And I'm still a day ahead, ha!

Of course, it's not fair to say that I've had no progress today. I'm about to embark on the second part of this story, and the time has come to do a bit of outlining and organizing. Now, I've pretty much been making stuff up as I go along up until now, and I plan to keep up with that writing method. Hey, it's paid off so far.

But all along, I've known what scenes there were to write. I simply didn't turn away from any additional scenes along the way that I hadn't planned to write. Fully 90% of the first section of this story was planned in advance--I just didn't necessarily know where it was going to go in the narrative, or exactly how I would write it when I got to it.

I think you can get away with that more easily at the beginning of a story. If I want to add on a new thread, I can do so without immediate repercussion. But in the middle of a story, I want to concentrate on those threads that I've already established without adding many more. And in the conclusion, I'll want to start tying them off. In fact, I'm going to go on the record right now as saying that when I finish Part 2, I'll probably take two days off for outlining.

I'm limiting myself to one day of outlining this time because I don't want to overthink what's coming up. My goals are to look at the scenes that are left to write, and divided them up between Parts 2 and 3. Then I want to arrange the Part 2 scenes into general arcs, and at least get the first of those arcs pinned down.

Another big task is to spell out the plot threads I've left hanging in the first section, big and small. I'll want to note for each scene how I intend to advance those plots threads.

Finally, the ending. I already have in mind how I'm going to end this part of the story, and damn, I can't wait to write it. It will be heartwrenching.

Another new thing for this part is the character of Devan, who will be getting his own POV chapters. I decided I couldn't tell the story I want to tell without it. The trick will be not duplicating ground I've already covered with Bryony, but I think I'll manage it. And it should serve the purpose of introducing more male characters into the story. So far, we've only seen Devan as he relates to Bryony, and I want to develop him a bit more fully. Percentage-wise, he'll get more POV time than Merona, but less than Bryony, who is still the main character.

As for Merona, I don't know if she will continue to have POV sections or not. Those parts served a definite purpose by letting us in on information we would not otherwise have gotten. But for reasons that will become apparent, that restriction is no longer valid. I guess if the writing requires her POV, I'll use it; otherwise, I won't feel obligated to.

Finally, one more note: I've been calling what I've finished so far "Part 1," but I've become convinced that it's really Book 1. I don't know how (or if) this story would be published, but 83,869 words is a good length for a novel. Formatted into a standard hardcover format, it would be 280-350 pages as is, without any revision. My guess is that my first revision will reduce my word count to around 75,000, but that subsequent revision will push it up into the 85-90k range.

(By the way, did you notice that I hit the 33.3% mark at the same time I concluded part 1 of 3? Makes it look like a total word count of 250k is right on the money.)

With that in mind, I'm not going to start tomorrow with Chapter 22, but rather with Book 2, Chapter 1... or maybe a prologue. Although I know what my opening scene is and could technically start it today, I don't know precisely where I'm going after that, and I'd rather wait until I can get the flow going and not stop.

What will this mean? Well, I need to come up with names for these books, and for the series. Bryony's Market has always been only a working title. I had thought of the Market Eldercroft Trilogy for the series as a whole. For the individual novels, Set Middling, Brought Low, and Among the High were bopping around in my head last night. Bryony's Awakening, Bryony's License, and Bryony's Market was another set of possibilities. Or I could full Harry Potter and call the first story Bryony and the Philosopher's Mark. What would the second one be, Bryony and the Market of Secrets, followed by Bryony and the Prisoner of Shazbot?

Honestly, I'm very glad to be moving on to the next major section of the story, because all Harry Potter parallels should be officially over. Bryony will be eighteen. She has come of age, and has an actual position within the Market. She has both extra freedom and extra responsibility, and those will change the story structure significantly.

I keep getting stuck on the name of the first book. The Middling Mark? The Girl in the Snow? This Little Girl Went to Market? (Okay, I need more coffee.) I'm trying desperately to avoid the fantasy cliché of titles like X of the Y. There is way, way too much of that stuff in fantasy titles. Look at Jordan: The Eye of the World, The Lord of Chaos, Path of Daggers, The Fires of Heaven, A Crown of Swords, Knife of Dreams, Crossroads of Twilight, A Memory of Light... the list would go on, except that's all of his titles that fit that mold. He's not the only offender: George R.R. Martin, Terry Goodkind, Terry Brooks, all the modern fantasy guys do it. Sure, Tolkien may have started it with The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King, but he started a lot of things. Doesn't mean you have to keep doing it the same way.

So, enough rumination. I've got outlining to do. Book 2 starts tomorrow!

Today's Total: 0 / 1,689 words (0.0%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 24,642 / 23,646 words (104.2%, 0.6 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 24,642 / 50,670 (48.6%)
Est. Completion: 83,869 / 250,000 words (33.5%, 98 days to go)

Day Forty-four - 83,869 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

Today will be an interesting experiment--how to write while sick. Headache, sore throat, stuffy nose, etc. I'm tempted to give all my characters headaches, just out of spite, but I will refrain. No one deserves a headache.

Can you believe it? Today, then tomorrow, and we're done with Part 1. I have to say, I expected this material to be covered within the first 20,000 words, but things don't always work out like that. In fact, it wasn't until about halfway through October that I realized I wouldn't finish within the month, and that I had bitten off a far larger project that I had intended.

As I said, Part 1 will be finished on Friday. I am thinking about taking Saturday off. GASP! It's not for sure, and if I can accomplish what I want in the morning and still write in the afternoon, I'll do that, and there will be no apparent gap. But I feel like I need to regroup and get started with Part 2 in the right direction, and that may be worth a day off to do. If I can avoid it I will, but just don't be surprised. Either way, I'll post on this blog to let you know the status.

If you're wondering about how time is measured, it's done by "bells." First bell is 8am, second bell is noon, third bell is 4pm, fourth bell is 8pm, fifth bell is midnight, and sixth bell is 4am. Only the first four are actually rung, however. To make things more confusing, there is the dawn bell, rung at dawn, and the morning bells, which take the place of alarm clocks. There is no specific "dusk" bell, but there are bells for first, second, and third curfew which take place at 9pm, 10pm, and 11pm.

Time is measured by the hour with phrases like "quarter past second," "half past third," etc. Each "quarter" represents an hour. There is rarely a need to indicate time more exactly than that, but it can be done with phrases like "fifteen minutes before quarter 'til second bell." That would translated to 10:45am. (Second bell is 12pm, quarter 'til second is 11am, fifteen minutes before that is 10:45am.)

Different crafts also have different minor bells that are run throughout the day, and form the pattern of life within that craft. These can have different names in different crafts, even when they are rung at the same time. For that matter, they do not always use literal bells to indicate the time. Pretty much, I'm trying to indicate a system that has developed over the years in a very non-standard way, and fits the needs of the community it serves.

--

Looks like I miscalculated... chapter 21, and with it Part 1 of the story, are finishing up today! That means that tomorrow will be my day off, unless I manage to write some tomorrow night. Since I've got the weekend coming up, though, I think I may double up to make up lost time on Saturday and Sunday. You heard it here--no Friday at 1opm, but there will be a Saturday 1opm, Sunday 10am, and Sunday 10pm to make up for lost time. All day Friday and Saturday morning will be dedicated to drawing up some preliminary outlines for Part 2.

After that ending, you're not going to like me very much, I'm guessing. But it was necessary to establish the tension that drives us through the first section of Part 2. And come on, you're saying that you didn't expect a cliffhanger ending at the end of an entire third of the book? Give me a break.

So tomorrow... nothing much happens, as far as you're concerned. But Saturday, Part 2 and Chapter 22 both begin!

Today's Total: 2,231 / 1,689 words (132.1%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 24,642 / 21,957 words (112.2%, 1.6 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 24,642 / 50,670 (48.6%)
Est. Completion: 83,869 / 250,000 words (33.5%, 98 days to go)

Day Forty-three - 81,638 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

It was a mean and dirty trick I pulled yesterday, and I should feel bad, but I don't, I really don't. I think it was the right choice to draw out the resolution of that tension closer to the end of the chapter, and by telling the events somewhat out of order, I managed that. The ending of the chapter is a happy one, and so is the start of the next one. All I can say is, beware when things look like they're going too well.

I'm inventing freely in the early part of this scene, having never borne witness to teenage girls getting themselves ready for a dance. In such circumstances, I try to use what I know of human nature and extrapolate, while not falling prey to cliché or stereotype. Wish me luck in that.

Still, that's part of what makes this project all the more interesting to me, because it's forcing me to write outside of what I know. Yes, the writing cliché is "write what you know," but I think sometimes writing can be a way of learning about people in ways you couldn't otherwise. I'm going to try to maintain a healthy sense of doubt about the realism in my scenes, and try to make sure that upon revision, they become more accurate.

I'm trying to base the clothing styles on the Victorian era, since that age mirrors (in part) the thinking of the society in the story--mostly their thinking about technology, and the pride in Empire, plus the stereotypes against other ethnic groups. The structure of society is far more medieval, with a very defined feudal system among both the highborn and the middling.

In essence, I tried to predict how a feudal system could be maintained if there were magic to enforce it. The idea is that when feudalism began to naturally wane, it was propped up in increasingly strict ways by magic, creating actual physical distinctions among the ruling class, the middle class, and the laboring class. And so the class mentality is medieval, but attitudes toward science, culture, and progress are all very Victorian.

I think I figured out a good way to handle the confrontation with Kalocia. I'm stopping in the middle of it, but that confrontation, as well as chapter 21, will continue tomorrow.

Today's Total: 1,889 / 1,689 words (111.8%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 22,411 / 20,268 words (110.6%, 1.3 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 22,411 / 50,670 (43.2%)
Est. Completion: 81,638 / 250,000 words (32.7%, 100 days to go)

Day Forty-two - 79,749 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

So that was a bit of a cliffhanger ending yesterday--a little more interesting than the previous day's stopping place, though it won't have satisfied anyone who wanted to know the result of the testing. I am almost certain we will arrive at that today, though if Mortiver gets long-winded... nah, just kidding. It'll wrap up today, and might even make a start into chapter 21, though I don't know for sure.

I had always planned for the mask to be a little talkative, but it didn't really have a personality or an identity other than itself. But as the magic system developed and the throw-away reference to the Philosopher Duke emerged... well, I put two and two together and this is the result. I like it.

My guess is that you're going to hate me, since I didn't get around to revealing her mark even now. Well, I did describe it, and if you've been reading carefully you should have recognized it. But I did not name it, and I won't until I get the scene with Yancy. That is happening first thing tomorrow, so you can rest easily. I'm not trying to draw it out, not really, it's just that it worked out in the narrative line to delay a little longer.

Chapter 20 will definitely conclude tomorrow, and I'll begin on chapter 21. Either 21 or 22 will end Book 1. But not to worry--Book 2 will start up the next day.

Today's Total: 1,839 / 1,689 words (108.9%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 20,522 / 18,579 words (110.5%, 1.2 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 20,522 / 50,670 (40.5%)
Est. Completion: 79,749 / 250,000 words (31.9%, 101 days to go)

Day Forty-one - 77,910 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

So I had really not planned initially for Yancy's race to be an issue. But with the Victorian-era mentality I've been trying to establish, anyone who deviates from the norm would be looked down on. In case you're wondering, I imagine Yancy to look vaguely Sri Lankan--dark skin, but Caucasian features. You can visualize her however you like, but when it comes time to cast the movie, I'll try to have my say.

I kind of left things in the middle yesterday, but I knew I would run way over my 1,689 words if I finished out the chapter. Don't worry... I actually did finish it out, and just saved it for today's release. Is that cheating? I'm gonna say yes, but that I don't care, especially since I still went nearly 100 words over. And now I can start fresh with Chapter 20 today.

Never have I been more reluctant to stop writing and go to work. I'm right in the middle of things! It's exciting! And I want to keep writing! And perhaps I will this evening, but I'm afraid that what I've done up until now is all you'll get today. If I have to be patient, you do too. Chapter 20 continues tomorrow.

Today's Total: 1,708 / 1,689 words (101.1%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 18.683 / 16,890 words (110.6%, 1.1 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 18,683 / 50,670 (36.9%)
Est. Completion: 77,910 / 250,000 words (31.2%, 102 days to go)

Day Forty - 76,202 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

Today is my fortieth straight day of writing... well, if I ignore the two forced absences I had in October. (And since I still had new material to post on those days, I feel perfectly inclined to ignore them, so there, ha.) It's as if I gave up laziness for Lent or something.

I used to wonder how authors could manage to put out two or three books a year, and now I'm starting to understand. Let's pretend I didn't have a day job. I could easily double my daily output. Let's call it a target of 3,000 words to make a round number.

Your traditional big chunky fantasy novels are on average about 300,000 words. (They could be as little as 150,000 or as much as 600,000, but I'll just say 300,000 is a good middle range.) If I did nothing other than write first drafts, I could crank out three of them a year and have 65 days left over. If I spent a few hours in the afternoons to edit, and filled up the other 65 days with revisions as well (plus a holiday or two, what the hell), that's a solid three finished novels per annum. So that must be how Stephen King does it.

There are a lot of assumptions in those calculations--first, that the revisions won't take that long. I have no such illusions about my own writing. Indeed, I would expect the revisions to take as long if not longer than the first draft. To use a painting metaphor, the first draft is when you block out all the colors, but the fine detail work comes later on. An experienced author can probably work more of that detail into the first draft, but for a newbie such as myself, it would be arrogance to assume I could do the same.

By the way, this is not really my first novel. Back in 8th grade I wrote one called Space and Beyond, which I very nearly finished. I never counted the words, but it was over a hundred handwritten pages, which isn't bad for a thirteen-year-old.

Then in high school I wrote my first completed novel, The Happy Wars Saga. (I was an experimental youth.) The word count was just over 70,000, 222 pages. I broke those records just the other day with this novel.

My writing petered out in college, but in graduate school I restarted it with Floorcraft, which began as a series of short stories. I finished five of a planned eight, and made a good start on the sixth. The first five run to 46,013 words total, and the sixth was already up to 5,000 plus. It's not finished, but I hope that some day it will be.

I'm not even going to count Dairhenien's Library, which never got past chapter 1 in any of its incarnations. Remember when I said that my writing petered out in college? Well, most of my writing time during those years was spent developing Dairhenien's Library, even though I never made a start on writing it. I plan to change that at some point in the not-too-distant future.

So for all intents and purposes, Bryony's Market is my fourth novel, and will be the second I've completed (assuming I complete it). In a way, that's a bit of a relief. You know what they always say about first novels, how they get shoved into a drawer and never published, how it's a good place to get all of the mistakes out of the way before working on future projects. But you see, I really like this story, and I think it has a good chance of (eventually) getting published. It's much easier to motivate myself to write it if I know that it's not the literary equivalent of clearing my throat before doing something else.

My last word on this subject (for today) is this--I sincerely hope that this novel is not the best I will ever accomplish. I would be perfectly happy for Bryony's Market to be considered a decent first novel, if inferior to my later works. Yes, that would be just fine.

But before I can manage that, I should probably, you know, finish this one. And that means another 1,689 words today. And since I'm picking up with Bryony, it might not be a bad idea to go back and check out what last happened in her world.

So we left off at the coolness that set in between her and Devan. Of course Devan doesn't realize that Bryony wasn't really upset with him. He's feeling hurt because he was just trying to help, and she shut him down. And Bryony's upset because when she did offer to let him help, he shut her down. Ah, miscommunication. What would we do without you to drive our plots?

Now, I know what's going to really drive the next scene, but I need to get there cleverly. So what do I need to cover before Bryony gets snatched away for her testing? I'd like to end the chapter on that, if possible. And after that, things are going to start getting pretty intense for the rest of Part 1, so I need to tie up any loose ends now, before I start.

(Kind of like in Final Fantasy VIII, how you have to go around and complete all the optional quests before time gets compressed? Yeah, I'm a geek.)

Once again, I've got some exposition to get through. How about handling it through a game? I'm just picturing the four of them sitting around a table playing cards or something like that to pass the time. Yeah, that's a good idea, because it's something I can establish as a pattern later on, a reason for them all to get together.

Okay, if I'm going to invent a game, I need to put in a little bit of creativity here. What sort of deck is it played on? Our typical 52/54 card deck is really a simplification of the 78 card tarot deck, which is a lot more interesting, so it could be played off of something like that. Tarock is the Germanic version of the name, so I could adapt it off of that.

Oooh, the Joker or Fool is also called the Excuse. Good name.

Now, cards are usually based off of the nobility. So instead of the Major Arcana (the trump cards), I'll call it the Imperial Court. Emperor, Empress, Son-and-Heir, Daughter-Imperatrix, Magician Rex, Lord High Vigor, Lord High Treasurer, and so on.

For the suits, I would use the four historical duchies. Each has a coat of arms, of course. Lions... (tigers, bears, oh my?). Lions, shields, swords, coins, serpents, staves, suns, moons... man, this is sounding like a box of Lucky Charms. I don't have to worry so much about making the suits easily symbolized, since the written language is logographic. (Like Chinese, if you're wondering... pictures to represent a word, or such like.)

Let's do swords, shields, coins and staves. You've got the court cards, of which there are twenty-one. In each suit, there are fourteen cards. Duke, duchess, wizard, and knight are the minor court, and the numbered cards are called the suit middling. The ace can trump the king or count as a one, depending on how it is played. When the ace is reduced from high to low, it is "set middling."

14 times 4 plus 21 gives us 77. But, you say, there should be 78 cards in the Tarot! Well, we're forgetting the Fool. I'm going to call that card the Low Man. He's a figure in a black mask. I'm going to base the game on French tarot. The more I look at it, the more interesting it looks to be to play. I'll have to learn it at some point.

But I'm getting distracted from the point, though, which is to have some action going while the exposition takes place. So what exposition? I need to mention Lillian one more time, hit on Kalocia, then account for Keoly and Sili at the dance. Okay, I've been here for an hour without writing a single word of narrative. Time to really begin.

--

The chapter is running long. I cut the scene off at a less than perfect place, but the chapter will finish up tomorrow, and I'll start onto 20. Oh, things are really moving now. You can't see it, but I'm rubbing my hands together and cackling.

Not sure how far I'll get tomorrow, but there ought to be some big reveals over the next couple of days. Hope you enjoy them!

Today's Total: 1,782 / 1,689 words (105.5%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 16,975 / 15,201 words (111.7%, 1.1 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 16,975 / 50,670 (33.5%)
Est. Completion: 76,202 / 250,000 words (30.5%, 103 days to go)

Day Thirty-nine - 74,420 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

I really got into the flow last night, doing 300+ more words than my goal. That doesn't mean I can slack off today, though. The counter resets every day. That's the rule.

Not that I think I'll have a tough time writing today. I've been looking forward to doing this confrontation between Merona and Gessica, and now I finally get to. The stuff that led up to it yesterday was a last minute idea, but damn, how creepy would that be to find a letter to you in a book you didn't even know you were going to find?

Will this scene take the entire chapter? I'm thinking no, although I'll probably conclude the scene with today's writing. The end of it (as it's currently planned... ask me again in an hour or two) will lead nicely into Bryony's next scene, and the chapter should conclude with a nice little scary moment.

So, without any further ado, let's get over to Merona and find out what she's thinking.

--

Well, I think that went pretty well. I would like to go over this scene later and improve it, but it serves, it serves. It sets up the next scene and drives the Merona side of the plot for the next section of the book.

Chapter 19 continues tomorrow with more Bryony stuff.

Today's Total: 2,146 / 1,689 words (127.1%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 15,193 / 13,512 words (112.4%, 1.0 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 15,193 / 50,670 (30.0%)
Est. Completion: 74,420 / 250,000 words (29.8%, 104 days to go)

Day Thirty-eight - 72,274 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

Internet has been restored to Panera. Our long national nightmare is over.

Yesterday, I said that I still needed to work out my timeline going forward, and said that no doubt I would have plenty of time to decide on that before starting today. Yeah. How did that work out for me? About as well as you'd expect; that is, not at all.

The Long Island Writers' Guild met last night, which absorbed most of my evening. So that means that the decision about how to proceed must come now.

There are several things that I need to establish right now. First, Bryony needs to figure out what to do next in the search for her past. She now knows as much as the reader does. The question is, where does she go from here?

To me, the natural question is to try to find out whatever happened to the clothes she was wearing when she came in, and if there was anything else with her other than that. But who can she ask? Gessica and Merona aren't telling. Elma is one idea, although as it happens, she was only called a couple of days later, so she never saw Bryony in her original attire.

Huh. Looks like I've written myself in to a dead end as far as that is concerned--at least, with the tools that Bryony currently has at her disposal. Later, she might be able to pick up the trail, but not now.

So now what? The great adventure I promised is only justified by a search for those articles, but since they don't know where to look, they can't go? So I'm left with two possibilities--a secondary justification, or a delay in tht scene.

The problem is, there is no secondary justification that would ring true right now. It has to be for the sake of something that Bryony wants very much, and at the moment, there's nothing else she really wants other than to find out about her past--and even that, she's unsure of. If I threatened one of her friends, then that would work, but I can't see that Yancy, Sili, or Zeoly would really be in that much trouble, much less Elma, and those are the only people she would do it for. (Other than Devan, of course, but he's out of the running because she would need his help.)

What about a delay? Yeah, I could manage that later on without a problem. It's the now that worries me. I'm suddenly left without a climax for the end of part 1, and that's no good. I would have to install an alternative climax.

Well, what threads have I left out there that I could weave into a climax? Something about magic, perhaps? Some kind of maltreatment of Yancy? Why not both of those?

Actually, yes, this could work. I've already set up that Kalocia has a reason to hate Bryony, and she already looked down on Yancy. Revenge is not beyond her. I also established that Jorgen is her boy toy, and he probably has influence of his own. I even have a setting--the Razor would be perfect, as long as it's at a time when there's not many people around.

So, what form would the magic take? Nothing controlled, I think. A burst that knocks everyone over, I think, knocks them out. Yancy is already knocked out, so she doesn't see what happened. She can find out later.

Okay, so that's a decent climax. But that brings me back to my timeline. When is this going to happen? The events I have left are the attack, the dance, and the testing. I had originally planned for the testing to be the coda of the whole thing, but now I think it might need to come earlier.

In fact... yes, I'm liking this. Bryony turns 14, and she is immediately pulled away for testing. I need a scene before that where Merona and Gessica talk about it. In fact, that should probably be what I write today. I just need to decide if there's anything left to wrap up with Devan and Bryony first.

Following immediately on that scene is Bryony's testing from her POV, and the outcome. Let's say it's the day before the big dance, or even the day of... yes, I like it being on Cleaning Day itself. She gets called out in the morning, and doesn't get back until almost everyone else is already at the dance. Yancy was waiting for her... Devan too? Yeah, I think so. Sili and Zeoly already left.

So they head to the dance and Bryony has a grand entrance. I'll have to build up rumors about her before that point. She gets there, and in a very short time there's a scene. Now people know she was highborn, and they see her new mark. Disregard suddenly turns to reverence, and she finds herself oohed and aahed over.

Cut to her way home, and the attack happens. Cut to black, end of part 1.

--

Now, on to today. I went ahead and concluded the scene with Devan and Bryony. My original plan was to end chapter 18 here, but instead, I think I'll do a half chapter of Merona POV. She and Gessica have a lot to discuss.

For that, it seems, we shall have to wait. I don't know if we'll pick up with Merona tomorrow, but I expect that we will. Either way, Chapter 19 begins tomorrow!

Today's Total: 2,050 / 1,689 words (121.4%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 13,047 / 11,823 words (110.4%, 0.7 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 13,047 / 50,670 (25.7%)
Est. Completion: 72,274 / 250,000 words (28.9%, 105 days to go)

Day Thirty-seven - 70,224 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

Day four of no internet at Panera. See, this is the reason I voted for Obama... we need to fix what's broken in our cafés and coffee shops. It's time for some real change.

Although I keep an offline version of my novel itself (which runs to some 210 pages as of yesterday, thank you very much), I don't keep these blog posts in such a format. As a result, all of my notes and other musings are lost to me whenever I'm away from an internet connection. At some point, I need to sit down and fix that.

This morning in the shower, I was thinking about the future of this novel. That is, what happens when I'm finished with it? Does it go into a drawer? How do I go about revising it? What do I possibly do from here?

I came up with something that I think is a very good answer. Remember how I didn't do a detailed outline before I started? I think the best thing I could do is to go ahead and do such an outline. That will make me decide what purpose each scene serves in the whole narrative. I should be able to trace through the development of each of my subplots, and fill in blanks or get rid of duplication.

The goal is to be able to go through each scene, decide whether it needs to stay or go, and pretty much pin down exactly what the finished structure of the novel is going to look like. Only at that point will I go back and start working on the language, making sure that the writing really pops and that there are no wasted words. Once I'm satisified with that, it will be time for the spelling and grammar check, and then... well, if I've learned anything from this, it's not to look too far ahead, right?

I last left Bryony in the company of Devan. They're getting some lunch now. Let's listen in, shall we?

For once, that went pretty much as I planned. There were a few clues that I had been leaving all along about Maradeen, and Devan is clever enough to have picked up on them. He likes Bryony, and is therefore more likely to believe her, even though her story is a little unusual.

I think the scene developed pretty naturally after that. I like that Devan was there to witness the scene, because it makes his involvement in the following scenes that much more reasonable. There are a few questions about my timeline going forward from here, but I should be able to figure them out before tomorrow, wherein chapter 18 continues.

Today's Total: 1,774 / 1,689 words (105.0%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 10,997 / 10,134 words (108.5%, 0.5 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 10,997 / 50,670 (21.7%)
Est. Completion: 70,224 / 250,000 words (28.1%, 106 days to go)

Day Thirty-six - 68,450 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

Day three of no internet at Panera. I'm starting to forget what it was like to be able to write these posts on my actual blog, and not just paste them in after the fact. It won't be long before I start telling the youngsters about the glory days of the Panera wi-fi.

Also, I'm running on caffeine and a nap at the moment, having stayed up until the wee hours watching election coverage. At first I just wanted to stay up until I knew who would win. Then I stayed up until polls closed on the West Coast and Obama clinched it. Then I waited for McCain's concession speech, and by that time, I had to stay up for Obama's victory speech. When it became apparent that the remaining Senate races and uncalled states weren't going to be determined anytime soon, I finally went to bed around 1:30am, and still had a tough time getting to sleep.

But here I am at my usual time, blearily pounding away at the old keyboard. I don't know if that stays more about my dedication to writing, the power of habit, or the gradual puddening of my brain. (Puddening - ger. of v.i. "to pudden," meaning "turn to pudding." I just made that up.)

Yesterday, I left off in the middle of chapter 17, where Bryony was getting to spend some quality time with Kalocia and Asry. I started the chapter in the middle of the scene, then fell back and started to catch up to that first part. I didn't quite make it all the way yesterday. This is a technique that I've used once before in this novel, in the scene where Devan runs by and hands Bryony the fruit. In both cases, I expected the flashback to be far shorter. It's not a bad technique, as far as such things go, as long as the flashback isn't so very long that the reader has forgotten where it started before we get back to it.

One of the hardest things for me in writing Kalocia is that I was never a teenage girl. (I know, big shocker.) I could write effective male bullies because I frequently encountered them back in the day, but the female variety is a creature I've only known anecdotally, or else from film. So please, all you lady-types out there, feel free to offer whatever correction and criticism you deem warranted, and I will take it under advisement.

I've had more fun in the past chapter writing Kalocia than at any point before, just because sometimes it's fun to say mean things. At the moment, the most damning thing that Kalocia can throw up at Bryony (heh, throw up) is her friendship with Yancy. At some point soon that will change, and the attacks against Bryony will be more personal. But it will come just before Bryony is put into a position to sort of fight back, and thus a conflict important later in the book develops.

So where am I going today? I need to wrap up the scene in the Hall of Tailorcraft, see Pritchard, introduce the visit to Lowell, meet back up with Devan, go see Lowell, run into Lillian... man, there's a lot of piddly little details about where people are that needs to be worked out. I think I can manage it, but I'm always afraid that the plot will seem forced when stuff like this happens. I think I've been clever enough to make it work and feel natural, but there's only one way to find out, and that's by writing it. So here goes!

This scene feels like it's dragging. I think I'm going to lose Pritchard's part and skip right to Devan and Lowell. Pritchard doesn't add anything that won't emerge later. All the stuff about the dress is important to set up the climax of the scene, where Bryony's appearance is of importance. If I don't set it up now, it'll be too late.

Well, I set it up. Once again, the chapter ran longer than I anticipated. The next chapter will be action-packed, I promise. It's just that the characters start acting in ways I didn't expect, but ways that make perfect sense based on who and where they are. They'll still wind up doing what I want, and I think it will work out naturally--see, I was worried about that before, but I didn't need to.

Instead, I get one more beat in the story between Bryony and Devan, coming up when they take their lunch break. And after that, some adventuring. I worry sometimes that this story is way too slow, and on days like this, I'm almost certain of it. Hopefully things will move along more quickly later.

I know they will in chapter 18, which starts tomorrow!

Today's Total: 1,816 / 1,689 words (107.5%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 9,223 / 8,445 words (109.2%, 0.5 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 9,223 / 50,670 (18.2%)
Est. Completion: 68,450 / 250,000 words (27.4%, 107 days to go)

Day Thirty-five - 66,634 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

Day two of no internet at Panera. Now they've called in Verizon to fix the problem, so I'm sure things will be back to normal about the time the next president is sworn in.

By the way, did you vote? If not, you better have an excuse, like "I'm not a U.S. citizen" or "I'm dead." I gave up my first half hour of writing this morning to go vote, and they didn't even give me a sticker. What the hell? I thought this was America, and in America, you get a sticker.

Nevertheless, this isn't a political blog, and I'm going to do my best to keep (gobama!) politics out of my post today. I'm not promising anything.

We last left Bryony at the end of Chapter Sixteen, which contrary to form had a somewhat happy ending. I am reminded of my favorite character from George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. Her name is Arya, and the only really happy times she has ever had occurred during the first novel of the series. Since then, she has endured one terrible thing after another, and she has changed from a normal little girl into a magic-wielding death dealing uber-tween.

Yet somehow, we still care about her, because we remember the good times. And those sweet, sweet moments carry us through.

Now, I'm not going to turn Bryony into a Kill Bill parody. I don't enjoy writing that kind of emotionless character, and I don't plan to do that to her. But I'm not going to be particularly nice to Bryony either, and I think it's important that she has good memories to balance out the bad, both for her sake and the sake of the reader.

Chapter 17 begins with Bryony taking her Cleaning Day certificate out for a spin. Who should she meet but good old Pritchard, who sees her in what amounts to highborn finery and connects the dots. Is Elma there too? Yes, I think so. They corner him and swear him to silence. Instead of going straight home, Bryony finds and confronts Lowell. But guess what? Lillian, his daughter, is there. Awkward! And that ought to wrap up 17.

The information she gains in 17 leads her and Devan directly to 18, which ought to be a satisfying adventure for those of you who like such things. It might stretch to 19, I'm not sure. We'll just have to see how it goes. The chapter after that concludes the Merona arc regarding the plant, and then the chapter after that rounds out the end of Part 1. So if on average I'm doing a chapter every two days, Part 1 should be finished around the middle of the month. Good, I'm on track with what I had figured out before.

Okay, time to get started! Let's see where this all leads.

Huh. I wasn't expecting Gessica to show up there toward the end of the scene, but I guess I should have expected it. These students are getting a reward, after all, and it's only to be expected that the leader of the market would put in an appearance.

Plus, Gessica has awesome people skills. She wants her own image to be associated with what is likely to be the best day in these kids' lives, up to this point. It's only good sense.

There's quite a bit more chapter left, so I don't know if I'll finish tomorrow. I'll try, but I'm not promising anything. Honestly, I would have written more tonight, but the polls just closed in Indiana, and I want to start watching election coverage.

See you tomorrow for chapter 17!

Today's Total: 1,806 / 1,689 words (106.9%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 7,407 / 6,756 words (109.6%, 0.4 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 7,407 / 50,670 (14.6%)
Est. Completion: 66,634 / 250,000 words (26.7%, 109 days to go)

Day Thirty-four - 64,828 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

I am a creature of habit. When I got to Panera this morning and the wifi was down, I was knocked base over apex, and Bertie Wooster might have put it. I was put completely out of reckoning. How could I be expected to write, I asked myself, without internet access?

Then, of course, I remembered that I might not have the world wide web, but I did have a laptop on which was saved the entirety of my story. And I had word processors and text editors and all types of software that can save my output for later upload.

But it just goes to show you how much habits influence the way we write. I do the same thing every morning: get up, check email, shower, watch TV while eating breakfast, get dressed, go to Panera. On weekends I might switch up the order and do it a little later in the day, but the content doesn't alter.

The novel writing has been going on for just over a month now, but the habits had been established since the beginning of the summer, or thereabouts. Not even six months along, an alteration into one thing, the availability of wireless internet, put me completely off kilter.

I'm not really saying that this is a bad thing. Doing the same thing every day puts me into a mindset primed for writing. I sit down and get to work, no questions asked. But it is frustrating when circumstances beyond my control conspire to ruin that routine.

So now, on to the actual writing, and not just complaining. I ended yesterday with Bryony's late night out of body experience, wherein the reader (if not Bryony herself) gets some important clues about stuff in general. Feel free to read and reread that section; if I was clever enough, you won't be able to figure it out, even with all the clues there. If I wasn't clever enough, well, I need to know that too.

I'm picking up the next day with a section I'm not really looking forward to writing, another scene of Bryony suffering the stares of her peers. I've got to make this one somehow different than the ones before.

Afterwards, I get to do another scene with Jorik, which I'm looking forward to. Is there any way I can just skip straight to that? Well... no, not really, as what they talk about follows directly on the earlier events. Okay, time to buckle up and do it. I have to plow through the bad parts to get to the good ones.

Unless... ah, if you see I’ve written that, you know I had an idea. It will mean a bit of restructuring, but will also mean a stronger story in the end. I’ll cut straight to the scene with Jorik, then a Freeday pass to the Hall of Tailorcraft, back by way of the Hall of Residence where she sees Lillian, and a vital clue that she needs Devan’s help for. Perfect.

I think I’m going to end chapter 16 here. It’s a nice ending, the chapter is long enough, and the next scene picks up a few days later. All are good indications to move along the story to another chapter.

So in that case, chapter 17 starts tomorrow!

Today's Total: 1,777 / 1,689 words (105.2%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 5,601 / 5,067 words (110.5%, 0.3 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 5,601 / 50,670 (11.1%)
Est. Completion: 64,828 / 250,000 words (25.9%, 110 days to go)

Day Thirty-three - 63,051 words and counting

I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

I've arrived at one of the tricky and frustrating times in this whole process. As I've mentioned before, I've got an outline of the next few chapters--my way of seeing a little way ahead into the fog. I've just finished a minor arc--what happened on Bryony's first Freeday. Now, that part is over, and it's time to begin the next minor arc.

I always seem to get bogged down on these transitions. It's like I'm a 4x4 truck reaching the bottom of one slope and trying to get up the next. I always feel like I'm about to slam down nose first, and it takes a while before my wheels get traction to start dragging me up again.

The thing is, I know precisely what the next arc is, but I just can't launch right into it. I need a kicker, an event that will launch me into it. First off, I need a short time jump, and that means exposition. There's a couple of different ways I can carry that off.

First is an actual expository passage that summarizes the intervening time before picking up with narrative. Another possibility is to begin in the narrative and indicate through internal exposition that time has passed. I can carry a lot of stuff out through dialogue, and in general, I think that would be the better way to do it.

Also, Bryony has to be driven to do what she's about to do (not telling!), and that means going through official channels first, and being denied. Okay, I'm picturing two scenes before the next minor arc gets going. First, the "hiding the exposition" scene where I turn playing catchup into character development, and then the "trying to play by the rules" scene, probably with Jorik--it's been a while since we saw him, now.

I'm guessing that's probably a chapter's worth of material, which bumps forward my outline by a whole chapter. No problem there. My guess is that the setup for this arc will be 16, and it will stretch out through 17 and 18.

After that, there's only one more minor arc to Part 1, and it ought to shake things up. And just to mess with you, it will raise a bunch of questions that I will not immediately answer! I've been watching too much LOST, I think.

Okay, I think I know how to begin. I'm getting traction. Let's go.

Well, I didn't expect Bryony to go astrally projecting, but there you go. I realized that she was in precisely the correct frame of mind to do that, according to the magic system I had already devised, and it would have been wrong not to send her on a midnight mental romp.

Why did she forget? That's something that I will spell out in the story later, but I'll state it here now, so I can make sure I'm consistent later.

The human brain stores sense memory, at least according to the world of this story. Those senses might be the obvious ones like vision and sound, or more subtle ones like the chemicals in the brain that are associated with emotion. But it is the soul that remembers how those experiences mold and change us, and it is the soul that remembers magic.

While awake, Bryony does not have the ability (yet) to access what her soul remembers directly. She can only view it through the filter of her body, a body which has no idea how to interpret that kind of memory. And so she forgets it. But it is still there.

Are you sniffing onto the origins of her amnesia? Nice try. Yes, all of this stuff is related, but it's only a small piece of the explanation. Keep sniffing.

I really like how the chapter is turning out so far. I'm not sure if tomorrow will finish out Chapter 16 or not, but I should get pretty close.

Note: I apparently added wrong at some point along the line. I did a word count on the whole story, and found I was actually three words further along than I thought. Starting today, I have updated the total word count accordingly.

Today's Total: 1,761 / 1,689 words (104.3%)
Nov. Progress to Date: 3,824 / 3,378 words (113.2%, 0.3 days ahead)
Nov. Total Progress: 3,824 / 50,670 (7.5%)
Est. Completion: 63,051 / 250,000 words (25.2%, 111 days to go)