But yesterday I was able to get back on the writing bandwagon and churned out a couple thousand words in the story. I also fell in love with it all over again because I now have a clearer picture of where it’s going.

When I decided to call it an evening, I was struck with a teeny bit of insomnia. Instead of cracking open the netbook to write some more, I grabbed a sheet of copy paper and my pen and did a doodle of one of my main characters.

Her (temporary) name is Elestine. She’s not human. However, she’s lost all memory of who and what she truly is and why she’s where she is. And there’s a scene in the story where she cries…putting a point of her not-normal-ness since her tears aren’t exactly liquid. That was the inspiration for the illustration.

And because I wanted to illustrate a few aspects of her physical appearance, I decided to add a splash of colour. (The scan is horrid. I’m sorry.)

Yes, her hair and eyes and lips are a greyish blue colour. And yes, I’m aware that those also should have been giveaways of her not-normal-ness, but it’s complicated…and, I hope, properly handled in the story.

Finally, the feathers. No, she is not an angel. However, the feathers do offer a clue as to where she’s from.

Here’s hoping that I can get a couple thousand more words written today.

WORD COUNT: 7,762

And yes, Day 3 is missing because I wrote a grand total of zero words and there’s no good way to summarize that. (Not sweating it, though. It’s still early. I have time.)

Today I only wrote about 1000 words. It’s not what I anticipated, but it’s progress. Now without further fanfare, the shitty first paragraph:

Elestine looked over at her mother before returning to her studies. She wondered if there might be a way to escape, but she knew that her mother was aware of everything that happened in the room, even if she didn’t show it. Elestine’s punishment was bad enough; she didn’t need to make it worse.

Even though midnight is around the corner, I’m going to continue writing until I’m face down and drooling on my notebook.

WORD COUNT: 4,458

I ended up typing the last 1500 or so words rather than write longhand with my magic pen. Maybe that’ll explain why this shitty first paragraph has an extra helping of shitty. Apologies in advance. I will look back on it and weep. *sigh*

[...]* and with only a brief glance over her shoulder, she ran after Trayan to her mother’s chagrin. The QUEEN was not one to give chase after anyone, not even her own daughter, plus she knew the PRINCESS would eventually return and when she did, she would need to face a severe punishment. So the QUEEN gave the LIASON a final glare before leaving to the palace to contemplate what exactly the appropriate punishment for her daughter would be.

(*I’m doing this thing where I stop writing mid-sentence, so I’m starting from where I left off at the end of Day 1. Also, I haven’t decided on a name for QUEEN or LIASON yet. Oh, and LIASON is actually PEDDLER from Day 1.)

All day I’ve felt like I was walking through a slow-motion movie sequence or something. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

Here’s hoping tomorrow will be better.

WORD COUNT: 3,458

I went shopping. Found some awesome soap, grabbed a birthday present for my niece, and came up with an amazing idea: THE MAGIC PEN. You read correctly, I decided I would make myself a magic NaNoWriMo pen (and possibly a notebook, too). So I went shopping for those supplies.

Then I got home, looked at the clock, realized that if I didn’t start, I wouldn’t finish. So I paused the making of my magic pen…

…and decided to write.

Well, luckily I managed to yank a miracle from my ass and finished my first 1800(-ish) words before the clock struck midnight.

And in keeping with my shitty first paragraph theme (hmmm…haven’t posted one in a while), I shall provide the first paragraph from the NaNoWriMo Novel (as yet untitled) Day 1:

From the clouds, she watched them. She watched as they flowed from their homes into their vehicles, down their streets to their destinations. She thought about what it must be like for them, to live; to have such freedom shackled by their routines. Sometimes she’d see one of them laugh. She liked that the best. They’d throw their heads back with abandon, their mouths would open so wide it seemed they could swallow the whole of creation and tears would sometimes gather in the corner of their eyes. The first few times she saw them laugh she feared for them because the expression was too close to that of pain. Soon enough she learned to decipher the difference. She wished she could hear them, though. Sometimes the peddler would tell her of their words and stories. She loved listening to the peddler because he was the only one in all of the court who didn’t dismiss her curiosity in the race below as a passing fancy. But without the peddler and his stories, she had to imagine what they said to each other.

OK. So, I know it’s long and rambly and all kinds of confusing. But hey, it’s NaNoWriMo…it’s not supposed to make sense yet.

Maybe I’ll be able to finish the magic pen tomorrow. (It’s supposed to be A LOT more sparkly.) And if I do, I’ll post pictures…with a proper explanation.

But at least this weather is good for something: Inspiration. The deep grey clouds and silver fog lining the ground are eerie and melancholic and absolutely my kind of mood.

Too bad I’m not supposed to start writing until tomorrow. It’s just as well. I should probably use what little time I have left to prepare, especially considering I have no idea which story I want to tell or how I intend to tell it.

The plan right now is to create my NaNoWriMo care package which will consist of three main items: the perfect notebook, the perfect pen, and caffeine. The bonus items will be a book of prompts and some visual aids (think storyboard-type stuff).

I’ve learned a few things from previous NaNoWriMos. Although I completed the last two, last year’s was a bear because I let myself get so far behind that I stayed awake for three solid says straight just to meet the word-count threshold. It wasn’t pretty. And I was so sick of my novel that I never wanted to see (or think about) it again. To this day it remains unfinished.

This year’s going to be different though, because…I have a plan.

• Keep Writerly Hours: I’ve scheduled a specific time each day where I will write for an hour and a half. (The half hour is for the warm-up.) Even if I don’t feel like writing, I will still write because I can always go back and edit later…it’s all about getting the words out.
• Cut Back on Extracurriculars: Although I’m not a big TV watcher, I do have a Netflix and Hulu account, plus I do a fair bit of reading. This month needs to be about writing. I’ve decided to severely limit my Netflix/Hulu/Reading time. (I can, however, listen to as much music as I want–it helps with the story inspiration.)
• Have Fun with It: A big problem for me the past couple of years was how seriously I began to take myself toward the end. That can’t happen this year. I want it to be a fun and enjoyable experience so I won’t loathe my novel afterward.

With that, I’m ready to take on this year’s NaNoWriMo.

Almost.

(Is it normal to still be scared? Gosh, I thought I’d be over that by now.)