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03 November 2011

NaNoWriMo Day 2

The sleep deprivation is definitely kicking in. I worked out this evening so I could stretch my old bones and not die when I teach my usual (excessive) round of tai chi classes plus a four-hour workshop this weekend, but then I came home and got right back into the writing. It's day two. I feel a certain obligation to keep up my high volume word count while enthusiasm is still high and my idea still feels good.

I will say this: aiming to write over 3k a day really helps with continuity and keeping the story foremost in your mind. If I'm not getting inky fingers at my desk, I'm thinking about what I'm going to write next. I'm using a tip I learned in grad school while writing the dreaded thesis: park on the downhill slope. Meaning, stop writing for the day in the middle of a good scene that you know will be easy to pick up again the next day. I find it helpful to do that.

Anyhoo, I've chosen a working title: A Plague of Witches. In the car on the way home tonight, Dave cheekily suggested Witch Plague as an alternative, and we got caught up in a discussion about the problem of titles that seem to be asking questions. Say it out loud, with a question mark at the end: Witch Plague?

I also know that at some point there will be golems.

Day two word count: 7604.

Source

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow! great progress. Nearly 8,000 words in two days. I am impressed!

Tim Ward said...

Good work! I made it to 5927 words total today. I like the ideas for your story. Studying that period of time would be non-fiction I'd actually read. Any good sources you've come across?

J E Fritz said...

I so envy your progress. Great title, too. It has a good paranormal quality to it. Keep up the great work :)

Trisha said...

Great job!! I'm aiming for 3,333.3 recurring words per day, to get to 50k by the end of Day 15. Right now I'm a tiny bit behind after Day 3 but I'll get back on top. It's quite a challenge when you DECIDE you're going to write this much more than the usual amount.

Elizabeth Twist said...

Thanks guys! Trisha, it is hard, but it feels awesome, too. I know we can do it.

Tim, yes, so much great stuff. For the novel I'm relying heavily on Trevor Royle's Lancaster Against York, and Ole J. Benedictow's magnificent study The Black Death (1346-1353): The Complete History. I am a fan of original resources, though, so I am also drawing on Rosemary Horrox's The Black Death, which collects small excerpts from original documents written at the time of the plague.

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