AHEM

If I may direct your attention to the word count meter...








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Thank you, that is all.

*g*

One...more...day...

Never again.

Have I mentioned that I'll not do 20K in a month again? *g*

I met my target and then some tonight, finally checking in at just over 49K. I should be able to top 50K by tomorrow, most likely by finishing chapter 6. Woo.

I wonder, though: chapter 6 is currently Alec leading Elspeth through the woods to Glenstrae, and them chatting all the while, telling each other about their families, etc. It's a lot, but is it too much of an "infodump"? As I wrote it it seemed like natural conversation for two people getting to know each other. I mean, it's a 2-hour hike. They've got time.

Ah, well. Too tired to think much on it right now. I guess I'll see what the betas have to say, and if it doesn't work I'll parse out the backstory a bit more.

For now, oidche mhath.

*sigh*

I was NOT supposed to get in bed after midnight tonight.

The plan: start writing at 9, 800 words, quick and simple, in bed by 11. Yeah, not so much.

And I just scraped by on my nightly target, using up all the reserve I'd built in the past couple of nights. But I did make it.

2 more nights of this, then I sleep. Next week, I read and research and get in bed at decent hours. And only 15K next month.

Gah. But, yay!

Shoot me now, because I will be miserable tomorrow. *g*

Chapter 5 is done.

Just over 1250 words tonight, which puts me still ahead of schedule and still behind on sleep.

I'm not as keen on tonight's work, which is all Alec's POV as he discovers Elspeth's true origin, but it's down and will hold place nicely for now. That's what revisions are for.

I keep repeating to myself: "...this is the SFD...this is the SFD..."

Clicking along in Chapter 5

Woot!

Since I started writing linearly from my ubersynopsis/story notes, I've nailed down solid rough drafts of chapters 1-4, and last night I started in on Chapter 5. The subject matter in 5 is tricky, as I need Elspeth to explain to Alec that she's from the future and somehow convince him she's telling the truth. I'd been going round and round in my head on how to do that for weeks, with DH and Kimb's helpful suggestions added to the mix, and finally everything "gelled" for me tonight. (Heh. "I'm gellin' like a felon...")

I got over 2/3 of chapter 5 written, for a total of just over 2K tonight (I needed at least 1400), and a good block of notes for me to pick up tomorrow where I left off. Father Kenneth had a rather unexpected reaction, but it really set up everything I needed to happen quite nicely. He'll make it up to Elspeth by helping her out later.

Home again, home again

Just a quick post to update. I spent a large part of last week (Thursday through Sunday) in Colorado Springs, for work-related training. So I didn't get much writing done.

I need to get almost 7K in the next 5 days to make my goal. Marathon, anyone? *g*

I am however, up to the beginning of Chapter 5, and doing alright with the linear thing. The way my first four chapters have been (3000-3500 words each), I'll probably be through at least 6 and possibly into 7 by the time I hit 50K. Cool.

It's 4:30 am, but...

CHECK IT OUT BAY-BEE!








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There's something to be said for sheer, bull-headed determination.

And caffeine. Can't forget the caffeine.

Welcome discovery (or, "Chapter 2 down")

Caffeine pills from Wal-Mart will be my salvation. DH picked them up for me last night. Tonight, I had a Mountain Dew with dinner and took one pill (equivalent to 200 mg caffeine, or about the amount in a cup of coffee) around 8 pm. By 9 the baby was down, I was energized, and the words were flowing...unlike the past few nights. I started with an SOC for Elspeth to get me back into where I left off in chapter 2. Once I started actually writing, I managed very nearly 1500 words. That had been my goal for today, but I wasn't sure if I'd make it.

Chapters 1 and 2 are now complete (at 3400 and 3800 words apiece!) and I'm moving on into Chapter 3. Elspeth is in Dalmally, and this will lead up to the attack scene with the Campbells, and her meeting with Alec at the kirk.

Right now I'm effectively at 38K, and I need 2,000 words over the course of tomorrow to make my halfway goal. I may have to take 2 pills tomorrow night, but I will stay up as late as necessary to pull it off.

But now - gah - it's 1 am and I am going to sleep.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

At least, that's what I'd like to be doing. Keeping up this pace is exhausting, and still I'm behind. Sheesh. Next month: 15K only.

At any rate, I've barely blogged or posted on the forum because I've been working, writing, or too tired to think. Usually some combination thereof. Hopefully I'll get caught up soon and back to only needing 750 words a night and I can squeeze a few other things in there.

I didn't quite reach my (ambitious) goal for the night of 37K, due in no small part to only getting 500-600 words the two nights previous. Also because I was reading/participating the "House Party" thread in the Exercises folder. Much hilarity!

Still, I clocked in at 36.5K tonight. Not too shabby. Now I'm going to bed. DH picked me up some caffeine pills at Wally World; that should help immensely starting tomorrow. I just hope they're not habit-forming... *w*

Can I make 40K by Friday night (at this point I'd be happy with sometime on Saturday)? Only time will tell.

Not quite

To stay on track, I needed to average about 1100 words a night between now and Friday. That will put me right at 40K total at the middle of the month.

Tonight I didn't quite swing it. About 700 words, and I'm at a good stopping point on the scene, and exhausted. So I'm packing it in. That leaves 4800, or right at 1200 a night for the rest of the week.

We shall see.

(It's not the end of the world if I don't make it; I'll just have to catch up in the second half. But I'll also be traveling next week, so I'd like to have some leeway.)

Pushing onward

The June "month-long marathon" continued again tonight, the second night of me actually writing. I'm shooting for at least 1000 words a night until I get caught up to my goal (after my initial slacking) or even a little ahead. Then as long as I average 700-750 words I should be able to make 50K total by the end of the month.

I flagged a bit after the first hour or so, as my caffeine buzz from the two 20-ounce glasses of Diet Coke I had with dinner began to wear off. But I pushed on and did ultimately make it.

Final word count for the evening: 1174, baby!

I had meant to finish the scene I started last night, where Elspeth meets Alec's aunt at a ceilidh and learns the lullabye. But tonight I flashed forward to Elspeth singing the lullabye to Colin, and being affected by the sad lyrics. It should actually fit nicely as the tie-in to the "reunion" scene I have already written a large part of.

Oh, and I also came across an unofficial fansite for Martin Henderson. They have quite an extensive image gallery. I've been through a fair bit of it, and it's funny - about half (or even a little more) of the pictures look nothing like Alec. But there are quite a few that do - startlingly so. I've saved a few of them to my flash drive for reference.

For your viewing enjoyment, here's one more:

On second thought...

I crunched the numbers after I posted last night, and 25K in a month is a bit much. For me at least, with a full-time (50-55 hours) day job and a 15-month-old I like to spend time with. Oh, and a husband, too. *w*

So I'm scaling it back a bit. Not too much, actually. I'm going for about 20K instead. Twice my old monthly goals. Officially I want to be at 50K+ total word count by the end of June. 4 weeks and 3 days from now. That's 650 words or so a night. Doable.