NaNoWriMo 2012 - Day 5

[ladyseishou]

Day 5 - 25 days remaining


Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good.

— Voltaire







Today's word count is 8,335 Nano Writer! And something to keep in mind: every word counts - even the ones that might seem too big or too small or just not quite right. Remember that you're writing a rough draft this month - it's not suppose to be perfect - but it needs to be written!

Questions? Comments? Funny or weird typos to share? It's all go odd ;-) So keep writing!

Comments

[paceisthetrick]

My character grew up on the grounds and the entire story is his reflecting on his childhood so I have to know this place inside and out. *sigh* I had him living on Belmont Street and then learned that the superintendants were housed on the fourth floor of the clocktower.

What sucks is that I spent nearly a year researching it and have put out so many calls to everyone from the UMass Med School to Harvard to Worcester Preservation Society for info on Lowell, which is where the action in my story was to take place. (Basically it is the mystery of a little boy who lived there, based on a comment I once read in the archives by a person who said she "grew up in Lowell Home".)

My friend Kate Anderson has published two books on WSH and photographed the grounds extensively prior to the demolition and she had no idea what went on in Lowell. It turns out she knows the guy from this blog

http://kingstonlounge.blogspot.com/

He helped her on her last novel. So I was like "WHY DID NO ONE EVER TELL ME ABOUT HIM??????????????????????????????????????"

And now I am working with him to get some solid info to make story hold up under scrutiny.

His off the cuff remarks about Gage and Lowell blew me out of the water.

Hun, if I get 1000 readable words a day, I am thrilled. THRILLED.

[iosonochesono]

I want to do it that way so I can try to make it readable someday ;) But I'm averaging around 3k of my original word smoothie instead.

Anyway, good luck! You're making me glad I'm not committing to a specific region beyond 'it has deciduous trees' lol.

[paceisthetrick]

*dead*

I was trained as an historian and published academically prior to giving fanfiction a shot. This is my first attempt at original fiction.

It's killing me. Clearly academia had ruined me for life. I need to just enjoy Caleb Carr and Alex Grecian and throw in the towel while I am ahead...

*mopemopemope*

[iosonochesono]

I feel like anthro's helped because I'm really focused on the characters. At least you've been published - shows you got talent!

[paceisthetrick]

No, I had a slave driver for a dissertation director. It was more like, "Oh, we've just put your name in to give a paper at the conference on Comparative Slavery in Florida! Be sure to get started early so you have time for revisions!"

[paceisthetrick]

Academic publishing is very very different. It's all solid research. If you are even slightly emotional or colorful, they can you as "a novelist".

[iosonochesono]

Makes me so glad I'm not trying to get anything beyond a BA :X Though it feels like anthro, ethnic studies and gender studies must be a bit different.

[paceisthetrick]

It's grad school that kills you. I did gender in the NEP economy and the corresponding legal changes.

Grad school makes everything unfun. :(

[iosonochesono]

Yeah... I should do grad school but pffft forget that.

[paceisthetrick]

If I had to do it all over again --

I'd kill myself first.