This just in: Today is National Novel Writing Month’s (NaNoWriMo’s) Double-Up Donation Day, when participants are encouraged to double their daily word count and to make a contribution, which will be matched, to the nonprofit that runs the program.
The good news: I made a donation and encourage other WriMos to do the same. The bad news: My word count so far today is a whopping 237, far short of the 1,667 pace required to meet the 50,000-word challenge by the end of the month. So much for doubling up today, but there is still time tonight to catch up to where I should be.
Slow but steady progress
So far this year, progress has been good. I’m now more than 13,000 words into the novel, which is progressing sequentially, scene by scene. That’s about on pace for the project, although its scope is broader than I can hope to cover in this month. I’m trying to tell the story of a 40-year friendship between two journalists — she’s a liberal and he’s a conservative — against the context of the changing landscape of journalism and American politics over those four decades. A tall order!
So far I’m more than 20 percent of my way toward the target, and the central character hasn’t even started his first day on the job yet or figured out exactly who his new friend is. So this one isn’t going to be complete by the end of the month, unless I blast through plot at the risk of detail and perspective. But it may provide some outline for expansion in the future.
Meanwhile, knowing that this is going to keep me away from my blog and my Facebook posting for a while, I’ve created a Facebook page that will pick up my posts from the Write in the Middle blog along with shares I’ll post from time to time about writing in general and projects that intrigue me. If you Like the page or Follow the blog, you’ll see updates, including excerpts from the draft of my 2018 NaNoWriMo effort, “Welcome to Betelgeuse.”
I’ll sign off now. Thanks for stopping by!