29 Nov 2014

NaNo 2014 - Week 4 Progress

The third week ended on the 28th.  The hard numbers, also available in a easy to read chart format, are as follows: 54 929 words total, 8923 added in the third week.  The overall average words per day is 1962, and 1275 words/day during the third week.  I passed the 50k word mark during a write-in on Sunday the 23rd.  Afterwards, with the push to reach the goal no longer there, my output dropped.

With the need to produce large volumes of words gone, the third arc, Basketball Night in Canada, is still unfinished.  I've reached chapter 7, where I ended each of the previous two arcs, but this time, the story continues beyond.  What should have been an arc that occurred over the course of a basketball game turned into a larger conspiracy.  This is what happens when you don't plan ahead.  In NaNoWriMo, this is known as pantsing, as in, writing by the seat of your pants.  My approach favours pantsing, provided that I have a good handle on who the characters are.  Laura's personal storyline continues to develop, and Caitlin is now having to deal with setbacks.

Reaching 50k words also let me take a break from Unruly to work on something else.  I have an idea for a follow up to By the Numbers*, picking up several months after the end of the first story.  Right now, the story is still in the middle of the opening, with the remains of the crew infiltrating a Seattle fashion house and seeing the run go bad.  I do know where Numbers comes in, but I haven't reached a point where I can introduce that part of the plot.  I am counting the extra words in the overall count, but only because I am past the 50k goal.

Victory!

* Linked to the main By the Numbers page.  She was tired of the running gag.

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