With eyes rolling to the back of our heads and fingers half-falling off, we are mid-way into the third week of
NaNoWriMo! Some of us are now hitting the 100k mark, while still others are trying to reach that beloved 10k spot! Whether you are right on track or, like me, are still falling behind, you're probably having a fun time tracking the adventures of your characters. Have you killed anybody yet? That can always speed things up and add an extra flare. I have never dared to venture into that sort of prompt yet, but who knows, perhaps that will have to be explored later on.
Since a dreadful cold decided to visit me over the weekend, I have fallen even more behind in word count. Lovely, right? Where do I stand in the ranking of
failing falling behind? I'm currently at 14,288 words. I'm supposed to be at 28,333. Eesh! Lots of catching up I must do, correct? According to some quick calculations, I will need to write around 2,550 words a day to finish on time. That's definitely bumping up the original needed words-per-day by a lot, but I think I can do it! As the little blue train would say, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can! Cross your fingers for me and everyone else who is behind and still have not given hope on winning! We're slowing making it there.
As far as plotline goes, I'm pretty pleased at where I am right now. I'm still continuing on the track of having one chapter dedicated to each of my three main characters. As of now, they've each had the spotlight two times. I've sent them through some dangers as well, but they're coming out alright so far. Not too much complaining from them yet, so maybe I can push them a bit farther. I've also done something I haven't done in a long while. I actually devised my own legend for the story! How exciting is that? It's still pretty rough at this point, and I am definitely hoping to spice it up, but I'm actually quite falling in love with it. Six chapters are completed and I've left each chapter off with a major decision that must be made by each of my characters: to stay and help aid in an upcoming war that will prevent the evil Dusaro from combining both Earth and this Other World and ultimately having him rule over both, or to go back home and forget everything has ever happened. Eep! What would you do?
Since I've completed three more chapters, I think you guys are in for some more excerpts. Are you ready for this? If you want to know more about my characters, go read
NaNoWriMo: Week One in review, first! ;D
Her hand extended in front of her, palm bared and fingers sticking straight out, Estella closed her eyes. She took in a deep inhale of breath and let the air flow through her body. Her lungs filled up with air. Squeezing her eyelids tighter together, she stretched her arms as far as they would go. A blast of air circulated from both hands. They combined a few feet in front of her to create the biggest gust of wind she had created yet.
Bringing her palms behind her and resting them on the ground, she leaned back. Even if this was a dream, it felt good to be in control of something for once. Closing her eyes, she let the wind she had created circle around her. It felt comforting to have the soft wind blow across her cheeks. Pulling up the sleeves on her hoodie, she uncrossed her legs and positioned herself to lay on her back.
Grasping a blade of grass in between her fingertips, she rubbed a thumb across the sticky surface. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. When she had been seven years old, their family had located themselves in a very rural area. She had gone out every day to bury herself beneath the cover of the long grass and talk her thoughts out loud. This reminded her so much of those carefree days.
Turning to her side, she laid her head on an arm for support. Her eyes shut as memories began to sift through her mind. Young versions of herself flashed through her mind, visions of her parents and two siblings. She began to drift off to sleep and before she knew it, she was slumbering peacefully. Was it possible to fall asleep in a dream?
~©Tippie, Untitled NaNoWriMo, Chapter Four
Next, we head on over to Riku, in chapter five:
“I see you’ve already mastered the basic abilities of your power,” a voice rattled through his mind.
Riku turned and pulled up his palm. He spun in a circle as he tried to locate where the voice was coming from. He couldn’t pinpoint its location. Had it come from below, or above?
“Who are you?”
“I don’t have a name. But you do; who are you?” The voice was directly behind him.
Spinning around with both palms raised, Riku stumbled backwards. Those he had come upon previously in this dream-world he had not been able to trust. Whatever this voice belonged to, wherever it was, might be another trap.
“I see you are a bit nervous, let me show myself.”
A glittering object floated behind him. Spiraling on one foot, Riku found himself staring into the face of a one-eyed, golden contraption. It had several spindly legs that hung in midair as it hovered by his face. It’s eye floated around and seemed to faintly light up as it muttered words.
“What are you?” Riku asked, stunned.
“What am I? That’s a funny question to ask. Do you ask everyone you meet what they are?” It seemed serious. “What are you?”
Riku stared, his mind confused. “Well, I’m human, of course.”
“Of course you are. And I am a bot.”
“A what?”
“A bot,” it said. “I shall introduce my first question to you again, and I do hope to get a response from you this time around: Who are you?”
~©Tippie, Untitled NaNoWriMo, Chapter Five
Finally, let us see where Willa is after leaving her in a particularly heavy cliffhanger:
After what seemed ages, she had come upon dark waters. She swam slower now, her body beginning to shake. The water had become cool and deadly calm. She stopped swimming and allowed herself to hang in the water, looking at her surroundings. Where was she? Something touched the bottom of her foot. Pulling her knee up to her chest, and frantically looked below her.
She could not see beyond her toes. The water had become deathly dark. A jet of foamy bubbles began to float up from the chasm below her. Eyes widening and heart pounding, she began to float up to the surface. Something, or someone, was grasping at her heels. She kicked furiously, not taking the time to look down, and reached for the surface of the water.
As she made contact with air, she gathered right away that she was engulfed in a cave. Thus the reason for the dark waters. Looking for shore, she found it and quickly made a dash for it. Something clamped onto her foot. Screaming as it pulled her under, she kicked with her other leg and hit something lumpy and hard. It squealed in protest and unlatched itself from her leg.
She once again dove for the surface and practically threw herself onto the hard, rocky shore. Something splashed out of the water after her. She turned to her back and noted a large, slimy beast stare her way before slapping back into the water.
Pulling a hand to her chest and inhaling large amounts of air, she closed her eyes. That had been far too close. Whatever that thing was had bad intentions. Though she controlled water, she could not control the creatures it contained, apparently. Swiping her palm across her face, she let a stream of cool, refreshing water drip down her face to her neck.
~©Tippie, Untitled NaNoWriMo, Chapter Six
There you have it folks, more excerpts! As you might be able to tell, my writing capabilities are starting to slowly go down in value. It's no longer incredibly descriptive and cleaned up as it was before. But NaNo isn't about getting everything perfect, is it? It's about writing your 50k, finishing your book and THEN going back and editing. As a grammar-freak, this is always a struggle for me. I catch myself cleaning up the excerpts a bit. *slaps hands* Bad Tippie, bad!
Keep writing, folks! Have fun finishing up week three! See you all next week.
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