Category: NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo Day 7: Off to the Cinema

On By cherylmahoneyIn NaNoWriMo2 Comments

Our first week of NaNo is down, and so far I’m still on track for my 25,000 word goal.  I had a really solid weekend and am at 8,120 words, which puts me a couple of days ahead on my word count goal.  It’s nice to have that cushion, because babies are unpredictable and I don’t know how future days will go!

I wrote about 1,800 words yesterday, which gave me a lot of my current cushion.  It helped I was writing a particularly fun scene.  The bulk of the novel is set in 1939-40, but I plan to drop in periodic flashbacks to Maggie’s childhood.  Partially that’s to build more dimensions in her character, but it also lets me feature Erik and Meg as characters, even though they’ve died by the beginning of the book.  So I spent Saturday writing a flashback sequence – Maggie goes to the cinema with her grandfather, the Phantom of the Opera, to see Lon Chaney’s Phantom of the Opera.  They don’t altogether react as intended…

The movie was fascinating.  It gave me a queer feeling to see my familiar opera house on the flickering screen, though it wasn’t always right about the details.  The whole story seemed so removed from anything real that I could enter into it with a spectator’s enthusiasm, though it seemed to me that Grand-père was laughing and sighing in the wrong spots.

I watched mostly in rapt silence, but couldn’t help myself when we came to the unmasking.  A great gasp of horror rose up from the audience when Lon Chaney’s face was first revealed, enough to mostly cover my indignant, “But that’s not right!”

“Shh,” Grand-père said absently.

“But his face is wrong,” I whispered.  “And she shouldn’t have snatched his mask off – you don’t do that.”

He laughed then too, and tousled my hair.  “Quite right.”

NaNoWriMo Day 5: New Places to Explore

On By cherylmahoneyIn NaNoWriMo1 Comment

We’re five days into NaNoWriMo, and so far things are going well!  My goal this year is 25,000 words, or a half-NaNo, and I’m keeping on track for that.  In fact, I’m a little ahead – I’m at 5,063, which puts me almost exactly one full day ahead of schedule.  I always like to get a cushion at the beginning – and I have a slightly superstitious feeling that if I get behind early on, I’ll never catch up!

I was able to write a little above 1,000 words the first three days.  I was busier yesterday so I only got to 757, but had my current high day today with 1,143.  Not too bad!

I just finished Chapter One, and have managed to introduce three major characters.  We’ve been almost entirely at the Opera Garnier so far, but have been mostly visiting places we never went to in my Guardian of the Opera series, like the costume department and the stables.  I can’t actually find any history to tell me whether the stables of the Opera were still active in 1939, but…I decided to pretend they are, at least for now!

My heroine, Maggie, ventured below the Opera near the end of the chapter, taking us back to the Phantom’s parlor.  She also goes into the kitchen – a place we never actually went in the original trilogy.  I mentioned that Erik had a kitchen down there (he’d have to, right? He has to eat!) but it was such a prosaic thing for the Phantom of the Opera to have that we never once actually saw it.  This isn’t a very detailed description, but it’s still the first glimpse we’ve ever had of that particular room!

I turned away from the mantle.  Best to get to business.  I went out the parlor’s side door and walked briskly down the hall to the kitchen.  It was far more practical than elegant, a simple room with stone counters, an old wooden table, a multitude of cabinets and, most importantly, running water.  I checked the pantry and found that, while I’d have to go out shopping to create any feasts, there were enough canned goods that I wouldn’t starve if I put that off until tomorrow morning.  But first, I found the cleaning supplies.  An even coat of dust might mean everything was safe and undisturbed, but that didn’t make it altogether comfortable to live with, even temporarily.

NaNoWriMo Day 1: And So It Begins

On By cherylmahoneyIn NaNoWriMo1 Comment

Happy November 1st, which around here marks the beginning of NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, when writers try to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November.  I’ve done NaNo 7 times since 2011, most recently in 2019 when I wrote The Princess Beyond the Thorns, a book I’m hoping to publish in the next year or two.  And this year, I’m kicking off a brand-new project, and plan to blog about it.

I noticed while researching for my Guardian trilogy that most other historical novels set in Paris seem to take place during World War II.  My setting was 1881 so that was quite different – but it occurred to me that World War II would be the right timing for the Phantom of the Opera’s granddaughter.  So that’s the story I’m writing this November!  I’ve been researching the Occupation of Paris throughout October (a little light reading!!) and began the actual drafting today.

Because I have an eight-month-old baby, I’m adjusting my goals a bit this year.  Rather than aiming for 50,000, I’ve decided to do a half-NaNo and try to reach 25,000 words.  Today I got started on my opening scene and wrote 1,073 words – so that puts me a couple hundred up from my goal of 834.

Here’s a little glimpse at the writing so far:

I halted on the edge of the Place de l’Opera and drew in a satisfied breath, tinged with just a touch of relief.  Of course it was ridiculous to think that the opera house could have collapsed or vanished, just because my grandfather had died – but somehow, I hadn’t quite been able to feel that it would still be here.  But there it was: the Opera Garnier.  The soaring pillars on the front, the line of grinning masks, the great dome and the shining, golden statue of Apollo at the very top.  All still just as it should be and had always been.

NaNoWriMo Day 30: Finish Line

On By cherylmahoneyIn NaNoWriMo, Writing1 Comment

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to my American readers!  And…it’s the last day of NaNoWriMo!  I’m excited to share that I reached and passed my goal of 60,000 words this month.

I passed the 50,000 mark on November 25th, and actually finished my 60,000 word goal a day early.  I had my highest word count day on November 29th, clocking in at 4,276 words.  I got together with several writing friends in the evening, including two doing NaNo, and it was especially fun to pass the 60,000 mark while writing with them.

I kept writing today, even though the pressure was off, and ended up with a final total of 63,068 words, a personal NaNo best.  I’m sooo close to the end of the novel too–I have about three scenes left, so maybe 2,000 to 4,000 words.  I hope to finish in the next couple of days, so I can slack off for December. 🙂

Well, actually, I have an entirely different project I plan to start in December, that I may share about soon.  We’ll see!  But that’s how it goes…  November 1st through 30th: write.  December 1st: keep writing!

Here’s an end-of-NaNo excerpt.  My characters have been angsting for a while, but I’ve brought them nearly up to the happy ending now.  There’s still a few things for them to work out, though…

*******

Terrence wrapped his hand around hers and it felt so familiar, so good, that Rose couldn’t make herself feel alarm even as they hurried behind the cats.  She knew Xevrix might appear at any moment, but she couldn’t feel it.

“I know this isn’t the time,” Terrence said as they approached the nearest door to the castle, “but when you left through that mirror, did you mean to leave permanently?”

“No,” Rose said in honest surprise.  “Of course not.  I wasn’t that angry.  I mean, I was angry with you—I’m still angry with you, come to think of it, but we can talk about that later—but I just…wanted to prove I could act for myself, I think.”

“Proved,” Terrence said.  “Very proved.  Maybe prove it less intensely next time?”

“Maybe listen to me next time?” Rose countered, tugging on his hand.

“I’m sorry—I’m very, very sorry, and I will happily be very eloquent about it later when we have the time,” he said, pushing open the door.

NaNoWriMo Day 24: Word Count Downs and Ups

On By cherylmahoneyIn NaNoWriMo, Writing2 Comments

We’re in the final week of NaNoWriMo now, with just six days left.  And it’s going to be a weird week, with Thanksgiving coming so late in the month this year!  I was keeping up very well for my 60,000 word goal, continuing to write around 2,000 words a day, even on workdays this past week.  And then…I got sick on Friday.  And, because I write every day, I clocked in at 306 words, and those were a struggle.  It’s actually kind of funny to see on my word count graph, as everything goes along pretty steadily and then–nose dive.

Fortunately, I had a big cushion in case of this kind of thing.  Despite the rough day, I never quite dropped below my target total per day, though I pretty well ate up my cushion.  If I’d stayed sicker for longer, I would have been behind very quickly for my 60,000 word goal–though I’d probably still be okay for the 50,000 goal.  Fortunately, even though I’ve still been recovering yesterday and today, I was able to spend both days largely alternating writing sprints and episodes of Psych (good show, I recommend it!)  So yesterday clocked in at 1,900 words (and six episodes) and today I hit 2,586 words.

The upshot of all that?  I’m currently sitting at 49,288, very close to the 50,000 mark and probably on track still for 60,000, as long as nothing too cataclysmic happens before the end of the month!

As to the story…it probably didn’t help that I hit a bit of a block the same day I got sick, but I managed to get over that hump and have outlined scenes up to the end of the book now.  I wrote a decent amount of angsting for Terrence on Saturday, which probably helped wrack up words, and today I hit another plot turn that brings us to the final, hopefully faster-moving and easier to write, section of the book.

I still can’t tell if reaching 60,000 words will also bring me to the end of the story.  I think it may be a little longer than that, but hopefully not by much.  I doubt I’ll try for a final push to finish the novel by the end of the month if it’s longer than 60K (maybe) but it should be possible to finish in early December.  And I think I’m good with that.

Here’s an excerpt from Terrence’s angsting chapter.  I think I last posted about Rose and Terrence arguing and…yeah, that didn’t end very well for them!

**********

It was almost as though the entire interlude of the last few months, everything from the day Terrence had set out to rescue the Princess Behind Thorns, hadn’t happened.  Except that Gregory was gone and he was treated as the heir in his place.  There was that.  But all the steps to get there seemed to have been neatly brushed away, as though he had simply stepped into a more welcoming, more accepting alternate world.

Terrence found, to his own surprise, that he hated it.

He didn’t want to pretend that Rose didn’t exist.  He wasn’t sure he wanted to talk about her, especially about how it had all fallen apart, but he didn’t want her existence to be swept away as though she had never been, as though she hadn’t mattered at all except as the reason he could claim the throne.

As though she really had only been the legendary Princess Behind Thorns, easily set aside now that her purpose of securing a new heir was complete.

He was glad every day that Emerald Eyes hadn’t left with Rose.  The small black cat stuck by his side with a stubbornness that overcame closed council room doors and his father’s dark looks.  Terrence brought the cat everywhere he was permitted, and if he was shut out of anywhere, he invariably turned up anyway.  If not for the black cat, Rose’s cat, Terrence felt he might have started to question himself if she’d ever existed.  If not for the tangible, furry shadow left behind, he might have started to think he’d only dreamed up a fantasy that had turned on him at the end.