A Gauntlet of Words: NaPoWriMo 2017 · 1:49pm Oct 31st, 2017
Blog Number 30: Unfinished Business Edition
Once Wednesday 1st November 2017 comes around, National Novel Writing Month will begin, as will its pony equivalent. I have of course already signed up for the latter. As for what I intend to accomplish on this, my fourth such event (fifth if you count Calming Moon's version earlier this year), I'm in two minds about it.
Officially, I've applied for the traditional 50,000-word target. This is simply because part of my mind is a pragmatist who actually pays attention to history. George Santayana's quotation about condemning oneself to repeat the past is not entirely lost on me, let me assure you. If all goes well, those 50,000 words will apply to a single project, which is pretty much the main point and – so far – the most conspicuous shortcoming of my previous attempts.
Unofficially, I'm going to do what I should have done twelve months ago: tackle the overambitious 100,000-word target.
This is no longer a nice little game for me. This is where I admit I'm no longer content to settle for little fics and dead-end introductions. Six years is too long already for that kind of mish-mash approach.
I'll get far more nostalgic later in November, as it's approaching the sixth anniversary of my introduction to the show. Suffice it to say that the last six years have transformed my thinking in ways I hadn't anticipated, and – me being an aspiring novelist – to go this long without dedicating a complete novel to those inspiring stories and characters is nothing less than a personal indictment.
I intend to rectify that.
For the moment, alas, I'm going to have to be vague. If history has taught me anything, it's that prediction is a mug's game when it comes to writing. Nonetheless, here I throw down a gauntlet to myself. One month. One novel. The end of six muddled years.
That is all for now. Enjoy All Hallow's Eve, folks.
Impossible Numbers, out.
Statistics
Fics Accepted By Equestria Daily
Waiting to hear back on Transient.
New Stories? No.
New Updates: No.
Story Count: 59
My Total Story View Count: Rendered obsolete due to new site changes.
Age: 2,149 days, or 307 weeks.
Working: 19 days in December 2011, 2x366 days for 2012 and 2016 leap years, 3x365 days for 2013 and 2014 and 2015 combined, and 303 days so far in 2017 up to today.
My Follower Count: 146
My Followed Count: 87
Two days in, and so far only 1,500 words.
This bodes well.
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Four days in, and so far surpassed 4,000 words. A bit better.
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Six days in, and doing a lot better. I enjoyed a good boost over the weekend. Have now surpassed 13,000 words.
Boy howdy, that's more like it!
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Eight days in. Have now surpassed 19,000 words. Good, but room for improvement.
Might not add many, if any, more comments to this post, not least of all because I intend to release another blog entry in order to mark my sixth "first-watched-MLP:FiM" anniversary, which is on Friday 10th November.
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Ten days in. 20,000 words.
Well, I'm confident I'll meet my 50k target, at least. But I was really hoping to do better.
That's enough commenting for now, i think.