Catch up

Last night my friend Misty came over to the house so that we could work on outlines and other story ideas and stuff. We spent the majority of the time making and eating dinner (bacon & cheddar quiche with dark chocolate brownies), but we also got a bit done on the books. She works nights and had only had a few hours of sleep. I was exhausted because of stress at work. By 10:00, we called it quits, and I took her home.

Two of the kids worked while we did, and while Misty and I struggled to come up with bits and pieces, they flew through creating some neat things for their novels. I had to keep reminding Misty that their inner critics weren't fully developed yet, and it wasn't our fault. Neither of us felt better for that, though. *laughs*

The story. Well, it changes every time I try to figure out the whys and wherefores. Last night I came up with three major conflicts that take place as the story moves forward, and none of them are what I initially thought they'd be. The good news is that I think I've finally come up with the initial conflict that sends Piper away from the village. It's a bit of a cliche, but that can be tweaked later. In the end, none of it may be what I think it is now, but at least I have ideas to work with.

I've also done a good bit of research on caves and caverns so I won't be completely lost on what it looks like inside one. Given how claustrophobic I am, I can't imagine doing personal research, but luckily, I don't have to. Thank you, Google.com!! :D

At one point this week, I set up an Excel spreadsheet to chart the number of words that I want to write per day, how many I have written per day, and what I need to write to catch up. According to the schedule, the novel will actually be 75k words at the end of the month, based on what I think I will have time to write each day. I'm going to keep that schedule for now because I may need that 50% padding come mid-November. I don't think so - I'm really pretty sure I can do this - but just in case life gets in the way....

Oh, and I'm also working on making a few items for my NaNo care-package partner. I'm kind of excited at the stuff that I'm going to send to her. She's out of the country until Friday, so I have time still, and I think I'm going to take it to make sure that her box is filled to the brim with fun goodies and treats. It's just such a fun idea that I want to make sure that my box lives up to the hype. :)

Okay, off to shower so that I can go to Panera to write for a bit. Misty may meet me there if she's awake yet, but if not, I still plan to get a few character sketches done. Ta-ta for now!