NaNoWriMo Total Word Count for 28 Days:

46,903 Words

I finally became "unstuck" today. I figured out why the Bully in "Winston and the Lint Monster" is so ticked off. It now makes sense, and I couldn't be more excited. This tale just might have a chance to blossom into a full-blown book after all!

NaNoWriMo Total Word Count for 21 Days:

34,664 Words

I planned to hit the 40,000 word plateau by this point, but such is life. Only nine more days left and counting on this adventure to write a novel of 50,000 or more words in 30 days!

WINSTON AND THE LINT MONSTER (FIRST DRAFT INTRODUCTION)

National Novel Writing Month has been going on for a grand total of fourteen days. In that time, I've put in a lot of words and many hours in a quest to get rough drafts completed for a few easy reader chapter books. Here is a sample first draft opening of the second one called, "Winston and the Lint Monster."

Winston threw the television remote across the room. It hit the wall and shattered into three jagged pieces, leaving a quarter size rip in the orange and lime striped wallpaper. The fragments landed unceremoniously on the stained shag carpet in the living room. His first thought was, “What did I just do? Oh, well ... the clicker hasn’t worked right in a couple of weeks.” The TV had been stuck on the same channel for seventeen days, ten hours, and twenty-nine minutes. But who’s counting?

Winston wanted to change the channel to his favorite program, “Robot Wars.” But, the stupid electronic device had ceased to operate correctly for so long now that he wasn’t even sure if he’d remember what his favorite robot, Megatron, looked like. Instead, the British History Channel played old speeches from this guy named Churchill and showed clips of World War 2.

Frankly, he was tired of the programs. Sure watching military planes shoot, bomb, and get in dogfights in the sky over London was cool. But, he longed to watch something that was a little more modern. Ancient war clips and political speeches from some old guy named Churchill simply didn’t do it for him.

  

“Winston? What just happened?” questioned his Mom ...

What do you think? Would this opening catch your attention if you were an 8 to 12 years old reader? As always, feedback is appreciated ...

One Done, Two to Go for NaNoWriMo

The rough draft of "Macaroni and the Binky - The Novel" is done! It clocks in at a stout 17,309 words and sixteen chapters. I'm going to have to wield a heavy axe to cut it down to a more marketable 10,000 words or less in order to reach my target audience. *sigh* Time to start writing easy reader chapter book #2 for the month!

NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH REPORT (DAY 7)

NaNoWriMo Total Word Count for 7 Days: 

 

15,188 Words

  

I've completed the first thirteen chapters of "Macaroni and the Binky - the Novel." It's been both rewarding and tiring at the same time. And, yes, several hours of writer's block has intervened on this venture. But overall, I am satisfied with my progress so far.

 

Once the month of November turns over the driver's seat to December, I'm sure to have a boatload of editing and revising to do. But that is a good thing! Instead of multiple stories sitting in my head and collecting cobwebs, I'm being proactive and letting them see the light of day (in rough draft form for now, at least).

 

I only have another 34,812 words to go to meet my goal of 50, 000 words for this month! Wish me luck ...

I voted!