Word Count 13465

I'm more than 25% of the way to the 50000 words. Big woohoo for me. And I know you guys are visiting, so where's the comments--Thanks Tricia G. for the support. How about the rest of you? Stick your head in and say HEY! (I have it set to MODERATE COMMENTS, so don't worry if you comment doesn't show up right away.)

Sticking to the outline is harder than I imagined. Last year I did NaNoWriMo by the seat of my pants. No outline, just the idea for a story and a few characters in my head. This year I spent some time preparing the outline. I know--already told you that. Not only did I add a twist at the end, now my story has zigged off. But it's a good thing. It's allowing me to add more depth to one of my favorite characters (think major love interest here.)

I'm swilling down the tea and working into the early hours of morning, but I'm having fun. I found a cool free gadget called Cool Timer from Harmony Hollow. I know I could use a kitchen time, but this one make cool noises. I set it for an hour and write. When the timers goes off, I set it for 10 minutes and give myself a little break. When it sounds again, back to work I go. It's really helping me stay on track and away from surfing the internet.

I'm listening to Taylor Swift, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney and my hero Trace Adkins--especially Trace. I love his voice. I imagine my character Case Alder with Trace's voice, except Alder can't sing. But he's got the same deep voice.

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Chapter by Chapter....

slowly I edit. I made it to Chapter 9. It's amazing to me that I wrote the darn thing quicker than I am able to edit it. And my protagonist is plotting against me (pun intended.) She's finished with this portion of her life and ready to move on. So I'm having to rein her in. She might be in for a surprise if I throw a kink in her plans long about Chapter 15.

It kind of reminds me of the movie Stranger Than Fiction. Did you see it? It's about a guy who figures out he's the character in a novel. The writer is plotting to kill him off. I've never been a big Will Ferrell fan (sorry Will), but he is so funny in this movie. And Emma Thompson, as the author is, great.

If you haven't seen it, get thee to the nearest movie rental store and check it out. My BIL and SIL recommended it. After I saw it my BIL and I plotted about what would have happened if the character had tried to get even and kill the author. Well, if the author was writing it, then she would know the character was plotting and if the character was plotting and the author was having him do so, was she then plotting her own suicide.... Get the drift. Several emails ensued where we schemed what the character and writer would do. And honest, we weren't drinking.

Does your character's behavior surprise you?