So, here we are... It's November 17th and I haven't picked up the virtual pen for the day yet but I sit at whisker below 30,000 words. I'm sure I'll pass that milestone tonight as I complete what I can only term as a very pivotal and emotional scene for our lead characters, Liam and Lisbeth.
For me, NaNoWriMo has been a good experience so far. It has given me a tangible goal to meet and encouraged me to simply write. That being the case, I am 100% certain that what I have written right now will not be anywhere near the final text. I have, many times, fought the urge to "revise" while writing -- the enemy of any writer. However, that IS how I wrote Sands of Time... so it is a struggle every time I fire up the old word processor and start typing. The positive part of such a struggle is that it keeps me focused on my goal, which in this case is two-fold: to write 50,000 words by November 30th and to complete Towering Pines first draft. For some participants of NaNoWriMo, they may be able to complete their book in 50,000 words. Sands of Time was just over 52,000 words and I can tell you that where I am in the story at 30,000 words, I can't finish it in 20,000.
So, stay tuned for more updates during NaNoWriMo and enjoy an unpolished peak at: Towering Pines....
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And every chance he got he looked for
her, but didn’t see her. He didn’t
even know what company she was in or what room. After Mess III students were allowed time in the phone room
to call whomever they wanted to if they had money in their personal phone
account. Liam did not but he thought
he would try calling him collect anyway.
He was feeling a little homesick and wanted to hear his mother’s
voice. Have her tell him
everything was going to be OK.
“Operator, how can I help you?”
“I’d like to make a collect call
to the number I dialed.”
“Who is calling?”
“Liam”
Liam listened to the phone ring
once, then twice and then again before he heard someone come on the line.
“Hello,” he heard his father’s
voice come over the phone.
“Collect call from Liam, do you
accept?”
Then there was silence that seemed
to last forever before he heard his mother’s voice in the background, “Dan who
is it?” He could hear his father
put his hand over the mouthpiece but he could still hear what his father was
saying.
“It’s Liam.”
“Oh, I want to talk, how is
he? What is he doing?”
“Linda just let it go. He’s fine.”
“Sir,” the operator came over the line, “do you accept the charges?”
The silence went on for another
few seconds and he heard his father hang up the phone. Liam was crushed.
He slowly walked up the stairs to
the 500 deck and flung himself into his room. He flopped on the bottom bunk with tears streaming down his
face. He saw the tears falling
onto his black shirt but he didn’t think he was crying. He was surprised by how wet his face
was when he wiped away the tears.