NaNoWriMo: November 11 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,810
Total Words Written: 14,474
Percent of Final Goal: 28%

Notes: Eek. I’m almost a full 2,500 words BEHIND schedule. That’s not good.

Maybe it’s just because I’ve been reading young adult fiction recently, but I kinda want to explore the new environment I created for Wendy’s school. I created three new characters for her to interact with last night – an insensitive jock, an all-business school nurse, and the school principal (you can guess what kind of day poor Wendy had at school today).

The principal probably has one of my favorite character descriptions I’ve ever written: “he carried with him the potbelly that only the abnormally thin have when they get old, married, and settled.” Sadly, I think the reason I like it so much is because that’s what I expect I’LL look like when I get old, married, and settled.

Speaking of reading (which I was two paragraphs ago), I’m finding it advantageous to read continually WHILE writing. When I read, I tend to adopt the conventions of the writer into my speech (Shakespeare and Dickens make me a bit more flowery than I’d normally be). Since I’ve been reading Jerry Spinelli recently, I’ve found it a bit easier to come up with distinctive, abnormal descriptors for my characters – something Spinelli excels at in books like Maniac Magee and Loser. I’m not nearly as GOOD at it as Spinelli is, but it’s helpful nonetheless.