NaNoWriMo, Day 20, and lots of bad news
I should check in over here. Sorry, I've been neglectful. Not only of my blog, either; It is Day 20, and I just wrote my 14,001st word.
I am going to take Chris Baty's advice at this point, and change my goal to 25k. I will not make it to 50k, I'm very sure of that. But I've come much further than I have for the past two years. Beyond that, even, I have a story I like and am excited about, and I've found a way to write it that is working.
I am jumping all over the place in this story. I have always tried to write linearly before — this time I just couldn't, because I got to a place where I simply didn't know what happened next, and no matter how hard I beat on it, I couldn't crack it. So I just moved on to a part that I *did* know about, somewhere in the future. I kept moving that way. I've gone back and filled in some things in the past, and leaped way ahead — years, in the novel's time line — and written scenes that are unconnected to any others. It is all filling in, slowly.
I'm excited about writing again. A short story I've been working on has taken off in a cool direction, and I'm eager to finish the first draft of the NaNovel and get back to editing the old one.
Anyway, that's the update.
In news that actually matters:
Tobias Buckell experienced A Health Event which seems to not be nearly as serious as feared, but has spent a miserable few days in the hospital finding that out. He is due to go home tomorrow, after being poked and prodded and bored out of his mind for the better part of a week.
The campus of Westmont College, former home of the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, was partially destroyed during this week's fires. The fires were devastating to property, but with very few injuries.
Of the three severe injuries, one of the victims was a very cool woman who worked at Santa Barbara's Metro Comics. Carla was my daughter's ambassador in the comics world, always ready with a new recommendation and robust conversation. She is by all accounts an excellent human. She and her husband are both in critical condition. It is times like this when I wish there really were Mind Magic that could contribute to the recovery of Carla and her new husband. At the link above I learned that donations can be made at Santa Barbara Bank & Trust. I've sent an email to the bank to find out if donations can be made online; it looks like right now it's at the Montecito branch only.
Best wishes and condolences to all of those affected.