NANAWRIMO Diary Part 1

Ok, so I decided to participate in this years nanowrimo. I was planning on doing it last year, but life seemed to get in the way. So, this year I made a schedule and I am trying to stick to it, which means I am doing absolutely nothing but writing today and tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to put a nice dent in the 50,000 word quota. This may be a little tricky, 50,000 words in one month, well actually it is now 17 days, it sounds a bit daunting, but I always have liked a bit of challenge.

I am happy to report that I have a complete plot, which I have thoroughly mapped out. My characters have been outlined, the setting thoroughly researched, and the timeline completed. Thank goodness for sticky notes, index cards, three-ring binders, and highlighters. I do love to raid the office supply stores!

As you can tell I am not a panster. The idea of going into something completely blind makes me a bit unnerved. I am a full-fledged plotter. Those four books you see hold every tiny little detail about my novel, right down to the recipes for the dishes that will be consumed by my characters. I know that it may sound a little over-the-top for some, but I feel that when writing, the author should know every detail that goes in the book, so that your writing has a realness to it.

 

I have even done a bit of hands-on research for the novel. It’s always nice to have a professional jouster on hand, when you need to know a bit of technical information.   Oh, and let me just say that the armour is a lot heavier than it looks and that chain-mail was horribly heavy.

 

I also visited a local castle just to get the feel of what it was like for my characters to live in one. I wanted to know the sounds, the echos, the lighting, the feel of  bare feet upon  cold flagstones. Although it wasn’t an actual historical castle, it has been modeled upon an English border castle, which made me even more eager to visit it as my story takes place in Northumbria. It was also thoroughly made by hand. Sadly I didn’t get to take as many pictures as I would have like as I forgot to charge my batteries.

The chair came from England.

Wheel-Stairs leading up from the dungeon.
The wheel-stairs were very steep and exceedingly narrow. Since the dimensions were taken from an English border castle, I was constantly wondering how the women maneuvered the stairs with their dresses.

In my next nanowrimo update I will be blogging about my plot.

Stats as of November 13th, 2011

Days in: 13  (although I started on the 3rd)
Words: 25,507
Chapter: 5-6
Cups Of Tea Consumed: More than I can count!

Keep those pens flowing…or those keys typing,
Until Next Time,

Angela Renee.