You remember that I went into NaNoWriMo 2020 not expecting to win. For one thing, I wasn’t even on the right starting blocks — it was been an awful long time since I’ve even attempted something long-form, so I planned to occupy my time with short stories instead to grease the gears. And then there’s the fact that fourth quarter is the busiest season for my day job, so energy and possibly time would already be spoken for.
That said, I’m not disappointed too much by how it went.
- I began with a short story for which I only had the opening line when I started writing; about 2,700 words into it, I realized that it wanted to be a romantic piece of whimsy… and I don’t know how to WRITE a romantic piece of whimsy. so I back-burnered that one.
- The next thing I wrote was a 3,200-word piece of Lovecraftiana. If I ever get as far as putting together the Cthulhu and Beyond anthology I’ve been noodling on for years, I’ve got the first draft done of my contribution.
- The next short story, 2800 words, was also Lovecraftian, and it replaced the short story I wrote in October which was meant for my live Freestyle Gargoyles performance. I got some good praise for it afterward; I’m rather proud of it.
- And finally, I’m almost 6,000 words into what I assume will be a novelette. Post-apocalyptic bounty hunters; what’s not to like?
So, about 14,000+ words, and I don’t really have to stop now anyway. I’ve decided to put CheapCaffeine, my webcomic that occupied my most mornings, on hold and use that time for fictioneering for the foreseeable future. Who knows? I may even get back to that romantic piece of whimsy. (Don’t count on it.)