Getting ready for the final push (NaNoWriMo 2014)

Me age 11

I so loved my day off from writing yesterday. It did me good. However, I did send out a batch of poems. Deadlines were looming and having got caught up in my novel I knew if I didn't get on with it I'd probably miss them.

My visit to the library was one of the quickest on record. I found what I was looking for straightaway and was out of there. In spare moments I am devouring The Writer's Handbook - Guide to Crime Writing. It features articles from the likes of Val McDermid, Ian Rankin and Minette Walters.

With our central heating kicking in at 5.20am (for my youngest son who has an early start for his job) I am awake and downstairs writing sometimes by 6am. No wonder I am knackered half way through the morning. I take naps after lunch sometimes and last night I almost drifted off watching England play Scotland (in fact I missed the first goal). I perked up to watch a bit of Imagine about the German artist Keifer who has an exhibition on at the Royal Academy (do I have time to get there???) but couldn't manage the midnight finish and went to bed with about twenty minutes to go.

I've decided that I must be more active on Twitter and while doing the NaNoWriMo challenge this seems to be the right time. I tweet early in the morning (only weird writers are up then!) and suddenly I have a few more followers. But I've started tweeting about my other interests, especially art and found some interesting people who I follow and they follow me. I am still not quite sure about Twitter but I'm making more of an effort to have some sort of presence there.

Coming back to my novel, this morning I thought I was not going to get started but I've pushed on through. I've had two sessions at it today so that I can reach my own target and have just broken the 40,000 word barrier. I have just under 10,000 words left to write! From tomorrow people are able to load up their completed novels for the official word count check. Some people it seems have got there already!

I've now got to begin wrapping things up. I'm aiming for a big dramatic end but I can't get there too quickly. I have notes for a couple of scenes still to write and then I have to sort out my sub-plots before the final ending. Ah! it all sounds so simple.

Want to have a big push tomorrow if possible because Friday and Saturday are taken up with arrangements for the Church Christmas Fair. Our group is laying on hot food. So I have to cook, put together the new menu and some fliers, get everything up to the hall on Friday afternoon and make sure the tables are laid. Then there is the little matter of the Christingle service in two weeks time - I need to fish out the posters and get them up on Friday! Friday morning is also my sport session where all frustrations will be thoroughly dealt with!