The Girl Behind Curtain Number #3

So I finished the second scene/ chapter of Talysmana. I went waaaay over budget with my word count for the day, writing 1086 words.

(If you’re playing Write A Book With Me and matching me for words, stop at 500, and I’m sorry about the overrun.)

But I got the scene. I found out a LOT more about Nate, and a good deal more about Kettan, and a bit more about the pendant she found. Got to write a scene in the ER, which I enjoyed. Got to end with a nice twist, which I enjoyed.

And I’ve added the scene to the mailing list. Most of you should get it on Monday. I want to set the scenes up so they’re delivered on Mondays and Thursdays, so if by chance you decide you want to join the list over the weekend, you’ll get the first scene the day you join, and the next one on Thursday, because of the way I have the timing spaced.

After that, you’ll receive scenes either the Monday or the Thursday after I post one, whichever is sooner. I’ll try to keep the gaps reasonable. 😀

I’m excited about the way the story is coming together—even in first draft. But these are early days.

So. How did your words go?

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28 responses to “The Girl Behind Curtain Number #3”

  1. deb Avatar

    I just signed up for the list, but I never received scene #1. I’ve only got scene #2.

  2. Gabby Avatar
    Gabby

    ~ 1500 words plotting and replotting today. Following the ripples caused by my crazy scene from yesterday. Actually it’s forcing me to answer some questions that I’d been putting off. Why are the different forces (bad guys/good guys) making the Big Plan decisions they are making? If my character is going to be rescued by either side, why exactly are they helping her (in the case of the bad guys) or why aren’t they helping her MORE (in the case of the good guys)? I know MCs aren’t supposed to be helped (except off a cliff) but… I don’t know how else to get her to the next section of the story.

    Muse, please help me.
    * Either ‘we’ give up the twisty in the scene (sniff, sniff… nooooo)
    * You come up with a magic solution to how MC can give herself away but not get thrown in prison. (yes, please)
    * Somebody is helping her. but why? And if they are helping her, where have they been all this time and why are they doing such a lousy job of it? (cause in order to undo this mess, they must be a person of quite some influence)…

    What’s that? Alright, alright, I’m listening. A little bit of all 3 then? I don’t know, maybe that will work but… OK, OK. You’re right, Muse, I DID say I would listen, my apologies. Hmmm… I suppose that character might work for that. Sure, sure, take some time and I promise to show up tomorrow, same place, to see what you’ve got for me.

  3. June Avatar
    June

    About 500 on Thursday. About 300 on Friday. This scene looks like Frankenstein’s Monster being done in fits and starts and with bits written over several weeks. Will need to go over it to smooth before I leave chapter 3.

  4. Lisa R Avatar
    Lisa R

    320 words. They weren’t good words because I am not really sure where I am going with this little scene that and I am exhausted.

  5. Hanna Avatar
    Hanna

    The Sentence – Garrett’s Confession, aka Confession
    50 short scene descriptions – Memoir of a Dream, or Memoir of a Life not Lived, still need a title, working title will be Memoir

    Now that I am getting to know my Muse, she is developing some personality and quirks. I found a spot at work to write, and in 15 minutes had 50 scene phrases for Memoir, not Confession, which is what I thought I would work on. Hence, my comment about My Muse. She might do this often, talk about something other than what I want to focus on.

    I am kind of excited to work on Memoir, it is a story dear to my heart. I hope I can pull it off. With 50 scenes already in mind and a very long wandering Sentence, I think I can do it. I wish I was not workign this afternnoon, I would love to dive in.

    1. DasteRoad Avatar

      Heheh yes, Muses can be quirky indeed 🙂
      But it’s exciting to follow them on their wild jumps and trips, isn’t it? Glad you’re feeling excited about writing again, Hannabelle. Good luck and keep it up!

  6. JJessie Avatar
    JJessie

    I have just joined in the WABWM journey but I am really anxious to be a part of this as it will help motivate me to keep writing. Thanks for putting something like this together Holly. Eager to work with everyone. My working title is From Memory Comes Revenge, it is a military/espionage thriller about a soldier returning from war and having his entire family murdered but loses the memory of it. Slowly he regains his memory and realizes the life he has been living is the root cause for all of his pain.

    1. Gabby Avatar
      Gabby

      Welcome to the fun! I like your title too and it sounds like a great premise.

  7. S. Megan Payne Avatar

    Lots of little words for little things. :sighs: About 500 though.

  8. Larkk Avatar
    Larkk

    2403 words, and no time for self doubt and second guessing, but also no time to think of something better for now. (I think that’s what NaNo is going for!)
    I will be soooo happy to be back at 500 words a day when November is over…that pace will give me time to kick ideas around, and possibly find better solutions before moving ahead.

    I do make time to read everyone’s comments though and am getting lots of insight from all of you. Thanks for posting, and happy writing!

  9. Nancy Avatar
    Nancy

    No words. Didn’t get home from the EDJ until after eight, making it a 12 hour day, not including stupid traffic. Chewed and swallowed something that I think was cold spaghetti tacos, stumbled up the stairs and promptly fell asleep in my bath. The dog woke me up, licking my arm, whereupon I managed to toss myself in bed. Let’s hope today is not a repeat.

  10. Peggy Avatar
    Peggy

    So yesterday, Thursday, I had a cold. I knew I wouldn’t be able to focus on the main MIP, DG (that it took me three tries to draft a short email requesting a reschedule of a job interview told me this pretty clearly). But I still wanted to write. I opened up OOT, the busman’s holiday MIP, and when I checked the wordcount at the end of the day, I’d gotten 1,073.

    1,073. While I had a cold and a mind that was foggier than early morning in San Francisco.

    I feel better today, but I left OOT in the middle of a scene, and I’d like to finish that up. Then I’ll think about DG and maybe getting some words on that.

    Holly — I don’t understand why you’re apologizing for running over on your own wordcount. I think that’s GREAT that you’re getting words that you like — and I thought that the 250/500 per day counts were minima to shoot for, not maxima. Have I badly misunderstood?

    1. Gabby Avatar
      Gabby

      LOL- I was thinking the same thing. I hope you don’t feel like you need to stop on our account, Holly. The more you write, the quicker we get the next scene. :))

      Actually I just downloaded Corrigan’s Blood from the Holly Shop. It says continuing adventures… Are the previous stories somewhere else in the Shop (and I didn’t look hard enough) or do I need to visit an actual book store to purchase? gasp (just kidding). Also, any chance you’ll be adding Visa as another payment type?

      thanks

  11. Debora Avatar
    Debora

    I am taking a short break. I have to get my house in order for Thanksgiving. I spent some time this morning re-reading what I’ve got so far, and it’s not bad. Not bad at all!

    Back again, after Thanksgiving!

  12. Jessica Avatar

    Infused about 100 words of an approaching sand storm, with the nephew summoning it. I decided that he’s going to stay and raise a little hell of his own.

  13. Khena Avatar
    Khena

    I had, really an amazing day yesterday. I wrote 5,559 words on my Nano, pushing me up to 37k. It was quite unexpected, but I’ll write it down as the most I’ve written in a day… ever. I’ve always liked the 10-minute approach, but had trouble with it since everything I used to time myself made noise… and noise attracts children which is not good for writing. So I used write or die in little ten minute bursts throughout my day (with the sound off) and the flashing background helped me a great deal to stay on track and make the most of my time. Anyway, just thought I would recommend it, since it is a great program.

    Rose had a tough week though. The wolf that had been threatening her, attacked, but passed her by and hit the guard holding her in place behind her. They pulled the wolf off, but not before the man had taken too much damage to live (brining my death toll to 18). The guards who weren’t trying to control the wolf attacked her, and threw her in the dungeons at the behest of the High Priest. As he wanted answers, they starved and tortured her for a while, but she refused to admit she was a Seer. She had just given up and found enough strength to attack one of her tormenters and enrage them enough for them to forget they were forbidden to kill her. Then her Lord walked in and demanded to know what they were doing. He declared he was not satisfied with her guilt, and demaded they retest her by the trial of the wolf once more. Rose had thought briefly she was saved, that Lord SilkStone would somehow make it better, only to feel betrayed once more.

    1. DasteRoad Avatar

      5559?? That’s an amazing wordcount Khena, congratulations! I don’t think I’ve ever written that much in a whole day, even on vacation! 😀
      To count my 10 minutes increments I use Dinner Timer Lite. If you turn the sound off, when time is over or close to over it pops up a little notice and the numbers on the semi-transparent window become red. That’s an useful way to track your time without making noise.

  14. Phil Avatar
    Phil

    No words today, I spent over an hour working on my timeline. Since mine is a historical novel, I have to be careful not to commit a faux pas and have the D-day invasion happening in the wrong year, etc.

  15. Leah Avatar
    Leah

    Now that hubby has finished updating my computer to Windows 7, and when he finishes installing Office, I’ll be back!

  16. DasteRoad Avatar

    A whopping 658 words on thursday 19, and after the last few crappy days of “I’m so tired I can’t manage to write decently”, that’s YAY to say the least! 😀

    Wrote a little during a couple of breaks in the office, a little before going home, and a little after dinner. Little by little, I rolled over to 658 with no effort – and I was already over 500 before the last session without even knowing it. I suppose that this is more or less what you meant by “ten minute magic”, Holly, am I right? 🙂

    In the guardian’s hall, interrogation begins. The matriarch questions Erthel about her family’s history in an effort to understand if what has happened is somehow related to her mother’s foggy past. Erthel tells the story as she knows it, though being a nomad there isn’t much to tell: by definition, a nomad has no traceable family line. She admits to having been conceived outside of a marriage, which is a common situation among nomads, but which troubles her all the same. There’s a couple of red herrings hidden here too, and I’m so loving it.

    1. Phil Avatar
      Phil

      That’s great Daste! Keep up the good work!

      p

      1. DasteRoad Avatar

        Thankee much Phil! 😀 *does her own personal happy dance*
        Well done to you too for a good plotting day, hope you’ll be soon ready to start writing!

  17. Greg Avatar
    Greg

    D&D: 543
    OFL: 1003
    RFW: 1027

  18. The Pencil Neck Avatar
    The Pencil Neck

    1086 words.

    The princess expected the rebel to shoot her in the head. But instead, he helped her to her feet. She listened to him not really comprehending what was going on at first but when she realized what had happened. She took advantage of it. The rebel didn’t know she was The Princess. The rebel thought she was some poor commoner that this nobleman had beaten up and then abused for some sadistic pleasure. The Princess played it up with quivering lips and tears and wrapped the guy around her finger, until she thought of her father dying and then the tears became real and she couldn’t stop them. And the rebel thought this was reaction to her having been molested and then seeing the man die, and didn’t realize this was reaction to a whole different set of things. She tried to get out on the pretext of her boyfriend outside worrying about her but the rebel wouldn’t let her and forced her to get medical attention before he’d let her leave. He walked her out and she made him blush.

    I had planned on taking next week off and I was going to concentrate on writing for most of the week. But I’ve got some impossible to meet deadlines at work and I might have to work on them, instead. Dagnabbit.

    1. HannaBelle Avatar
      HannaBelle

      Pencil Neck – Your moniker is a hoot, especially since you seem to have a normal neck in your picture. 😎

      Thanks for the comments yesterday about switching stories for a while. The support to do so is helpful.

      1. The Pencil Neck Avatar
        The Pencil Neck

        Thanks. My pleasure. 🙂

        My name basically comes from the fact that I’m a powerlifter. All my bigger, stronger friends make fun of me cause I’m less than 200# and therefore, a delicate flower. (Actually, that’s the short and inaccurate form of the story.)

  19. Ieva Avatar

    2K+ (2400+? or something). A part containing language that made me gasp with “come on, girl, that’s anatomically impossible” and gave me a LOT to know about the setting.
    Also, I killed off her mentor. She was too good.

  20. Tori Avatar
    Tori

    I can’t wait to get the scene Holly! I’ve been dying to know what happens next.
    I met my word count, bringing me to over 31K. I wrote close to 1700 words. Writing this much every day is starting to wear me out. I can’t wait to reach the end.
    Holly- Do you hate middles as much as I do? I love the way my stories start. But then they fall apart. If I can make it past this middle…I’ll get to an amazing end!

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