NaNo Hospice

     Okay, it's official. My condition is terminal. My word count--as far as NaNo--is half of what it should be right now...However, I think I have determined the problem, and have rectified it.

     I previously had a character in my story--my husband who I named "Dennis"--who looked exactly like Viggo Mortensen. LOTR Viggo. Hidalgo Viggo. Not the Viggo who played the guy undercover as a Russian and got into a wrestling match/fight with a guy in a spa, resulting in a bit of fleeting full-frontal male nudity. Not that Viggo. (And no, Val, I still have not seen the Viggo movie you keep touting. I apologize profusely.)

     I kept a photo of Dennis/Viggo in front of my laptop to keep myself immersed in the story. But I would find that hours and hours would pass, and all I would have to show for it would be a puddle of drool on my keyboard. No words...for hours and hours.

     Perhaps my "inspiration" is too distracting? I deliberated, and decided I should transform the "Dennis" character, changing what he looks like, and see if that makes a difference.

     Here is the new Dennis:

     What do you think? Do you think (the late) Victor French-like Dennis will keep me more on track?

       Help me. Please. I'm drowning in an empty swimming pool of words...

(Currently, my NaNo word count--since November 1--is 14,139 which might seem quite anemic, but those are words added to my 2012 NaNoWriMo, bringing it up to a grand total of 70,650. Of course, after November ends, I will be slashing and burning and revising, but I am getting closer to the conclusion of this story...and am spackling up some of the plot "holes.")

Death by NaNo

     Right now, I am over 10,000 words behind. NaNo is winning and I am losing. Will I make it up over the weekend, even though I have mid-quarter report cards to do (and first I need to grade an 18-wheeler full of papers organize some student work)?

     Probably not. However, right now I am 6,000 words further along on my "longish piece" than I was before I began NaNo 2013. And, I've turned a corner. Not the corner, as in the-end-of-this-novel-is-right-around-the-corner, but I think I've figured a way out of a mess I had created for myself. We'll see... 

     Another plus: my husband has hacked into my computer looked over my shoulder as I've written, and is intrigued that he is a character in it, although his name is "Dennis" in my story. Little does he know that "Dennis" also looks exactly like Viggo Mortensen. Not "Eastern Promises" Viggo but LOTR Viggo or Hidalgo Viggo or even GI Jane Viggo. I'm not terribly particular...

     So, here is a sneak-peek at my novel hubby:

       And now, back to NaNo...