Yes, that's right! after 27 grueling days (actually 25 work days and 2 of utter slackerness) I have managed to write the first 50,417 words of my next novel, tentatively entitled "Gideon's Ladies."

Was it worth it? Well, sometime after today, I'll realize that it was.  The writing phase is always hard, and putting a word counter on every morsel  you manage to crank out is a definition of cruelty.  But now I know that this story has legs.  it can someday become a novel, and when that day comes, I'll be delighted that I spend November 2010 in this effort. For now, however, it's off to start Christmas preparations (and a good stiff drink, too.)

I've been letting my updated calendar widget take the place of blogging for a week or so, because I've been so busy turning out other articles.  I've embarked on the beginnings of a blog tour.  I'm aiming for a rate of about one appearance very two weeks, and so far I've finished three separate blogs for three separate websites. I see a lot of academic bloggers who can write academic articles and then turn effortlessly to a casual blog entry.  I can't do that, for some reason.  Once I'm thinking about another writing project, blogging just has to wait.

Anyway, here's an update. I've been pushing my NaNoWriMo word counts way over the limit this past week because I know I have an unproductive weekend coming up.  I have a charity magic show to help stage on Thursday and Thursday evening.  On Friday I'm responsible for hosting a hospitality room for visiting Lions from a four-state area.  On Saturday I'll be in Sight and Hearing Service meetings all day. There will be no writing time in there, I'm afraid, so when you see little red boxes popping up on my calendar, remember that I'm not just taking time off. I just passed 32,835 words, which puts me three and a half days ahead of schedule.  One more day like today and I should be well into my last week of novel-writing.

The NaNoWriMo process has been easier this year.  I find I'm better able to just sit down and let the words flow.  What's developing on my computer screen is by no means a finished product, but it's going to serve as a great base from which to build a real novel. As I write, I'm getting a feel for the characters, and I find that some of the individuals have begun to speak in their own voices, which is always a delightful turning point. I'm anxious now to find out what they are going to do next, and how they will handle the problems they have set for themselves.

And updated on Friday, November 5, 2010:

Just a brief note here to explain why my NaNoWriMo calendar is showing yellow for yesterday and today, rather than my usual bright green.  It means I'm not a total failure, but I'm slipping a bit.  I added 1383 words on Thursday, which is obviously below goal.  However, my past three days were enough over goal that the four day total (6955 words) I was above the average. Today, I did slightly better, coming in at 1422 words, for a total of 8377, a grand 42 words beyond the five-day goal.

So I'm making progress, but am I a success?  Maybe, but maybe not.  I've managed to eat  up most of the  margin of safety I accumulated at the beginning of the week. Can't let many more days like this happen.

During the month of November, I am participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), where I am hard at work on my next book.  The NaNoWriMo goal is to produce 50,000 words in 30 days -- which amounts to 1667 words every day. My total on day 2: 3585 words.  On the calendar, green days are the ones on which I have met the goal; red days reveal embarrassing failures.

The rules do not demand that anyone produce deathless prose.  The goals are speed, creativity, allowing characters to develop, and ideas to flow.  Last year was my first year of participation. In November 2009, I produced 62,000 words in 28 days.  I even got the certificate!  But what was important was that many of those words ended up in my latest book, "Beyond All Price."  Many of them didn't, of course, but I was off to a great start, and the motivation carried me right through to publication.

So, I won't promise you that "Gideon's Ladies" will write itself in the next month.  Truth is, I'll still be reading and researching much of the time.  I find it easiest to write dialogue, so I'll be concentrating in creating scenes from various spots in the story.  They can always be rearranged and polished later.  I probably won't update my progress every day, either, but I'll let you know how I'm doing at least once a week.  Cheerleaders welcome!