2003 National Novel Writing Month

Throughout November 2003 the fifth annual NaNoWriMo was held, and this year I took part.  It's basically a challenge for authors to produce a 50,000-word manuscript in 30 days.  The goal was not crisp writing.  The goal was not perfect grammar.  The goal was not outstanding editing.  The goal was to produce approximately 175-pages of a novel in thirty days, between midnight on November 1st and midnight on November 30th.  Quantity... quantity... quantity...

In this section of my web site I have posted my entry for NaNoWriMo 2003, which had a working title of The Mystic Inn.  Per the guidelines of the effort, I did not type or write a single word of the manuscript before 12:00am on November 1, 2003... that would have been cheating.  However, I did have some idea of the subject matter I intended to attempt.  Hey, it's 50,000 words in 30 days with no words written in advance... cut me some slack on having an idea ahead of time.

Now, here's how it works on the In My Backpack web site...  Below on this page there is a chart listing chapters, chapter titles, and posting dates.  My incredibly rough hope was to produce one chapter each day, at about 2,000-words per chapter.  The book  for the purposes of NaNoWriMo would have wrapped up in about 25-30 chapters.  Unfortunately, my writing was a bit choppy, with me dreaming and planning a million revisions, and I produced one, two, or more chapters each day at significantly shorter lengths.  As of December 13th, the entire draft... beginning to end... has been completed and is included in the chart.

Now, two big things... First, I have pointed out on this web site before that all of the material presented here at In My Backpack is mine and can not be used without my expressed, written consent.  In this particular case, it is even more of a sensitive issue for me.  I want to share my efforts in this project.  But, this is material I have worked on with specific hopes in mind... and currently plan to keep working with it.  Second, I cannot promise that I will post any further updates as I do revise, edit, or panic while I try to raise the quality.  There is a chance that will happen, but it isn't a definite.  Thank you for understanding.

If you are interested in learning more about NaNoWriMo, I encourage you to visit the site, which can be accessed using this link.

I know already there are several incredible character problems to solve... there are tremendous ideas that have turned into horribly crafted sections... continuity errors to sort out... and a whole bunch of other stuff to deal with.  But it's been alot of fun too.

 

WORDS AT END OF NOVEMBER:         51,235

WORD TOTAL FOR MANUSCRIPT:      55,443

* * * Please note * * *  As of March 10, 2006, I have removed the links to all chapters of this effort other than chapters 1 through 10.  Thank you for your understanding.

CHAPTER

 TITLE POSTING DATE NUMBER OF WORDS
1 Old Man Gillen and the Mailbox Brigade 11-2-03 1,081
2 Rubberneck Road 11-3-03 110
3 The Inn 11-3-03 341
4 Diary of S. L. Covington, last entry 11-4-03 285
5 Lunch along the way 11-4-03 2,192
6 A change in plans 11-5-03 841
7 Mrs. Penelope Laura Covington Crandall 11-5-03 1,660
8 Return to the Town Grill 11-6-03 1,146
9 Chris receives a visit 11-6-03 1,091
10 History of the Mystic Inn 11-7-03 1,892
11 Diary of S. L. Covington, last entry, concluded 11-7-03 324
12 Maybe just a quick look 11-7-03 1,557
13 A grand entrance 11-8-03 2,047
14 Rubberneck Road revisited 11-8-03 444
15 Introductions 11-10-03 930
16 Haunted houses and hurricanes 11-11-03 2,212
17 Dinner 11-12-03 1,242
18 Late night reading 11-12-03 809
19 A painting comes to life 11-13-03 725
20 An overnight sail 11-13-03 740
21 A knock at the door 11-13-03 588
22 Chris takes a walk 11-13-03 1,117
23 Good Morning 11-14-03 839
24 The lighthouse 11-15-03 1,735
25 The ocean parade 11-15-03 1,096
26 The call of the scarlet curse 11-15-03 239
27 A pinwheel encounter 11-15-03 1,047
28 The Raleigh 11-16-03 870
29 The scarlet curse 11-17-03 852
30 Chris has a conversation 11-17-03 758
31 Tom sees ghosts 11-17-03 534
32 Jill and Cindy and Leonard Crandall’s diary 11-18-03 742
33 Diary of LC Crandall 11-18-03 554
34 Jill and Cindy and the Patterson history 11-18-03 449
35 Tom meets Amanda Travers 11-19-03 1,496
36 Chris, Jill, Cindy, and the power of a lighthouse 11-19-03 828
37 For eternity 11-20-03 1,338
38 A discussion with Amanda and Arthur 11-20-03 1,807
39 A family’s business 11-21-03 1,651
40 A breakfast confrontation 11-21-03 417
41 Cynthia speaks to Tom 11-21-03 1,247
42 If you were a key, where would you be? 11-21-03 2,247
43 The nursery 11-24-03 1,476
44 The key for the light 11-25-03 639
45 Chris follows a dream 11-25-03 683
46 Tom searches the office 11-26-03 773
47 An incredible fall 11-26-03 794
48 Recovery 11-26-03 795
49 A plan 11-26-03 920
~ Certified as winning entry per NaNoWriMo 2003 guidelines on 11-26-03!!! ~
50 Beginning of the end 11-28-03 1,035
~ NaNoWriMo ends at midnight, November 30, 2003 ~
51 The corridor of fears 12-4-03 2,381
52 Up the lighthouse 12-4-03 709
53 Farewell 12-13-03 1,118

 

          Winner Icon                   

                   

For the above seven links, the 2003 participant and winner icons will bring you to the home page of my 2003 entry, The Mystic Inn.  The 2004 participant and winner icons will bring you to the home page of my 2004 entry, November Rising: The Trinity Stone.  The 2005 participant and winner icons will bring you to the home page of my 2005 entry, Harry and John. Since this very page represents the 2006 process and entry for Crazy Eights, using the 2006 participant icon will open a new window directed to bring you to the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) home page.