Tag Archives: Nano2009

Day 16 – 1,930 words
Day 17 – 0 words
Day 18 – 1,684 words
Day 22 – 0 words
Day 23 – 2,271 words
Day 24 – 2,706 words
Day 25 – 3,472 words
Day 26 – 859 words
Day 27 – 4,035 words
Day 28 – 8,902 words
Day 29 – 1,018 words
Day 30 – 0 words

Novel total – 51,025 words

Woohoo! I wrote almost every day in November, which is part of the challenge. I really don’t like having 8,000+ word days because I’m so far behind. Hubby is already encouraging me to plan for next year. I’m not sure if I want to attempt another historical. There are tons of historical facts that I made up because I had no idea. This may be a silly question, but did the Egyptian houses have windows? Details like these I just had to guess about and told myself I would do more research later. Like in January.

I finished my 50,000 words just before midnight!! Woohoo! My novel isn’t quite done yet, but I’m happy.

I’m in the middle of writing about the passover. They still have to eat the lamb and the firstborn sons of the Egyptians will die. 🙁 Then the Hebrews will be allowed to leave Egypt. I haven’t decided if I’m going to end the story there or if I will continue until the Red Sea crossing.

I finished two days early after trailing behind schedule for the last three weeks! I’m really excited about having finished the challenge this year.

Chugging along on my novel. I’ve written 80% (40,000 words) of it and have to finish by Monday at midnight. Blog posts will probably be very sparse until then.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and a very blessed Sabbath!

Just shy of half way finished on day 15 of 30.

Day 1 – 4,065 words
Day 2 – 4,735 words
Day 3 – 768 words
Day 4 – 1,016 words
Day 5 – 2,871 words
Day 6 – 0 words
Day 7 – 0 words
Day 8 – 557 words
Day 9 – 0 words
Day 10 – 1,428 words
Day 11 – 1,995 words
Day 12 – 1,680 words
Day 13 – 1,907 words
Day 14 – 0 words
Day 15 – 3,126 words

Running tally – 24,148 words

I figured it was time for an update on my novel. I currently have 32% of it written. I’m a little bit behind my set schedule but I’m happy with my progress.

So far it’s flowing pretty well. I was planning on writing from the perspective of two characters. However, doing the actual writing, I’m only finding the voice for one character. I wrote one scene from the other planned character so during the rewrite, I will either have to take out the second character or add numerous scenes from his perspective. Right now, I’m thinking I’ll just write about the one character I’ve been working on.

I’m almost a third done with the 50,000 words but I’m still writing about the second plague. If all the other events in the novel take this many words to write, I’ll have plenty of material through the end of November!

It’s been interesting writing about the plagues and how God worked in Egypt. I really wonder how I would have lived during that time period, especially when there is no record of God communicating with His people after Joseph died. The Israelites were in Egypt for several hundred years before they were allowed to leave. Several generations would have been born and died since God communicated with Joseph through his dreams. That’s not to say God was quiet during those years but we have no record of Him communicating with anyone until Moses was called to the burning bush.

National Novel Writing Month starts in five days! I can’t wait to get started but I’m really nervous. The first half of my novel is outlined but the second half is really sparse. I only have one character developed and she’s not even fully rounded. Character development is the hardest aspect of fiction writing, I think.

Plot is easier this year because I’m writing about what it could have been like to live through the plagues of Egypt and the exodus. The overarching plot is already written out for me, though the details of the story are completely open.

I’m trying to focus on finding God through the plagues and exodus. What would it have been like to live in slavery? How would people feel when Moses shows up and says that God is ready to deliver them? What was it like to work under harsher conditions because Moses demanded their release? What was it like to watch the plagues occur and to be affected by a number of them? How would people have seen God through this situation?

I’m sure that everyone’s experience was different, much like it would be if it happened today. My response to God would probably be different than your response to Him which would be different than the neighbor’s response. It all depends on your history, your life experiences, and your attitude toward life. Would God seem mean? Caring? Loving? Would you be scared of Him?

These are the things I want to explore in writing my novel next month. I hope to grow closer to God through the experience as I seek to understand how He dealt with a lost people, a stubborn Pharaoh, and a meek leader.

This year, I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month. The challenge is to write a 175 page novel (50,000 words) during the month of November. Nano starts on November 1st at 12:01 AM and ends November 30th at midnight. The rules state that I have to write a novel completely from scratch, no rewrites or finishing drafts that have already been started. On November 1st, I will sit down with a blank Word document. Hopefully, by November 30th, I will have written an entire novel of at least 50,000 words.

It’s fun! I’ve participated twice before. The first time I attempted this feat, my story petered out and I wasn’t able to finish. The second time I tried, my novel was complete, over 50,000 words, but was terrible. I couldn’t even bear to read it. It might be saved on my hard drive somewhere, but I don’t even really remember what the story was about.

This year, I’m preparing myself ahead of time. I’m going to write a “Biblical narrative,” a novel that tells a Bible story but is written from the perspective of fictional characters. I’ve always wondered what it would have been like to live as a slave in Egypt, experience the plagues, and see firsthand the awesome power of God delivering His people.

The novel will be written from the perspective of an Egyptian male who is involved with the Hebrews but I’m not sure exactly how. He will be either a scribe in Pharaoh’s court and will thus witness Moses’ demands regarding the Hebrews or he’ll be a tax collector who deals with the Hebrew farmers who grow part of their crops for Egypt.

The second character is a Hebrew slave, a young girl who lost both of her parents early in life and is no stranger to hardship and grief. I want to explore what it may have been like for both the Egyptians and Hebrews as the plagues progressed and the Hebrews were finally allowed to leave Egypt.

That’s what all my research has been about lately. I’ve been reading books on Egypt, the plagues, and Mt. Sinai. There are some very interesting theories about the 10 plagues, whether they were supernatural occurrences or natural events controlled by God. I’m not sure anyone really knows.