The Guardian

2004-11-29T14:05:00.000+10:00

I did it!

Made it - 50693 words in 27 days.

2004-11-27T20:16:00.000+10:00

Here are some vital stats:

Total hours spent writing 72.2
Average hours per day: 2.67
Average words per hour: 702
Average words written per day: 1877

Unfortunately the stats don't tell what a cruel drag, an awful strain or a terrible ordeal the month of November has been. Will I ever attempt NaNoWriMo again? Maybe one day when I have forgotten the terror, the boredem, the frustation it brings.

But I should also mention the satisfaction, the sense of achievement and accomplishment earned. 27 days ago I had an idea for a novel. Today, I have a novel. It's very rough, it has plot holes everywhere, bits are missing, but it has a beginning a middle and an end - and it's something to work from.

No matter what happens from here, I have finally written a novel.

Day 27 - Excerpt

2004-11-27T20:11:00.000+10:00

‘Please, look – Tucker has to discredit me. He has to make you believe I’m lying-’

‘Well it’s not hard is it? Only a fool would come out with such a story-’

‘Exactly! You know me, Angie. When have I ever made up a good story?’

Angie crossed her arms. ‘Your stories suck.’ She tapped her foot. ‘Why would Tucker need to discredit you?’

Motion swallowed. ‘Can I have a drink?’ He’d need to do this right, with tact and sensitivity. He only had one chance, if he fired up her temper again she’d path him in, and he couldn’t blame her. That she’d given him this much time was a credit to her generosity.

'Tuckers a two timing, back-stabbing, lying sack of crap.’

Day Twenty Two

2004-11-22T16:54:00.000+10:00

Well I wrote "The End" on day nineteen, so now I have to go back out fill out bits and pieces to make up my 50000 words.

From Chapter Four:

He hated coming here, it reminded him of childhood and of the Social Skills Principal’s Office, when he had been perhaps nine years old, powerless and at the mercy of an adults judgment. Principal Packard had very rarely punished him. His power lay in uncertainty, in the wait, in the unknown.

Day Nineteen Excerpt

2004-11-19T16:02:00.000+10:00

He couldn’t deny the fear that ran through his heart and resinated in tremors through his body. Fear of the unknown, of the loss of control, loss of freedom, the fear of the end. But beneath that, running through the very core of his humanity he felt calm, even proud. He’d taken a stand, done something to make a difference. Sure, his motivation had been selfish to start with, but when his gratuitous motivations had fallen, when there was no hope of gaining the life he had struggled to resurrect, he’d gone on. He’d made a difference to the world, a world that now had no place for him.

Day Eighteen Excerpt

2004-11-18T20:35:00.000+10:00

I've really been struggling recently. I had to double my word count today to make up for a slack effort yesterday.

Here's adouble length extract for good measure:

"Finally, he could take down his wife’s murderer – before he struck. He laughed, there was always a catch. He had to stop him, but she still had to die.

‘I don’t see the funny side of this,’ said Naomi.

‘You wouldn’t,’ said Motion. ‘You never saw the blood before. Your blood, splattered,’ he strode to the wall and pointed, ‘over here,’ he ran to the mindslip, ‘over here,’ to the corner, ‘more here, lots more here.’

He raised the cannon muzzle.

She backed up, her hands raised defensively in front of her. ‘Motion… don’t… what are you doing?’

‘I didn’t know,’ he said. ‘Blood stains twice.’

The cannon unleashed its charge."

Day Sixteen Extract

2004-11-16T20:37:00.000+10:00

The mood in the large port was mixed. There were many travellers from Earth anxious that they could not travel home as planned. They shared concerns about the misbo and one or two stopped as he exited the arrival gate to ask for news. There was nothing he could tell them beyond what they had already heard on the news.

Day Fifteen - Extract

2004-11-15T20:40:00.000+10:00

"Motion looked away. Should he tell her? Give her one life back only to take another? She would never forgive Tucker, like him, she held an unswerving sense of trust. It existed or it didn’t. Once broken it could be glued together like shards of a mirror to reflect a sham of its former self, but it could never be truly whole or perfect once tainted.

She waited for his answer, gnawing her lip."

Day Fourteen - Extract from Chapter Fourteen

2004-11-14T20:58:00.000+10:00

‘Ever been to Mars?’ he asked after a while.

Fingers ignored him.

Motion stepped closer. ‘I never wanted to go. Thought the boredom, the confinement would be too much. But they compensate for that, release the tension in other ways.’ He leered, his best perverted imitation.

Fingers wrinkled his nose and looked away in disgust.

Motion slammed him in the guts.

Day Thirteen - Extract from Chapter Thirteen

2004-11-13T21:57:00.000+10:00

Another tough day struggling to get to the 1700 daily word target. But still, I made it!

The quality of writing keeps falling though and I have lost track of what is supposed to be happening completely! Ah well, it'll be a killer editing job / rewrite.

Excerpt:

"Those cogging Bruzteski’s speech noticed first – their connection severed as an obstetrician’s knife slices the umbilical cord. Cries of alarm rippled through the crowds, first from those cogging, quickly followed by the rest who rushed to confirm their claims and were met by an empty, foreboding silence."

Day Twelve Excerpt

2004-11-12T22:26:00.000+10:00

From Chapter Twelve:

"But they weren’t. They weren’t better. They were lying, cheating, two-timing, back-stabbing, memsim f****** whores that looked down on him, that kept him at arms length, that made him feel different, detached, out of the ordinary, below normal - up themselves murdering bastards, like Sawyer."

Day Eleven Excerpt

2004-11-11T15:23:00.000+10:00

More from Chapter Eleven:

‘Liv,’ said Kyanis softly. ‘She had something in her. Something that we don’t have today. An unpredictability, a spontaneity and an individuality…’ he paced searching for the words. ‘That uniqueness I had to know what it – I had to find out what we’d lost.’

‘So that you could add it back?’

Kyanis sighed. ‘Maybe. But I still haven't discovered what it is. Not exactly. ’ He looked away, savouring fondness with his eyes. ‘She’s not less to me Motion, never less. She’s more.’

DayTen Extract

2004-11-11T15:21:00.000+10:00

From Chapter Eleven:

Words drifted through a dark, pain filled fog.

‘When are you going to accept it? This keeps happening - it’s obviously not working.’

‘It will work. Just rewrite his memory.’

‘No. Not again.’

‘I wasn’t asking, Doctor.’

‘His receptors are overloaded as it is.’

‘Do it.’

Somewhere far away urgency called at him. He shouldn’t be like this – it was dangerous to be… The hiss of a hypospray and the voices faded from the darkness.

Progress Report Day 10

2004-11-11T15:14:00.000+10:00

Yesterday was day ten, and the first time I was under the 1700 word quota. I only managed a measly 506 words, but it kept the counter ticking over and I have enough buffer space to have a few slack days if necessary.

The story seems otbe going ok. I have been stumped a few times of where to go next, and there is a mild concern forming that I'm a little too close to the anticipated finish line for day ten. In first draft mode I am very light on description - especially places and people, so a lot of events have been happening in very few words.

Ah well, if I finish in under 50 000 words I guess I'll have to start rewriting! Still under half way though and there's no guarantees I'll make the 50 000 at all. No matter what happens I'm quite amazed by how much can be written in a such a small amount of time. It makes the amount I've written in the last few years seem miniscule for the time it took to author it.

Day Nine - Extract from Chapter Eleven

2004-11-09T14:30:00.000+10:00

"When the flash faded he was greeted by a moderately lit workroom. An alarm blinked as he stumbled from the portpad and a nearby worker called out in a mix of annoyance and astonishment. ‘Hey. How did you port in here? This is a restricted area.’

He was too tired to augment and the smears of blood that trailed behind him prevented a bluff of authority. ‘I’ll be going then,’ he replied.

Day Eight - Extract from Chapter Nine

2004-11-08T11:54:00.000+10:00

"Tucker and the PRU officer watched from the back of the shuttle as he unfastened his belt. He threw it to Tucker. ‘Tie him up.’

Tucker obliged. ‘Great plan. Now they know where you’re headed, they’ll be waiting.’

Motion pulled his gun, levelling it at Tucker’s head.

Tucker and the PRU officer ducked forward.

Motion fired. Shards of the back screen pelted the smooth casamir track as the blast rumbled up and down the tubeway. ‘Which is why we won’t be on it.’

Tucker stared at the carnage disappearing at too hundred kilometres per hour. ‘You’re crazy!’

Motion smiled. ‘You’re only just getting that?’"

Day Seven - 50 Word Extract from Chapter Eight

2004-11-07T16:03:00.000+10:00

From Chapter Eight -

"Motion back-handed him with the butt of his pistol. Blood poured from Tucker’s nose, running across his tight lips before curling around his chin.

‘Cog it to me.’ With effort, he maintained a level edge to his raw voice.

Tucker grasped his bleeding face and wiped his blood-soaked hand on the sheet. "

Day Seven - 50 Word Extract

2004-11-07T16:02:00.000+10:00

From Chapter Seven:

"It happened so fast Motion could barely sense the transition. But he was back – reconnected to his body. Argh! A body racked by intense pain. The whir of a robotic arm and the stink of burning flesh filled the air. He tried to scream but despite the reconnection, his muscles were equally non responsive. A mechanical finger nudged his exposed brain."

Day Six - 50 Word Extract

2004-11-06T19:28:00.000+10:00

From Chapter Six -

"Bruzetski gazed at the depths of the swirling gluark. ‘Would you risk your sanity, for one last day with the person you love?’

‘No,’ replied Mazzacane, needing no time for consideration. ‘But then I am a scientist.’ His eyes and smile glowed with pride. Efficiency, logic and the dedication to progress were the only tools he needed. "

I'm going to post a second extract because I couldn't decide which was my favourite part:

"Bruzetski stepped away from the mindslip device. ‘He deserves to know.’

‘Sawyer?’

Hell no. He’d cyber himself before he let Sawyer out of his reach. No. He had someone else in mind. Someone with nothing to lose.

Mazzacane mistook his silence for confirmation. ‘It would reduce the probable success of the mission.’

‘I said he deserved to know, not that I’d tell him.’

Mazzacane dismissed the entire notions of merit, honesty and decency with a limp wristed shrug."

Day Five - Extract Two

2004-11-05T20:18:00.000+10:00

So I couldn't resist putting up a second little extract from Chapter 5 :) -

Motion and Bruzetski stepped through the diaphanous wall, it gooped back into position, its touch lingering like spider web. A troop of armed security awaited them on the other side.

‘So much for trust,’ said Motion.

Bruzetski grinned. ‘Risk – if calculated - is acceptable. Stupidity is not.’

Motion nodded agreement, heartened that Brutezski was less of a fool than he had thought.

Day Five - 50 Word Extract

2004-11-05T14:49:00.000+10:00

From Chapter 5:

‘Did Tucker try to persuade you that cyber won’t be so bad?’

‘Like you don’t know already.’

‘Sure I do. He’s right. It wouldn’t be so bad. Might even be better for a guy like you – all bitter and twisted with rage and ambivalence. What makes you think you’re too good for this to happen to you?’

Progress So Far

2004-11-04T14:58:00.000+10:00

I'm pretty pleased with how I'm progressing so far.

My meter and spreadsheet tell me I'm way ahead of schedule. After a minor disaster of a (literally) exploding monitor on day one, things have been going quite well. A couple of unexpected twists have turned up, but nothing that has thrown me too far off course - which makes me nervous.

Well, so far so good.

Day Four - 50 Word Extract

2004-11-04T14:40:00.000+10:00

From Chapter Four:

"Motion threw him a stare so full of distaste, Tucker stepped back. ‘Memsims are a disgrace to humanity. A defilement of memory – of treasured experiences.’

‘Yeah. Look I just wanted to say, I could be there – you know, when they do it - if you wanted.’ He stared at the wall, perhaps trying to find the point of interest that Motion had."

Day Three - 50 Word Extract

2004-11-04T14:35:00.000+10:00

From Chapter Two:

"There was something solid, final, about engraved plaques that had maintained their tradition over the centuries. He ran his fingers over the indentations in the cool brass, tracing “Naomi Motion” and then her date of death “18 July 2291 – Regression Day”. "

Day Two - 50 Word Extract

2004-11-04T14:34:00.000+10:00

The ending paragraph of Chapter One:

"Sweat, apples and sex mingled in the air as he collapsed on her - smooth, soft and perfect beneath him – and yet not. A torrent of emotions twisted into a single stream of loneliness that threatened to wash his true self away. Bile stung his throat before exhaustion claimed him. A final thought, an echo of Kyamis's desparate words whispered through his mind. 'I know what you are.'"