I had a feeling that this year's NaNoWriMo would be one of the most meaningful months for my writing in a while. The completion of the sixth Chronicle of Almoriden would bring me full circle, back to the viewpoint character that started it all back in 2014. It was not the easiest year to complete the necessary 50,000 words, but marked the nineth win out of ten total attempts. While I am not entirely satisfied, there is much to celebrate!
The Return of Mikkjal
"I was reborn in a burning world and pledge to extinguish the flames of tyranny."
One of my top fears of writing this novel was writing from the viewpoint of Mikkjal again. I feel like my writing skills have grown a lot since I last wrote as that character, and I worried that it might take me a while to conjure him again. However, this turned out to be a non-issue. As soon as I started writing, I knew he was still there, waiting to tell more of his story. I did my best to record his thoughts and actions as he went out on the new adventure. I hope that my readers feel the same way when the book comes out.
The Process
As in previous years, I relied heavily on dictation to write this year. I used my commute into work to advance the story. At night, I would go over the transcription and clean it up a little (hopefully saving me some edit time, an issue I ran into editing parts of The Painted Ship). There were a few days when I dictated at night, but my consistent writing times were Monday through Thursday. Thanksgiving, as always, is a poor time for writing. I also took it easy on Black Friday, writing only 21 words both holidays.
One thing that I have realized about my process over the years is that I work best by planning the beginning of the story and the end of the story. Then I write the action in the middle as an exercise of delaying the inevitable until I can no longer do so. I may have done it too well this year, but I will get to that eventually.
The Data
My goal was to try to write 2,000 words each day (333 words over par). For the most part, I was able to do that.
My grand total was 56,005 words. I was able to write every day.
I wanted to see a little more consistency, but I will take it.
On average I wrote 1,806 words per day. My goal was 2,000, but it was still over the needed 1,667 words.
On an interesting side note, I was able to get over 500,000 all-time words in NaNoWriMo.
My Concerns
While I exceeded the 50,000 words, I did not finish the story. I am really close. I know what needs to happen and most of how to make it happen. I just need to get it written. It should only take me a few dictation sessions. Other than that, I think I have written a solid first draft.
The Chronicles of Almoriden Book Six: The Dragon Queen
Allow me to introduce you to my newest book! I feel like the book fits well as a sequel to The Merchant of Vaetskan and the conclusion of the second wave of books. I suspect that it will be a few years before it will be ready to share in its entirety, but it takes place about 300 years after we last heard from Mikkjal. I have saved many details that were in The Merchant of Vaetskan to be callbacks and puzzle pieces in The Dragon Queen.
I tried several methods of waking Naizer: a gentle touch, a rougher poke with one of the fireplace tools, placing a ham hock near his nostril, and finally prying open an eyelid with a shoehorn—the shoehorn did the trick.
If you have not read my fantasy novels, you can pick up Books 1 - 4 on Amazon. Book 1 is free!
