Part Two: The Escape

Day: 12
Time: 9:30 p.m.
Expected Word Count:  22,000
Current Word Count: 21,074

It was exciting to begin the escape chapters tonight.  Duncan and the underground have set fires and little explosions in the empty houses in the neighborhood in order to cover their exodus.  (Thanks to my friend Jon Williams for the great idea!)  The ensuing smoke and chaos are good cover from the street cameras of the Megari, and the rescue workers on scene would have no choice but to evacuate the neighborhood to prevent the spread of the fires in a place as dry as Phoenix. 

So, Duncan and Mia are somewhere on their own, planning to rendezvous with Beata and Duncan at another point in the city before the next stage of their plan goes into action.

I found a creative way to add word count which feels a little bit like a cheat, but is actually a legitimate use of quoting to set the tone of my sections.  I've added the lyrics to two songs, one at the beginning of each "Part" of the book, so far.  For Part One - The Appointment, I used the lyrics to "Kyrie" by Mr. Mister, since it is mentioned in that section.  For Part Two - The Escape, I used the lyrics to an old Bob Dylan/Carl Perkins tune called Champaign, Illinois.

It added a little to the word count (not significantly, comparatively, but enough to make me feel like I'd pulled one over on the Word Count Demons that sometimes plague us this month.

Take it easy, Take it as it comes, Take it to the Next Level, or just Take it to the Limit.

~Mrs. W.

Day Two: Sometimes You're the Windshield and Sometimes You're the Fly

Day: Two
Time: 1:49 p.m.
Expected Word Count:  3,667
Current Word Count:  667

I'll admit it.  I'm the fly today.  Parent-Teacher Conferences went very well, and I was grateful for the opportunity to speak to so many parents and brag about my amazing students.  But, a good word count is not in the works yesterday or today. 

I'm currently stationed at Starbucks (yay!  Free Wi-Fi!), and need to head home soon to make dinner plans with Mr. Wisniewski.  I've managed to squirrel away two hours of writing time doing "research" for my prologue about Mayan prophecies for the year 2012, correcting and re-posting the quarter two gradebooks (Yikes!), eating lunch, and creating this blog.  Sooooooo....yeah.  Not getting any closer to my word count goal, am I?

I'm watching the clock frown at my sluggish word count. Stupid prologue. Feels like writing non-fiction. *pout* My word count would surely soar if I skipped straight to writing Chapter One, right? *sigh* Back to slogging. Only one more section to go!

I can do this!  Here's the plan.  Write like a madwoman for 30 minutes.  Go home.  Clear head.  Have dinner with Mr. Wisniewski.

Come BACK to Starbucks after 6:00 p.m. and have a marathon writing session to hit my goal.  Catch up with me later to see if I do it!!!