Camp NaNoWriMo (April 2019)

[Synobun]

Is 20,000 words the length of the entire work or just that portion on the work you're writing now? The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction tal\kes works that long. The Writers of the Future Contest's upper limit is 17,000 words.

Just the portion I'm writing now. There's no way I could write a novel-length work this month. I also don't know if I'll stick with this story. It's half-baked at best, and I'm using the drafting process to feel it out and see if it's worth continuing. It's my first serious crack at first person, too, and I don't know how to feel about that. I keep using 'they' instead of 'we'.

Day 3 total: 2,255 words. I didn't write at all. But I was far enough ahead that I'm still on schedule so long as I write today.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Day 3 total: 3027 words.

I really got lazy over the past couple of months. Yes, I wrote every day. But often those days were only a sentence or two, or maybe a few paragraphs. That's making me overestimate how much I can actually do in an hour. I need to allow more time for this, since right now I'm not working from an outline on paper, just stuff I've been plotting mentally. I know the high points I want to hit and where the scene is going, but the actual getting there is slow - and I really need this material because it forms the basis for so much that's going to happen in the post-game part of my story (actually, part of it forms the basis for the developers having thrown magic into the game at the last moment as a deus ex machina; I had to come up with an in-story reason why that would make any sense at all).

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Day 4 total: 4120 words.

I've been experimenting with various points of view. Third-person omniscient is handy, but often confusing. Third-person limited omniscient is sometimes too limiting, as it's important to get multiple characters' perspective on the same event. It's like multiple cameras shooting a movie or TV show. Each character has his/her own perspective, and each one has thoughts and reactions I want to explore. I'm trying flashbacks to handle some of it, in order to get more "show, don't tell" going. Of course that's confusing for another reason, as I'm trying to indicate characters' internal thoughts as well as what they say aloud.

The current material is rough to write, as it's quite violent (it's going to be uncomfortable for some people to read when I'm ready to post it; think of some of the things that happened to political prisoners during medieval times; I had to do some research on torture devices and other interrogation and psychological practices since the game this story is based on made everything too vanilla, not enough realism).

 

[Zkribbler]

All kinds of distractions going on. Nothing written.

Spoiler Alas...only :

a mere 870 words total

 

[Valka D'Ur]

That's more than you had before you started.

C'mon, why not just sign up and join the cabin, if you'd like? Late entries are allowed, and you can edit your word count by day so you can adjust your stats to reflect when you actually wrote them.

 

[Synobun]

My day 4 total was 3,102 words. Only barely sticking with the daily required to finish on time.

I've been writing over 3000 words a day this month, but most of that's been for work...

 

[Zkribbler]

C'mon, why not just sign up and join the cabin,

Two reasons:
1) I've never been able to get my head around the concept of "a cabin" What is it? How does it work? What are the benefits? But mainly...
2) The rai·son d'ê·tre of NaNoWriMo is to set a word count goal and meet it. At present, I have no clue how long this story will be. It will be finished when it's finished. "Pantsing"
only adds to my uncertainty.
Thank you for the invite, tho.

BTW: Again 0 addition words written

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Two reasons:
1) I've never been able to get my head around the concept of "a cabin" What is it? How does it work? What are the benefits? But mainly...

This is the first time in over 10 years that I've been part of a cabin. It functions like a really miniature social group (remember when we had those?), in that it's a thread where the cabin members can discuss their stories. It's basically like a forum thread. Since I started the cabin, I posted an OP and whatever else gets written is up to the people who are part of the cabin.

The benefits are like these threads here - camaraderie, support, feedback, questions/answers, a place to post an excerpt if you want, etc.

2) The rai·son d'ê·tre of NaNoWriMo is to set a word count goal and meet it. At present, I have no clue how long this story will be. It will be finished when it's finished. "Pantsing"
only adds to my uncertainty.

You've misinterpreted the overall goal of NaNoWriMo. The overall goal is to help people develop a love of writing and a habit of writing on a regular basis, whether it's daily, weekly, or whatever fits in with the person's life and schedule. The person who started this did so because he heard so many people say, "I'd love to write a story/novel/script but I just don't have the time/it wouldn't be any good."

He reasoned that the "don't have time" part of that could be solved by setting a goal and breaking it down into manageable chunks. That's why I keep emphasizing that November means 1667 words/day, if you're writing every day. Or whatever else might suit, but that's the suggested daily goal. The Camp events are more flexible. You can choose your own goal, in accordance with what you're comfortable with. I got too comfortable with doing 10,000 so I tested myself to see if I could comfortably do 15,000. I could, so now I'm challenging myself with 30,000. Yes, I know I've done the 50,000 events twice, but that's grueling and I don't feel like doing that in April.

As for the quality part... nobody's story is judged on quality. It's assumed that every NaNo entry is a rough draft, whether starting from scratch or continuing something already started. You never have to let anyone read it if you don't want to.

We're posting our word counts here as a way to keep track of them and let each other know how we're doing, but this is not a competition among Synsensa, Mouthwash, and me (and whoever else might be doing this but is not posting). We are all competing with ourselves, to see if we can meet the goal we set for ourselves. So if one of us has more words than the others, groovy. I'm happy whenever people add more words. The only total that ultimately is relevant to me is my own. I've got over 25,000 words to go. Synsensa and Mouthwash chose a more modest goal, and that's fine - it's what they felt willing and able to do. My own goals in the past have been half of what they chose this time.

Thank you for the invite, tho.

BTW: Again 0 addition words written

You're welcome. It's still offered. And as far as I'm concerned, you haven't failed if you don't meet your word count goal as long as you tried. Not everyone makes it - I've had years with word counts of 0 because I had intentions but life either mucked me up or I tried winging it and the ideas just wouldn't go anywhere.

 

[Synobun]

Speaking of modest goals, I only wrote 80 words today.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

That's 80 more than you had before, so be pleased with yourself!

Day 5 total: 5127 words. I'm a little ahead of schedule now.

Damn, this is some creepy stuff I'm writing at the moment. It takes me back about 13 years when a guy on another gaming forum (with whom I didn't get along very well) PM'd me out of the blue and asked for my advice on the best way to execute a Roman centurion in the late Republic period so that the Immortal gene would kick in (he was writing a Highlander story).

So I researched all the different methods of execution used in late-Republican Rome and which classes of people they were used on, gave him my best suggestions (not crucifixion since it's too slow), he wrote the story, and gave me a nice acknowledgment when he posted it. It's bemusing to know that somewhere on the internet there's a Highlander fanfic thanking me for my advice on how to execute Roman soldiers.


In my own story I had to research the physiological and psychological effects of various methods of torture used on the nobility when they were being interrogated as political prisoners (slated for execution anyway; I have some of my villains openly musing in front of the hero whether they should hang him, behead him, slit his throat, or draw and quarter him; this is partly to induce psychological terror and partly because they really can't decide). Unlike the game this is based on, which glossed over the physical and psychological aspects of this part of the story, I plan to have my version of the character suffer from PTSD - not that people in the 11th century called it PTSD - and it will be a long-term thing that sometimes has effects on the way his relationships with family, friends, and acquaintances play out, not to mention some of the decisions he makes in regard to governing the kingdom.

For an antidote to all this grim stuff, I found part of an old story I intended to write: "Voyager Brides for Cartwright Brothers." It's a parody of "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and is a crossover between Star Trek: Voyager and Bonanza.

 

[Zkribbler]

Again, 0 words.
Before, I always had valid excuses.
This time, it was just plain ol' laziness.

"Voyager Brides for Cartwright Brothers." It's a parody of "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and is a crossover between Star Trek: Voyager and Bonanza.

Cross-overs are so much fun. I curse myself for never having finished Star Trek: The Big Bang Generation, and now I can't find it. And also its Big Bang sequel: Dividing by Zorro.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I might be persuaded to post my crossover fragment...

(conditions apply )


But in the meantime, my Day 6 total is 6223 words.

I'm probably going to end up doing extensive editing of this part of the story, since it's probably unsuitable for posting on anything but AO3 as it is (they accept more adult-rated material, whereas fanfiction.net would require a rating that would mean the story would be filtered out from most searches).

 

[Zkribbler]

Most of my high fantasy is action-comedy. This latest story was straight action. I think this is why I was finding it increasingly boring.

I've spent tonight re-writing it. In doing so, I've pushed my word count up to 1,000 words. I could still use some more dark humor.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Most of my high fantasy is action-comedy.

That's what keeps happening to any Star Trek story I try to write. I can't write a serious Star Trek story to save my life. Even my filk music never turns out serious, and I've written a lot of it over the last 35 years.

This NaNoWriMo project is serious writing, though (although I do tend to interject some humor here and there; the computer game heroes don't seem to smile or joke much, so I decided to have them do more of that before/after the events in the game - to be fair, the game events are pretty grim).

 

[Zkribbler]

The Forlorn Five vs. the Blue Dragon - still at 1,000 words.
Pizza Delivery Guy - 1.300 words

 

[Valka D'Ur]

So... I'm at 9730 words, which is less than I should be (didn't get a full 1000 words written although I definitely thought more than 1000 words).

An alternative direction the story could take is trying to invade my writing. I'm going to have to do this as an aside, because it won't let go and is as compelling in its own way as my original plan to extrapolate from the source material.

@MaryKB, I'd appreciate your take on this since you know so much already of what my plans are with this story:

Spoiler :

What if Duke William didn't arrive in time to save Edmund from being hanged? If Edmund died, there would be no one to rescue Randall from the Tower. If he didn't get rescued, the story wouldn't play out as in the game, the Queen and Badrick wouldn't be defeated, and Randall wouldn't end up as the king (indeed there wouldn't be anyone to let him know that he is the rightful heir). Of course the subsequent original stuff I planned wouldn't happen (or at least not as I originally thought it up; I still intend that Randall and Julia will marry).

The story veers off so that at the last moment, the Queen changes her mind about letting Randall die in the torture chamber. She decides to keep him prisoner instead (since some of the people in the Ulmer dukedom are rebelling against her; she thinks she might be able to use him to keep them in line and vice-versa - and yes, I've decided that Duke Edvar is still going to die so as far as anyone knows Randall is the rightful successor to the dukedom and the people are suspicious that Edvar and Edmund's bodies have turned up but Randall's hasn't in spite of the Queen's claim (a lie) that he is also dead).

Anyway... fast-forward about six months, and Randall is still a prisoner. Griffinvale is not a happy place under the Queen and Badrick's rule, and nobody in the kingdom but the Queen and her henchmen know Randall is still alive.

But of course he escapes, and makes his way to the only person he trusts to help him - his friend and former fellow knight, Sir Michael Westmore (I don't remember if I mentioned this character to you before; they're about the same age and have been friends since they were teenagers; Sir Michael's father is the Duke of Westmore and he and Duke Edvar had a wary-but-respectful relationship when Edvar was still alive).

Michael is shocked to discover that the friend he had mourned as dead is still alive, and tells Randall that his only chance to survive is to leave the kingdom. So he helps Randall get away, to Ravensmoor (where Randall's sister lives with her jerk of a husband). Once Randall arrives at Ravensmoor - scaring his sister when he turns up alive, since of course she too thought he was dead - he is immediately arrested by the King's guards. Seems the Queen put the word out that someone calling himself Randall Ulmer is on the loose, and she wants him back to determine his true identity and agenda - so would anyone who encounters him in any neighboring kingdom please capture and return him? Thanks.

So the King of Ravensmoor, not knowing what the true situation is, has Randall arrested and tossed into his Tower. Randall, by this point, is suffering from PTSD, having flashbacks to his captivity in Griffinvale, and therefore causing trouble for the guards who are suspicious that he's trying to escape.

Meanwhile, Duke William (who's been in Ravensmoor all this time; the reason he didn't make it to Griffinvale was because he had been too sick to go anywhere at the time) hears about this and realizes that the plan he had put in motion 30+ years before (to put Prince Thomas' son on the throne of Griffinvale) can still be salvaged. He'd thought the plan doomed when he heard, along with everyone else, that Randall had died. But now he realizes that it wasn't true, so there's still a chance.

It's much harder now, of course. Edmund is dead so as far as Randall is concerned, he is the true Duke of Ulmer (never mind that House Ulmer effectively and literally doesn't exist anymore because the Queen dealt with that by setting Ulmer House and half the waterfront neighborhood with it on fire), and his reason for living (as he sees it) is to clear his name, bring the real murderer of the king to justice, and rebuild what's left of House Ulmer and the dukedom. He also wants to find out what happened to certain family servants and tenants who were personally important to him; they might be dead, but he desperately hopes they survived.

So William has to tell Randall that he is really the son of Prince Thomas and therefore the real heir to the throne of Griffinvale, make him believe it (more difficult without the rest of the Council of Dukes to back him up on this), and persuade him that the only meaningful way for him to clear his name (he still stands accused of killing the King of Griffinvale) and get justice for Edvar and Edmund's deaths and those of the people who died in the service of House Ulmer when they resisted the Queen is to defeat the Queen and Badrick and take the throne himself.

Well, of course Randall will end up doing these things - the story has to have him on the throne at some point. But how he gets there in this alternative history is quite a bit different - and much darker - than the computer game or my original outline of original material. It involves him being a Duke/King in exile (the King of Ravensmoor is persuaded by Duke William that the man he's been told is impersonating Randall really is Randall and he was falsely accused of murdering the King of Griffinvale and he decides not to send Randall back to face execution). In my original story, Randall defeats the Queen and Badrick, is crowned, and settles in at the castle with Duke William and Edmund to advise him, his friend Sir Michael becomes his bodyguard, and I finally figured out how to get rid of his sister's jerk of a husband. But in this alternative history, Randall has to learn kingship while in exile, with only Duke William to advise him, and while he's still in mourning for the people he had grown up believing were his family. Somehow he has to figure out a way to either raise an army and take Griffinvale back by force, or (what would be Randall's preference since he doesn't want to risk any more lives of the people he's meant to rule) take it back by stealth.

I also wanted a way to explore Ravensmoor through Randall's eyes and experience in a way that is deeper than if he just went there on a visit. He's stuck living there for quite some time, and has to acclimate not only to the culture (if you remember, I mentioned one of the reasons why Randall and Julia didn't get along at first was due to a difference in cultures as neither could accept some of the things the other person considered normal; this time it's Randall trying to adjust to Ravensmoor rather than Julia trying to adjust to Griffinvale), but also to the climate. Ravensmoor is farther north and quite a bit colder than Griffinvale. Randall is accustomed to fog and some snow and ice, but nowhere near as much as Ravensmoor gets. So he has to learn new life skills and attitudes that will let him live there somewhat peaceably. This is something I don't think I could have incorporated into the original version of the story.

So... this alternate version is demanding to be written, although I don't intend it to replace the original stuff I've already got planned (it definitely doesn't fit with the storyline of the game past the end of the part where Edmund is about to be hanged). I wanted to explore how Randall would cope without Edmund always available to help him. And the more I thought about the original background material presented in the game, the more I realized that Duke William is the real kingmaker, not Edmund (since William could conceivably have grabbed power for himself and the Bennett family, rather than fulfill the oath he took when Randall was born to keep the kingdom in the Harding family). I'd appreciate your opinions.

 

[Zkribbler]

I'd appreciate your opinions.

Is this directed at MaryKB or all of us? I will be crazy busy for the next few days, but after that, I'll be happy to help.

Remember a year or two ago when we tried to transfer documents but couldn't because I was using Word while you used Open Office? I now have Open Office too, so this should no longer be a problem.

 

[Synobun]

According to the website, I'll be finished my goal on May 30th.

I know nothing about the game you're writing about, Valka, so not sure I could have a useful opinion. It sounds interesting? But I couldn't tell you if it's accurate to the source material or better than what already exists.

 

[Zkribbler]

Pizza Delivery Guy - 1,633 words

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I'm currently at 10,337 words. That's nearly 1000 short of where I need to be. I'm hoping to make some up on the weekend, since I won't have soap operas or Survivor to distract me.

Is this directed at MaryKB or all of us? I will be crazy busy fot the next few days, but after that, I'll be happy to help/

Remember a tear or two ago when we tried to transfer documents but couldn't because I was using Word while you used Open Office? I now have Open Office too, so this should no longer be a problem.

The more opinions, the merrier!

I mentioned Mary because she's played the Standard Edition of the game I'm talking about (Kingmaker: Rise to the Throne) and we've been discussing it off and on over the past few months ever since I started obsessing about writing a prose version of it and asked her for feedback. She asked me some great questions about plot elements and characters I hadn't thought much about previously, and this sparked a whole slew of new plotlines and character creation that wouldn't have happened otherwise. This alternate version focuses more on one of those characters, who is more of a secondary character in the game (it's a standard thing in story-focused Hidden Object Games that there will be a character whose purpose is to assist the main character by giving clues, directions, or useful tools; in the case of this game, he's an interesting character in his own right).

According to the website, I'll be finished my goal on May 30th.

I know nothing about the game you're writing about, Valka, so not sure I could have a useful opinion. It sounds interesting? But I couldn't tell you if it's accurate to the source material or better than what already exists.

Oh, by this time I know the source material pretty well. I've played both the Collector's Edition and the Standard Edition multiple times, and some people have posted walkthroughs on YouTube (ignore the game elements, and it's almost like watching it on TV - not that the animation is as good as TV, but it's getting the story in about as many "helpings" as you would inbetween commercials, when you need to start the next video ). So that's enabled me to revisit specific scenes and study them. I don't have to try to remember what the characters are wearing or where they are when specific events happen, and since one of the walkthroughs is of the demo version, it's fascinating to see how some of the elements changed between the demo and final released versions (I prefer the demo version of the Duke of Ulmer's office, for example, as it makes more sense when trying to figure out how all the rooms in the house and the stairways might be connected).

I was able to transcribe the entire script of the game, including the characters' dialogue, the pov character's inner thoughts (the pov character is Edmund; the game events happen from his perspective, and one reason for converting this to a story is because I wanted to know the other characters' perspectives and what was going on when Edmund wasn't there to witness it), and some of the in-game notes. So that became the basic story outline, and I decided from there which parts I would expand on, what I would change to make everything flow better or make more sense.

I've created a slew of original characters to flesh out the story; one thing that stands out is the lack of people in the city other than the in-game characters. That makes no sense; no medieval city would be that empty of people, even with a palace coup going on. So it became necessary to figure out why nobody else was around, while introducing a slew of characters for later (ie. a ducal household should have servants, even if the house is located on the waterfront, over a fishmarket, so why weren't the servants mentioned in the game? The developers neglected to provide any, so I fixed that; I also created a younger sister for the Ulmer brothers - and a reason why she wasn't involved in the in-game events).

This is the game I'm talking about: Kingmaker: Rise to the Throne Collector's Edition. The person shown on this page is Randall. The person shown on the Standard Edition page is Duke William. I think there's another version somewhere for Android or somesuch that shows Badrick (one of the villains). The person who is almost never shown except in a murky, scene in the pouring rain, is the pov character. We have absolutely no idea what Edmund looks like other than the clothes he wears. So I've been trying to settle on some kind of idea as to how to describe him.

I'll post links to the walkthrough on YouTube later.