Camp NaNo Chronicles 2016: Halfway There

This week in Leslie's writing adventures, she will share how determination, sprinting and a little muse helped her reach 25k in the first 10 days of camp.

Well, I've come a long way since last week. With the 10k slump behind me, I face a different challenge as I move forward: staying on track. I know the last chain of events in my novel, now I just have to figure out how to get there. Even though I'm a little less than a week ahead on my word count, I shouldn't get cocky. I can fall behind faster than I rose to the top.

In the end, this is a very sloppy first draft. My inner editor is screaming at me to go back and fix a few plot holes or expand on a  section. But I know if I did that, I would fall into a rabbit hole of editing. With NaNo, it's all about looking forward, not stepping back.

So I look forward to where my story will lead me. What my characters will do, and what they learn on their journey. I look forward to finishing this challenge and hopefully more in the future.

Here is today's teaser:

“How can you trust him, he’s a prince.”

“I don’t,” I muttered. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me Lillian. I know he’s the enemy, but what if he’s not? What if he hasn’t learned about the conspiracy? What if he’s just a pawn like us?”

“No,” Lillian shook her head. “He’s manipulating you. Clearly, he and your father are in on this. Think about it, he’s trying to make you fall in love with him. That’s the only way, he’ll get you back home and take over your kingdom. Snap out of it, Cordelia, you are falling prey to another fairy tale.”

Camp NaNo Chronicles 2016: First Week Thoughts

With every NaNoWriMo, I participate in, I always ask myself: What is it about this story that excites me? Every year it surprises me how much or how little I care about my story. Sometimes I get into NaNo with a great idea, but as I keep writing, I feel less and less enthused about the project. Other times, I have so much fun writing and putting my MC in outrageous situations then the next thing I

know I've hit 50,000 words. Granted, I've only won twice. Once in November 2012 and again in July 2014.
As I continue to write this year, I keep asking myself, what made those two years different? Will I burn bright and fast, only to fizzle out after hitting 10k, or will I push through and get to the 50k and have another completed manuscript. Every year, I thought I was in love with a project, only to disappoint myself at the end.
Honestly, if I get in my head too much, it would affect my performance. I have to remind myself why I love to write and why I choose to participate in such a challenge as NaNoWriMo. That's seems like to only way to keep the doubts at bay.
I'm a very busy person, but I have been fortunate enough to find time to write this new story. And I'm happy to report that I have passed the 10k mark. I know for me, it's not much of an accomplishment, because that's where I start fizzing out and losing momentum. But as long as I know where I want the story to go, and I remain excited every time I open the word document, I know I will be fine.
Who knows what's in store for me over the next month. I'm just excited to see where this project takes me.

Teaser Tuesday Time! I present to you, Damsels! (Please remember that this is a very very rough NaNo Draft)

The trapdoor creaked slowly, I jumped into my bed and shut my eyes. This was it, my moment of truth. “Princess Cordelia?” My prince said, gently tapping my. My eyes fluttered open, to see the face of my one true love.

Meh.

He wasn’t unattractive, I guess, just sweaty. He did kill a dragon after all. His black hair was either sweaty or greasy, I couldn’t tell. His teeth were far too big for his mouth, but other than that, he was okay I guess. He was a prince after all.

“My prince,” I smiled. He leaned in close, this was it, true love’s kiss, well a sweaty, gross true loves kiss, but my happily ever after was sealed.

Before his lip could touch mine, he coughed. Blood sprayed from his mouth onto my face, a hand grabbed his shoulder, pulled him back and impaled him with a sword. My prince dropped to his knees, revealing a tall masked figure in black, pulling their sword from his chest.

“Your tower is a bitch to climb, no wonder he walked up. Thanks for the rope.”