November 22, 2010. Perhaps it's time to bring everybody up to speed. I've been so focused on novel writing that I've fallen behind in the blogging. I managed to make some progress, and now the final stretch is in sight.

First, the boring statistics. I've written 39,189 words as of this morning, and I'm about to start writing today. The NaNoWriMo goal is 50,000 words, and the final novel is around 95,000–100,000 words. I just finished the Confidant, Veneza Karduil; having previously written the Opposition, Jonaldy Amonett, and the contrast character, Janhas Klocards. A little over 40 percent of the scenes have been written, and the first draft is presently tracking to finish around 96,000 words. So, I'm on target both for length and completion. Quality is another matter as I've never revised a novel before.

A few other little tidbits. I wrote a recipe for the software I use to serve the site content. It uses NaNoWriMo's wordcount API to provide both the "where we are now" and the progress history. That stole about an hour's productivity.

I also have started on a cover. Originally, I pinged the NaNo Artisans to see what they could come up with. I only had a couple of takers, and neither fit what I was hoping to see. In the process of trying to express myself to the second author, I ended up coming up with my own design. I suppose at some point I'll have to swing back around and make a proper cover. I really hoped to leverage off an artist on this one. I've invited friends on Facebook to send menacing photos to replace the blue guy.

Time to get back to writing.