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My NaNo Novel is at about 20,000 words and the genre is now very apparent.  Somehow it turned into a futuristic horror story about space exploration.  Could it be my homicidal tendencies to kill off characters that caused the transition to horror?  Nobody has died yet, but it’s only a matter of time.

It’s been a fun story to write so far, and I think this mid-point revelation is a real turning point in the composition of the storyline.  I know where it’s going, I think I know how it’s going to end.  Now it’s just a matter of getting there.

I got my NaNo t-shirt in the mail yesterday, think I’ll wear it to the store tomorrow and boast about my mad NaNo’ing skills.  The important thing is to not fall behind, so I’m going to keep this entry short and get back to the writing.

I’m right on target for the end of week 1 of NaNo’ing.  It feels good.  I’ve gotten past several ‘Oh, shit, what happens next?’ moments, but I know there are still plenty more ahead.

Captain Tavaris and Nav Byrleigh are finally talking to each other (the two main characters did not start out on each other’s good side).  The entire explore team is about to go spelunking, returning to the same cave where half of the original team died, and the other half suffered major injuries, all in the name of resource collection for Rynori Industries.

We’ll see how they handle the emotional stresses of seeing their own blood on the rocks, as well as the return of the small, venomous, lizard-like creatures that wreaked havoc on them the last time they ventured underground.  Maybe I should kill some of this new explore team?  Only NaNo can tell what’s going to happen next…

For those of you who don’t know; NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, a challenge to writers everywhere to compose a 50,000 word novel during the 30 days of November.  Interested?  Sign up & donate at nanowrimo.org!

I’m about 5,000 words in, starting off right on target, but that’s because I got almost three thousand words written the first day, Sunday.  As the week wears on, my word count will fall behind, and then I’ll have to spend the weekend playing catch-up.

My as-of-yet untitled NaNovel is starting to feel a little space-operatic.  It’s taking place in the early exploratory stages of a solar system that is not our own.  Byrleigh is a researcher, comfortable in her desk-job aboard a space station, until she is sent to the planet’s surface as part of an exploratory team.  (Still need a name for the space station and the planet.  Any ideas?)  Not sure what’s going to happen next, it’s NaNoWriMo after all, and that’s the joy of working without an outline.  Anything can happen.  I just wish I knew what.