{"id":4531,"date":"2019-11-29T23:43:31","date_gmt":"2019-11-30T06:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dresan.com\/blog\/?p=4531"},"modified":"2019-11-29T23:43:31","modified_gmt":"2019-11-30T06:43:31","slug":"viiictory-to-the-twenty-fifth-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/2019\/11\/29\/viiictory-to-the-twenty-fifth-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Viiictory to the Twenty-Fifth Power!"},"content":{"rendered":"

SO! After yet another National Novel Writing Month, I have added yet another 50,000 words of rough draft to my writing output – making this the fourteenth time I have won Nano, and the twenty-fifth time I have won one of the Nanowrimo or CampNanowrimo challenges! Woohoo!<\/p>\n

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This month wasn’t so bad, though there was a bit of a dip around the time I was writing report cards for our robot learning systems (“Little Johnny 5 tries very hard, but needs to work on his cornering!”). But, as usual, the week I took off for Thanksgiving “vacation” put me back on track:<\/p>\n

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Yes, one day I did indeed get 6000+ words written, which was a record for the 25th of the month, but nowhere near my record of 9074 words – written on the 30th(!) of November 2016, in what I recall was a delerious mad dash sitting on my sofa wracking my brain to produce enough words to make my goal for PHANTOM SILVER. Frankly speaking, that sucked, and since then I have redoubled my efforts to ensure that I’m never THAT far behind.<\/p>\n

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So this month looks typical. It’s interesting to me how much Nano has become a part of my life. First tried in 2002, first made into a yearly habit in 2007, and first made into a thrice-yearly habit (Camp April, Camp July and November Nano) in 2014-2015 … now I’ve done Nano 27 times, with 25 successes, for 1.36 million words of rough draft … it’s a heavy feeling.\"\"<\/p>\n

Do I want to keep doing this? Absolutely. I wish I had more time to, like, edit my books, so I didn’t have a backlog of 6 finished novels, 2 novellas, and 5 partially finished novels. (Gulp!) But I like having a roof more, and the time and money to pay for my laptop, my nice dinners, and my late nite teas and mochas, so, teaching robots to learn by day it is, for the time being.<\/p>\n

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One of the most interesting things for me is how Nano breaks through your creative barriers. When I started on MACHINERY OF THE APOCALYPSE, then titled TWO YEARS OF HELL, I had the idea of writing an action-adventure steampunk hard science fiction story around computer science concepts, and conceived it as a connected tale made of 16 short stories\u00a0 — two to the fourth power, a number beloved of many computer scientists.<\/p>\n

But as I’ve written, the story has sprawled out from my original design, and there are at least two, perhaps three set pieces which may demand their own stories. Or perhaps existing stories will have to be cut or deleted. I don’t know; I just create the worlds, but once they exist, they follow the laws of physics (plot and character physics). Here’s an excerpt from one of those diversions, which may or may not make it into the final design:<\/p>\n

The dark doorway loomed before her like a maw. Jeremiah steeled herself: she had been her at best a handful of times, but she felt like she knew every rivet of the damned hatch, felt like she was right back to waiting on the damn Keepers while they prepared themselves.<\/p>\n

Oh, she did not, did not, did not want to be back here.<\/p>\n

Yet she was, not a child, but a Major. She straightened, nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cMajor?\u201d asked Thompson, looking back at her. \u201cYou look a bit green.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeremiah smiled, to give herself a moment to speak. What would a cracker-jack young major say? Or \u2026 wasn\u2019t that putting on airs? What would General Weiss have said? Perhaps she should just be \u2026 honest?<\/p>\n

\u201cGood eye, sir, but I don\u2019t just look it: I feel it too,\u201d Jeremiah said, forcing a grin\u2014was that fake, or did she just want to take this in the best humor possible? \u201cEvery time I\u2019m here, it takes me right back to my childhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChildhood?\u201d Thompson asked. The white hairs in his saltpepper eyebrows sparkled as his brow beetled. \u201cWhy were you here as a child?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI, foolishly perhaps, asked to see the thing that killed my mother,\u201d Jeremiah said. \u201cAnd \u2026 foolishly perhaps, the powers that be let the granddaughter of Benjamin Willstone get what she asked for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thompson stared at her strangely, then turned away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have let you,\u201d he said at last. \u201cSeems to have been the first step into forming a fine soldier who doesn\u2019t flinch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I assure you, I flinch,\u201d Jeremiah said. \u201cJust not from duty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the Major Willstone of my reports,\u201d Thompson said. He leaned over and said a bit cheekily. \u201cI hear you scream like a girl even when you\u2019re firing both blasters at point-blank range\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy, I never\u2014\u201d Jeremiah colored. \u201cWell, that does speak to character\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, yes, it does,\u201d Thompson said, \u201cand to good sense. Alright, in fairness: the report just said \u2018cried out in shock before blasting the thing,\u2019 but one could imagine the girlish scream\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOi!\u201d Jeremiah said. \u201cWait, what thing was this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEr,\u201d Thompson said, as the hatch opened. \u201cI \u2026 don\u2019t recall. Frankly, Major, with your record, the monsters start to blur\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot all of them,\u201d Jeremiah said, striding forward with a projected confidence she absolutely did not feel. \u201cHave a look at that.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Enjoy. Back to writing!<\/p>\n

-the Centaur<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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