And again! Tonight was  a bit of a departure in that I got to cut loose a bit and write a mini textbook (four pages long, and with pictures!) to explain the nature of the possession in my story.

Because I’m a jerk, I put it right after a huge cliffhanger, too. Perfect place to annoy everyone with boring exposition!

When you have two thousand words of mythology to get out, you’d better have an amusing way to do it.

This book is so much fun to write, it really is. I hope people like it as much as I think they should.

The pages, the pages!

Well, okay, so here’s the deal, I didn’t actually give you a tally for yesterday (something like 500 plus a few) or Sunday (a little over 800), but it’s because I was trying to undo the damage done by a several-day hiatus during which I went to my 10-year College reunion. I know, having a blast and living like a college student in my old dorm isn’t any excuse, but man …

I brought it home tonight.

Part Two of Daukherville is in the tank. For those who want a teaser, the four sections of the book are:

• Part One: The Hole in the Wall I Called Home
• Part Two: … And That’s When I Knew I’d Never Be Alone Again
• Part Three: I Guess No One Ever Told Them Not to Trust a Clown
• Part Four: Today We’ll All Get to See What Happens Next

Cool, right? I like ’em. Well, after struggling with what amounted to Part One for the last ten or so years, I powered through not only that piece of the story, but I’ve also fought my way back through the second act, as well. As the story develops, I’m getting more and more excited about all the things I’ve planned for the end of the novel. I’ve been thinking and thinking and thinking for years on this one, and now I’m finally get back to the point where I get to put it all to paper again.

And based on the fireworks in the story tonight … it’s going to be a blast to write it all.

I love this fucking story! Goddamn I can’t wait for everyone to read it.

(And even though I’m proud of my output this evening, I want to say that I’m sorry I’ve lapsed on the movie reviews and am inconsistent with my Ten-Minute Writes … but you have to sometimes ignore the bullshit if the real shit is happening, you know? I know you know.)

Maybe it was the talking about how lousy the writing went yesterday, or maybe it was the jog I went on today (my first in probably almost a year; I’m really out of shape), or maybe it was the great dinner I had with Amanda, but the words came easily today.

I’m gearing up for the big mid-point of the story, too, so that’s a whole bunch of fun. Also, in previous drafts only one major event happened at this point in the story. I’m ramping it up this time around: no less than three major events are about to happen simultaneously. It is going to blow some doors off some hinges, I hope.

We’re going to welcome the halfway point in Daukherville with a mighty sequence of terrible events, and I can’t wait to write it!

What a horrible day of writing. It took so much to get the words going tonight. I was staring at the first two sentences of the day forever.

So let’s examine: Why did I hate it? I hated it because it was not very dramatic exposition. It was flat. It sits there now, unfinished, just staring at me and waiting for me to go back to it. It cackles. It’s insane. It knows itself for the shitty writing that it is.

So why do it at all? Well, I’ll tell you: I do it because it seemed like a fairly logical thing to do, and also because I need to clarify the history for myself again. When did the things that happened in the past happen? What is the exact sequence of events. Likely, it will all be edited out of the final draft, but I wrote it because I myself have to get it down and start making some of the elusive bits more real.

I’m also facing a strange challenge with respect to the backstory: a lot of the history needs to have happened at specific times, so do I slap a year on the present-day events? I think I have to. But which year do I choose? Do I choose 2010, because that’s this year, or do I choose 2012 …

Wait a minute. 2012 could work. I could make fun of the Mayan calendar. It’s not a bad year to set the story in, considering I thought I’d lost all sorts of cred when I lost the ability to set it around the year 2000. But 2012 could be even better.

Or not. I don’t know. Bottom line is: I couldn’t get going, I forced myself to do it, it’s definitely crappy writing, but it’s still writing.

So there.

Today I got a belated birthday gift from my girl Amanda: It’s a Daukherville t-shirt, black with white lettering, and it is badass. I love it, and I’m wearing it now. On the back, she’s quoted one of my characters:

I have run away with the circus.
— J.S. 6/21/78

(That’s 1878 for those not in the know.)

So yeah, I guess I felt a little spurred on by the shirt. That, and today I wrote about two very strange-looking people having a face-to-face in a hospital. I’m pretty sure I’ll beef it up later, but the initial pass is pretty fun.

Now I’m going to try to do a Ten-Minute Write. Why? Because they’re fun, and I don’t do them as often as I should.

…Yep, I missed four days. After all my good work, four days of nothing. That’s how I am, I guess. Do good for a while, and then slack it up.

In fairness, I was out of town for three days doing fun stuff. No time to write. Isn’t that what they all say?

Deficits, deficits … and more deficits.

This is not the way to turn my daily average around!

BOOM! Day #6, in a row, with a vengeance. Eventually, I will make up for this horrible deficit. Today, though, I’ve officially put my average daily word count over 250 words.

So there. I’m a champ.

This weekend reminds me: I’m on page 134 of my novel (single-spaced, too–the way the lunatics write). A long time ago, when I wrote my first novel, I was on page 144 on my birthday. By July 3rd, I had finished the novel, and it clocked in at a still-unsurpassed 371 pages. I was a sophomore in high school, and I really can’t imagine how I did that. Nearly 20 years later, I’m just a shell of my former self.

Then again, in those days, I could really retreat in my head for entire nights. No distractions, no TV shows on the DVR, no PS3 with fun games to play.

So it goes. I’m writing again, whatever the speed. (Which is not to say I won’t try to hit page 144 by the end of Monday … you know, for fun…)

The pages stack up ...

That’s five days in a row, my friends. Five in a row. Boom. To put this in perspective, my average number of days in a row since I started this project (back on October 11, 2009) is probably about two. My record is ten, and I’ve only been above 5 in a row twice. This is the third time in over seven months that I’ve made my daily goal this many days in a row. My overall average daily word count is 248 words. Pretty shameful stuff.

(Thanks to Amanda for the stats.)

Had great zombie-themed nightmares all last night. I think Hit Girl was in them, kicking zombie ass. It was pretty fun. As a result, I feel pretty good today.

Oh, man! Look at the ambition. But hey, it’s still better than missing a day, right?

Got the Thursday night shuffle coming up next, and so good luck with all of that. Bwa ha ha ha.

Anyway, I’m feeling like the story is spinning its tires and maybe it needs a little something, but I’ve got this locked-in sense. I don’t know how to make the next turn without it seeming repetitive. Hmmmm … Gonna have to think of something.

Is it shameful to dress up a story with a meaningless action segment?

Or no … I know what I can do. Nevermind. This is gonna be good.

See you in another five hundred words or so …

Just another light day, but it was Tuesday night trivia, and the host was slow, so … not a lot of time, but I made the quota. It seems a little sad, but then again, if I hadn’t had the quota, I don’t think I would have written a word on the novel. So … that’s something, I guess.

My novel seems too big for me today and like the pieces are sliding every which way. Or who knows–maybe I’m just more aware of everything I’m screwing up than I used to be.

Anyway, mark it, dude. Bedtime for me.