Nano 2010 day 17

Word Count: 28,365
Today's Quota: 28,334

Yup that's right. With zero words written today, I am still ahead of the suggested quota. Yay! It appears that I'm finally out of the slow chapters which make writing seem like trudging through knee high snow drifts (which i have only ever had to do once but remember with distinct clarity).

I wrote about 95% of a chapter yesterday which depicted what i call slow action. For me, normal action is when the characters are leaping about, explosions, and running full out. Slow action is when a lot is going on, but everything is slow and vividly tense. Like...climbing down into a nest of dangerous and terrifying creatures. Think of Aliens with Sigourney Weaver when she faces down the queen and threatens the egg sacks in order to get Newt back. A lot of what happens goes on in the character's minds rather than in physical action.

Last night my secondary main character Colton Stone made the nerve wracking trip back through the Grake infested ravine wearing a mask and webbing formed from a Grake which he killed earlier. He copies their body language and mimics their sounds using his size to intimidate other Grakes away from him.

Ok, i know it's a stretch but hey, its MY story. As the great Marius (Colin) once said "if you want to have a pink and purple polka dotted hydra as the head of the mafia...you can do that so long as you're consistent.

I've decided to write an alternate chunk of a prior chapter which depicts a huge catastrophe in which my primary main character, a student doctor, goes along with other field doctors in order to help with triage. Originally, i wrote that the catastrophe included the city power plant but when i stupidly went back and edited, i realized i hardly had any scenes that showed the lush and alien landscape let alone any of the wildlife that the settlers are forced to co-habitat with. They could be in a post apoctolypitc earth for all that i showed the natural setting of the alien planet. Thankfully, i will be able to keep a lot of what i have already written when i go back and edit since my MC, Sierra Septis, concentrates mostly on her triage patients. It won't be hard to alter the wounds to reflect that they were inflicted by natural means.

Thankfully most of this scene will be action style since the MC and the doctors are racing to the site on quads. I might not write it tonight, but it's on the forefront of my mind.

The next scene in line will slow down some since it's mostly about the news of the bandit (Colton) and Sierra's little brother finally graduating. I'm not sure I'm ready to loose momentum. It will, however, set the scene for the next chapter where little brother is in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Insert ominous and infuriating cliffhanger music here]