NANOWRIMO WEEK 2

WE ARE HALFWAY THROUGH NANOWRIMO 2020. 

Whoa. o_o

How have two weeks passed already?? For real, wasn't it just Halloween?? I think this NaNo is going by more quickly than usual. I need it to slow down, please.

Today I bring you my week two update! Okay, let's face it, I'm not getting any awards this year for writing every day. xD I already knew the NaNo website wouldn't give it to me (see my last update for the annoying story of how I failed to update my word count one day because I was tired), but I thought I'd still be able to give myself an imaginary one. But, well, nope. I haven't been able to write every day, but I'm actually okay with it. I told myself from day one of this NaNo that things would be different this year, and I had to accept it if they didn't go quite the way they have in past NaNos. And surprisingly, I've managed to stay pretty positive about it so far.

BUT. I did still get a good bit of writing done. Here's the recap!

Nope. No writing these days. I'm not even sure why? Sunday I was mostly free, so I guess it was just laziness. xD I WAS working on finishing up my week 1 vlog, though, so I suppose that contributed. 

I made myself complete all my Adult responsibilities during the day so I could commit to writing that night. I had work and school in the morning, homework in the afternoon, and a couple other things I wanted to get done. But that evening, I sat down with a chai and WROTE. It was one of the better writing days I've had this month, I think. 

Word count: 3628

No class thanks to Veterans' Day, which should have meant more writing but really just meant more time doing useless things. xD Actually, I discovered a super fun podcast called Small Fry, created by Amanda Brown (editor of Oh Beloved One). As a fast food worker, a homeschooler, and an introvert, these lighthearted chats hit the spot. xD (And she was an American Girl kid, too! My CHILDHOOD.)

Anyway, I did get some writing done that night, although my big plans for staying up late and doing even more writing kind of fell through. Did I stay up late more last NaNo, when I wasn't in college? I don't remember, but the midnight oil has just not been burning for me lately. xD which let's be honest is probably a good thing

Word count: 855

If I haven't mentioned it before, my college is literally like 30 seconds away from a coffee shop. That, my friends, was the single most exciting thing about starting college this year. xD I only have to go to campus twice a week, and the coffee shop is closed on one of those days again probably a good thing, but I make it there pretty regularly nowadays and I kept telling myself I would stop in there sometime and write. And of course NaNoWriMo month seems like the best time to do that.

On this day I had every intention of taking my laptop with me and settling into a corner of the shop to write for a while. (I've actually never written at a coffee shop before!) But I decided I didn't want to go through the trouble and changed my mind. xD (You know how at college and coffee shops or whatever, whenever you see someone with a laptop it's one of those sleek little travel-friendly ones and there's no charging cord in sight? Well, my laptop's not that big but it's big compared to those and I can't use it unplugged for more than like 30 minutes anymore which means I have to carry the cord literally everywhere... so yeah, it just didn't sound like a good time. xD) BUT I did take my story notebook with the intention of doing some brainstorming (NaNo always finds me hitting a wall not knowing what to write next). 

So, I got my coffee (a caramel pumpkin spice latte, if you were wondering) and sat at a little table outside. (Have you ever sat outside a coffee shop by yourself? It's a very adult-y-feeling thing to do.) I put in my earbuds and started my story playlist and just started writing ideas in my notebook. 

While I was sitting there, I looked down next to me and THERE WAS THIS ADORABLE DOG. It just came out of nowhere and came up to me and when I pet it, it acted like it was going to lean on my leg like my own dog does.

But then its owner called for it and it left. :( Still, it made my day. xD (My camera also stopped working while I was trying to vlog. So that was fun.)

I didn't get very many words written that evening, but I got some good ideas. So I call the day a success!

Word count: 409

Apparently I wrote this day? I thought I didn't but the NaNo website says otherwise. Go me, I guess. xD

Word count: 179

No writing this day. Something came up that kind of threw everything off track so it just didn't happen (which is also why I didn't write much yesterday). Not the strongest end to the week. xD

"Wow, last time I left this house we were being attacked by a crazy dwarf." Jynnia grinned and looked around at the hills surrounding the cottage, imagining Barnen throwing little magic smoke bombs at them. She frowned. "We never did get our horses back."

"Oh, yes. Sorry about that." Winlie locked the door behind her and hid the key away in her little pouch. 

"What happened to the horses?" Delga asked. 

"We had to leave them when we flew away," Jynnia said. 

Delga's eyes went round. "You flew away?"

Oh, yeah. Jynnia had forgotten that flying was not common. Or, at least, that people did not commonly know that it could be done. "Yeah. Winlie carried us."

"And so I shall be doing again," Winlie said, shaking her wings out as if refreshing them. "I do hope you didn't think I meant I would be walking to your village."

Delga squealed in excitement, but Jynnia's shoulders slumped. "Winlie, we can't," she said, her responsible babysitter voice kicking in. "These horses don't belong to us. We have to return them or they'll make us pay for them."

Winlie threw her head back and groaned. "But horses are so slow," she said, holding her hands out toward the animals. "I can't fly slowly. I feel stifled."

"Well, then you'll have to fly circles around us as we go." Jynnia untied her horse and checked the saddle. "The horses go with us. That's non-negotiable."

Winlie groaned again but did not argue further. "Fine. But I'll hate every second of it."

"You could try riding," Delga suggested, offering the first input since she had arrived there. 

Winlie appeared shocked at even the possibility. "Fairies do not ride horses," she said, her lip curling. "If we do not utilize our wings, we are not fairies."

Jynnia smirked, but a tiny part of her grew sad at that declaration. She thought of one of Winlie's sisters, who had voluntarily given up her wings to be with a human. Winlie was less angry with her than she used to be, but Jynnia imagined she was still having a hard time coming to terms with it. 

"Well, fairy or no fairy, we have to get going," Jynnia said. "We'll still have to stop for the night, but if we go now we should be almost there by tonight."

Winlie sighed. "Very well. Just don't expect me to not complain about your speed." She fluttered into the air, the sparkly sound of her wings making Jynnia smile as she mounted her horse. As they got going, Winlie said, "Imagine. All those years cooped up in my cottage alone and now I'm headed out on my second adventure in five months."

      "You know how all the magic is hidden away somewhere?" Very stupid question. Winlie and her sisters had been the ones to take care of it last year, after parting ways with Trentley and Jynnia. 

"Of course."

It occurred to Jynnia that she still did not know where they had hidden the magic this time. She would ask about that later. "Well... I've been thinking. And I don't think it's right that it be hidden away like that."

Winlie lowered herself to flutter in front of Jynnia, turning to face her as she hovered backwards. 

"So... I want to revive it."

Delga turned to look at her sharply. This was the first she had heard of it, too. Before now, only Trentley had known of it. 

Winlie furrowed her brow as if trying to decipher Jynnia's meaning. 

"I mean... so what if some people don't want to deal with it? I get that some bad things happened, but it's not all bad." Jynnia felt the passion rising up within her, and as she got more worked up she began throwing her hands around. "After all, the magic was here before all the people who complained about it were."

A corner of Winlie's mouth hinted upward for just a moment. Jynnia gathered from her expression that she liked where this was going. 

"So, I want to bring it back. I want to bring the fairy tales to light and make the world stop hiding from its past." Wow. Sounds a lot more unrealistic when I put it like that. 

"Jynnia, you already almost got arrested once," Delga said, shaking her head. "Don't push it, or we'll never see you again without bars between us."

"Somebody's got to put an end to this, Delga," Jynnia said. "It's not right that fairies and wizards have to live isolated and hide their magic just because people want it outlawed. Besides, the plan is to make people accept magic again so that nobody will be put in jail just for talking about it." She grinned. 

"But you can't guarantee you can make that happen," Delga said. "That's a big job, Jynnia. Much bigger than just you."

"Well, it's not just her." Winlie's voice was determined, as if there had never even been a thought of it just being Jynnia. 

Jynnia turned to look at her sharply, feeling hope rising up within her. Winlie's arms were crossed, and Jynnia could tell by looking at her face that there was absolutely no amount of persuasion that could change her mind now. "You're with me?" Jynnia said, raising her eyebrows and dipping her chin toward her in question. 

"There's no way I could not be with you," Winlie said. "I was never for the magic going away. I just went along with it because there seemed to be nothing else we could do. But you..." She smiled, a genuine, content smile that was rare to see on her face. "You give me hope that that might not have to be the case."

"Afternoon."

Trentley jumped and turned to see a soldier walking toward him, hands behind his back. Trentley smiled uncomfortably, realizing how dumb he must have looked sitting there on his horse in the middle of the street, staring at a strange-looking apple. "Hi." He was just about to start his horse forward, but the man kept talking. 

"What's that you have there?" The man nodded toward the apple in Trentley's hand. 

Trentley frowned and turned slowly to look at it. Yes. It was indeed an easily identifiable apple. "Um... it's an apple."

"May I see it?"

Well, so much for eating it. If some stranger whose hands had been who-knows-where was going to handle it, Trentley was not interested. Bewildered, he handed the apple over. 

The soldier turned the apple over in his hand, observing all sides. "Interesting apple. Where'd you get it?"

"I... found it." That was very true. 

The reason why this soldier might be grilling him was beginning to come together in Trentley's head. 

"Son, what were you planning on doing with this apple?"

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. There's no law against eating an apple. "I was going to eat it," he said, gripping the reins a little too tightly. His fingernails digging into the soft skin of his palms made him realize how angry he was getting. "I was planning on eating it." He cut himself off from adding a sarcastic comment. Something like "Is that allowed in your town?" Jynnia's sass is really rubbing off on me. 

"Do you know what other apple looks this?" The soldier did not give Trentley time to answer. "Ever heard of Snow White?"

Trentley furrowed his brow, hoping to make the soldier feel silly. "Yes, I think it rings a bell."

"Well, the apple in that tale..." The soldier began slowly circling Trentley's horse, tossing the apple up and down like a ball. "...that tale of magic..." He hissed the word, leaning close to Trentley as if afraid his own fellow soldiers would hear him and arrest him. "...looked exactly like this one."

"Well, I suppose somebody thought it would be funny to paint one like it, then," Trentley said. "Sir, if you'll excuse me, I really have somewhere I need to be."

"Could have fooled me," the soldier said. "The way you were sitting there on that horse staring at this apple." His eyes narrowed. "Almost like you were... planning something." 

Trentley shook his head. "What do you think I was planning with an apple?" His voice was rising with his frustration. He did not have time to stand around and argue with a petty soldier. 

I realized that Trentley says the same thing twice in a paragraph in that last snippet, but hey, first drafts, am I right? Might as well let you read it in all its NaNoWriMo glory. xD

I screenshotted this a day late, but you get the idea.

Week 2 word count: 5,063

TOTAL WORD COUNT: 17,226

Though I didn't get as much writing done as I would have hoped, the week was still a success! I wrote words (always a victory, no matter how many words), got my week 1 vlog up (HERE if you want to watch!), and brainstormed at a coffee shop. So, overall, I'd say it was a lovely week. 

I've also found a nice balance between my writing and school. Of course, there's no telling how long this will last. xD But this week I've been able to keep up with everything and not drown, which has been really nice. Making small goals every day instead of trying to accomplish tons of things in a day or two seems to work better for me. 

And as far as my story itself, things are starting to pick up. YAY! Also, it was brought to my attention last week that I didn't post any snippets that had both Trentley and Jynnia in them! That was a total accident, but, well, bad news: you don't get any this week, either. xD See, it's tricky... and I'm just gonna leave it at that because Trentley and Jynnia don't know what's going on, either. xD

I have pretty high hopes for the next couple of weeks, because *ahem* quarantine has officially hit my house, so no classes to go to this week. And then next week is Thanksgiving (!!!!), and I took a couple of extra days off work to relax. So, I expect big things. xD

Anyway! I'll stop rambling about myself now. Let me know how you guys are doing! ONWARD TO THE SECOND HALF OF NANOWRIMO.

NaNo or not, how's November treating you? Have you watched any Christmas movies yet? (because I tragically have not and that is something that must be remedied ASAP) Fellow college students- we've almost made it to the end of the semester!! How are we doing??