The second week of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) has passed, leaving just half of November for writers to finish their 50,000 word novels. Case Western’s Writers Writing Words (WWW) club has been scribbling away to get to their word count goals.

However, it’s also crunch time at CWRU. With Thanksgiving break just a couple of weeks away, assignments build up in lieu of finals.

NaNoWriMo volunteers are still rolling, word by word.

*****

Ann Elise Campo has had multiple struggles with her NaNoWriMo participation, including a difficult organic chemistry class and a dead computer.

What keeps her typing:
“The people around me, definitely. I talked through the topic of the book with a few of my close friends who are a little like [my main character] right now: stuck in early adulthood with no clue what they’re supposed to do and being pulled every which way by different factors in their life that all proclaim that their way is the only right one to follow… Even if it’s not by the end of the month, I’m definitely going to finish this for their sake.”

Her main character:
“Felix Harcourt—Felix is 22, and one of the youngest commanders in the army in which he fights. On paper, Felix looks good: He’s a good commander, smart, talented, blessed with telekinetic powers. In reality he has no idea what the heck he’s doing with his life or what he wants to do. He usually ends up taking orders and doing whatever his superiors say… He keeps his long hair pulled back in a braid, usually scowls, plays piano and likes the color gold. He plays chess a lot, but only ever against himself… To sum it up, I suppose he could be described as an anhedonic young man who accepts orders too easily and is confused with life. The book is kind of his coming-of-age story.”

Word count at the end of Day Eight:
6,000-8,000 words

*****

Heather Pantell has dedicated almost all of her time to homework and writing and claims that she has “had little to no social life” this month.

What keeps her typing:
“My roommate and I are having a friendly competition, which gives me motivation to keep writing.”

Her main characters:
“I have two main characters. One is a female phoenix who is strong-willed, witty and not very unaccustomed to mortal lifestyles. The other is a male sorcerer who is kindhearted, witty and passionate about what he thinks is right.”

Word count at the end of Day Eight:
30,050 words

*****

Sue Westrell has been balancing school, work and extracurriculars with her NaNoWriMo process. Her busy schedule doesn’t allow for much writing time, but even though her word count doesn’t show it, her novel plan is very well-developed.

What keeps her typing:
“Obviously, not much… but these are characters that I love being absurd, which is a thing I enjoy, so I do have incentive to write because the silly is fun.”

Her main character:
“Alison O’Connor, aka Grabbyhands. She’s absolutely ridiculous, idolizes Catwoman, wants to rule the world or universe (whichever’s easier) and gels her pigtails into spikes. She’s 10-ish.”

Word count at the end of Day Eight:
3,084 words

*****

The combination of school and NaNoWrimo creates “an even more challenging challenge” according to Tasha Smith. She adjusted her word count to 25,000 words and is doing well in her pursuit.

What keeps her typing:
“Meeting up and writing with other members of WWW helps me keep focused. Also, it helps that the plot hasn’t started to bore me yet.”

Her main character:
“My main character is Hanna Crookshaw, whose life is chronicled throughout the series of short stories. She lives on a world where, due to both advances in science and the manipulation of fairies, superpowers are beginning to emerge in humans. Crookshaw is obsessed with the concept of being super-powered, and goes to tragic depths to obtain artificial superpowers, sold by fairies. The short stories observe her abusing the drug-like fairies’ powers, fighting crime, going through withdrawal when the superpowers run out and fighting the good guys to get more.”

Word count at the end of Day Eight:
8,047