Thank you all for the yummy feedback.

I'm trying to write as much as my insane schedule allows. I should have the next part up tomorrow, although with illness running through the family I may be behind if another kid falls sick.

I'm glad you liked that line, JD. I was pretty proud of it myself, although my 6-yr-old DD said, "Why would Lois say that? It makes her sound mean." Go figure!

Carol, I've appreciated your nano-recruiting, as well. (I just finished Lucy's story yesterday. I'm trying to make up for a 2-1/2 month backlog, so please forgive me if I didn't leave feedback repeatedly just this once.)

Michael, I'm glad you like my sassy, hungover Lois. I tried to do a good job, but I've never been hungover myself. Being a 90lb weakling, I tend to get severe headaches long before I've reached to the point where most people get headaches. Since headache-y women are not so much fun at parties, I usually just choose sobriety.

BTW, busy people tend to be the MOST successful at nanowriting because they already know the value of their time. Squeeze in a few minutes multitasking between meals and writing with a few more minutes oozed out before bedtime and you might find yourself a novelist 30 days later.

James, thanks for the support even though I know you're not sure which parts I've posted and which parts are yet to come. You make an excellent sounding board.

Amber, thanks for the feedback. Ignore all of that advice on how to stretch a story. You don't need to stretch your idea. You would be surprised at how many words are needed for what seems like a simple idea.

I found lots of help with my story last year from the simple suggestions they offered to the elementary students. First, find out what the protagonist wants the most. Second, find out what the protagonist is most afraid of. Finally, find out how the antagonist is going to either stand in the way of what the protagonist wants or feeds into what the protagonist fears. Any time you get stuck in your writing you come back to the main theme of desires and fears or the way those desires or blocked or those fears are fed. Yes, it's formulaic but it actually makes for a good story.

If you're still concerned about not having enough words, add an a plot to your b plot or a b plot to an a plot.

Either way you do it, I say go for it. You can't win if you don't try.

Hi, Terry. Thanks for reading. It wouldn't surprise me that there's another story by that same title on the archive, because I stole it word for word from Lois' novel in season three. (BTW, I'm not sure you'll want to read her novel. So far it doesn't sound so good.)


Elisabeth