Friday 11 November 2016

Gamebook Friday: On NaNoWriMo and the Dangers of Project Fatigue

As readers who have been following this blog for some time will know, I've dabbled with NaNoWriMo* in the past. (As has my friend Bill King.)

I contemplated taking part again this year, to work on a new project, but it got to the start of November and The Wicked Wizard of Oz was still unfinished and so I have decided to use NaNoWriMo as a motivational tool to help get me through to the end.

Why? You may well ask. Basically, two months into writing my latest gamebook I found myself in need a something to motivate me to keep going.

Why? Because half term happened, including a family holiday, and I took a break to write a couple of short stories, and I have a raft of new projects, snapping at my heels, that also need to be written. Also, because despite having reached section 500 I am still nowhere near the end of this particular adventure. The Wicked Wizard of Oz is going to be significantly longer than Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland (which means it will also be my longest gamebook to date) but then that's what happens when you allow the player to be one of five different characters all with their own abilities and unique backstories!

You will see that I actually started NaNoWriMo a week late, but I'm confident that I'll be able to catch up, and besides, I'm back on the horse now and galloping into Winkie Country as I type. Sort of.

I feel I should point out that the word count displayed above is what I've written during NaNoWriMo, not the total word count for the book so far!

In other news, someone has written a new and very pleasing 5-star review of Night of the Kraken, and fans of gamebooks may be interested to know that Joe Dever's Grey Star is back, courtesy of a new Kickstarter campaign.


* A.k.a. National Novel Writing Month.

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