so, in conclusion, it's an optical illusion...

I've written a little over 4,000 words this evening and I currently feel as though I have no more words left to write.

asfasf fadrt htshdrzd vdz`fg fhxzdvzx∂ mmm.......szdgs3

The grand total now stands at 19,232 - and I'd like to get to 20k before I call it a night.

To get to the 50,000 words necessary to complete NaNoWriMo on schedule, one has to write at an average rate of 1,666 words a day. When I did this last year, I probably averaged a little over 2,000 words and finished a couple of days early. I seem to be approaching it completely differently this year, and I'm just hell-bent on getting the bloody thing finished. I am currently averaging something like 3,333 words a day. If I keep this up, then I would be on schedule to finish on the 15th November.

It's still not bloody quick enough, and if I could write any faster, I damn well would. I was determined that I wasn't going to take part this year, and I'm vaguely resentful of myself for waking up with a first line in my head on the first of the month. That was just cruel (and stupid) of me. I have absolutely no idea where my plot is going, although I'm actually finding that to be quite liberating.

I think my word-count is inevitably going to drop over the course of the month, but I'm going to do my utmost to get this thing finished as soon as I can. If I feel half as satisfied about finishing as I did last year, then I'm sure it will all have been more than worthwhile. Right now though, it just feels painful.

In plot news, there is a quite long and detailed description of civilised rat society in the City of York. There's also now some lengthy discussion about Tasmanian Leatherwood honey and how it is that the bees are encouraged to only collect the pollen from the leatherwood plant. The beekeeper puts them each into a tiny harness and takes them there on a lead apparently.

Quite where that came from, I don't know, but the words are flowing, so I'm rolling with it.

Analysis on a postcard....