Spoiler Alert!

Hey! It's been a while since I've finished this online novel. If you're reading this, you may have accidentally stumbled onto the story at the end! To jump to the start of the story, try clicking here!

Advance the story by going to "newer post" at the bottom of each entry.

Victory! (Finally!)

I just posted chapters 35, 36, and 37 which combine for 4,454 words. This brings my total word count to 53,092 words, officially completing my first goal of finishing a 50k novel for NaNoWriMo.

So I failed pretty miserably on the "month" part, having finished [my word count goal] about a year after I started. That said, I still have a few more chapters until I truly finish [the story]. So, loyal readers, thank you for sticking with me this far.

Hang on for the last bit...it's gonna be a wild ride.

Author's Quandry

The Brant "Rubble" Bell asked me yesterday if I was

A) Going to attempt NaNoWriMo 2008

and

B) If I would consider making it a sequel to my current story

I can honestly say I wasn't planning on doing the former, and had never considered the latter. That said, his question got me thinking.

For starters, I've learned a lot about writing by trying NNWM 07. Some of it mechanics, like punctuation during dialogue. Some of it is about how difficult it truly is to write 50k in 30 days, even if you love the source material. Things like pacing issues, typos, taking good notes on your own decisions - and more.

Still, I think I made it about halfway through my story by the end of November, and if I was to tackle it this year, I really have to consider my schedule (read: classes). I don't think I can do it. I don't know if I have the discipline, the crazy writing intensity to stick through another novel's worth of work...even if it takes another year to finish like this one.

I guess the only reason I'm making an issue of it is because I'm actually close to finishing this novel, and the ending would greatly greatly influence how the second one might play out - from the surviving characters to the level of devastation the zombies [may have] inflicted on the world. If I'm going to write a sequel, I need to start planning it now and alter the ending of this one accordingly.

After much deliberation, I told Rubble I would consider it. I'd need 2 things:

* A really good story idea. I need some sort of action, a problem, a quest - some driving force for the novel to exist. It seems obvious, but the current novel took shape over weeks of planning, and in the end there was a very poignant rescue story to tell, amidst the backdrop of the zombpocalypse. My theoretical sequel needs a similarly epic premise, and as of now I have none.

* Lots and lots of encouragement and readers. You guys have been awesome so far, helping me fix problems and providing lots of constructive criticism. Your enthusiasm has become mine, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate and enjoy it.

For now I'll keep thinking it over. If you have any thoughts, please [as always] leave 'em.

Thanks!

Summer Update

Hello reader.

It's now summer break and I have a little bit more time on my hands. I'm gonna try to update my story more often - something like at least once a week. Stay tuned and please comment!

Also, new poll.

Thanks!

Withdraw From the Race

For those of you keeping track at home, in order for me to "win" NaNoWriMo by midnight this Friday I would need to write about 27,000 words in less than four days. That's about 7k per day which isn't gonna happen.

That said, I'm officially giving up on NaNoWriMo, because the pace is a little too crazy for me. I have two big things, notably spending time with my family and getting my academics on track that take precedence over trying to crank out a new chapter every evening.

My story, however, will continue. At irregular intervals I will post chapters as I see fit, ending on whatever word count I end up on when the story I have in mind is told. Thanks for your support, comments, and readership to this point.

Premature thoughts?

Hey readers.

I have been overwhelmed by your support. Most of you have commented on more than one chapter, and you've voted in the poll. You're helping me fix grammar and spelling, syntax, and pointing out flaws and such that I've missed. You've offered up suggestions, plot points, and been very encouraging.

That's just 13k in! I still have a long way to go (need to try and get to 20k by the end of the weekend). Just wanted to let you know I appreciate what you've given me so far, and I'm pretty determined to finish this on time and tell a decent story.

The hardest part so far is pacing myself. I don't want to finish early. I also have problems writing in third person when the main character is me. Also, I hate dialogue structure.

I heard somebody was so eager to read they printed off the chapter when they had to leave for class. ! That was awesome.

Steven and Brant (the ones in the story) are considering writing some alternate point-of-view fiction to go with this, and I'm pretty excited about it.


One last thing - I may be writing some chapters out of order sometime soon to add drama and words to the story. Please pay close attention to the chapter numbers to stay on top of it all.

Dedication

This novel is dedicated to several influential groups of people in my life:

My family, for not only encouraging my love of reading, language, literature, and writing, but for also shaping my humor style, wit, and other intellectual processes.

My teachers, for attempting to instill in me some working knowledge of English, even if I still don't know for sure what a gerund is or still mix up "it's" and "its". I still sing School House Rock in my head to remember parts of speech.

The Ship of Fools - the bulk of my current group of collegiate friends. This novel is based on and revolves around them. Thanks for all of the funny, guys.

---

Additionally, I would like to thank Max Brooks (author of the Zombie Survival Guide), George Romero, Sam Raimi, and the creative forces behind Resident Evil and Dead Rising for the influence and entertainment.

The characters and incidents portrayed and the names herein are fictitious and any similarity to the name or history of any person living or undead is entirely coincidental and unintended.

Word Count: 116