15750

I've had my first combat scene.  I feel all better now!  I've also gotten deeper into the antagonist's pov.  I'm digging the structure.  I'm not sure if I can carry it back to the very beginning--anything from the antagonist's pov too early on will give away too much--but I think it's fine going along the first four chapters 'normally' and then setting up the remaining chapters as primarily the protagonist's pov with a few paragraphs at the end set aside from the antagonist's pov.  

It's tempting to go back and start playing with setting and enriching earlier scenes based on what I'm learning about the characters now, but part of the process of writing a first draft, especially during Nano, is to resist that temptation.  I could turn it into a real mess if I kept adapting things retroactively, especially if I change my mind about a plot element.  Everything would grind to a halt at that point, and all my tinkering in the meantime would be for nothing.  The one thing I do allow myself to do--continuity.  I might miss it later, so if I forget to have someone reload and they need to be prepared, I go back and let them reload right after their first bout of danger.  Of course if it serves the story, I'll let them flounder and wish that they'd remembered to reload ... but if it turns into this long, awkward and unnecessary thing that holds up the story instead of adding suspense then it's better to go back and tweak.

If you can't see anything for my Nano word count widget, you're not alone.  I tried to fix it, but I suspect the real problem isn't corruption but that the Nano site is so overburdened (as usual) during this early part of the month that the widget can't get data from it.  As the month wears on people will drop out and the site will be less crazy busy.  The widget should work more consistently then.