NaNo Day 7 - Writing in the dark

My amazing plan of having the entire day free to write has fallen through. Apparently the work at my job still needed some things done and I spent most of the day doing that instead. I was hoping to finish it quickly and still have most of the day for NaNo.

Now I've come to grips with a new monster in my fight to write - the darkness of the evening. It's about 5pm over here and the sun is setting. The sun, the light, is my muse! And she is vanishing. So my little desk lamp and me are sitting together at my computer. Neither of us haven't typed any words for NaNo yet. Eep!

Today will be a new day evening for NaNo! I've never tried to write at night, usually reserving it for "relaxing" or "gaming" time after a hard day's work. But I can't give up on my story so soon. I will fight this!

This day also marks the first week checkpoint of NaNo! So over the last week, I have discovered two very handy tips:
1)  Thesaurus.com
2)  Google Image search

Using both of them, I've successfully inspired myself to keep writing when I've come to a ditch. If I can visualize what I'm describing, it will go much better!

It was my goal today to create a new location within my world and describe it properly in the story. It's a village that formed around an abandoned train station. So I found some pics on the net:

This first image is the top view of a train maintenance yard. It's where all the trains sit for repair or storage. Just imagine it overgrown with plants and taken back by nature. This would be on the far side of my town, with farmlands surrounding it.

This is an underground train station somewhere in Beijing I think. I love the concept that it's integrated into nature. I think it would also make an amazing town square in a fantasy story!

And here is a shot of the station from the other side of the hill. This will be the side my main characters see first as they enter the town square for the first time.

So doesn't all that sound really cool and awesome? Unfortunately this day ended before I could actually describe the city very much.

Sad face :(

Today my word count is at it's lowest:  only  361 words  done today. But like my amazing writing buddy said, any words are better than zero! It's nice to hear a piece of my own advice dished back at me. Thanks!

EXCERPT

Most of what I did today is add description to existing scenes so...I can add some paragraphs here,but they might be out of order....is that okay?
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When it was evening on the second day, they landed outside the large settlement of Hillversten. It was centered around the railways and molded glasswork of an abandoned train station. The caravan settled amidst rivers of rusty railroad tracks, filled with traincars that people repurposed as homes. Containers were lined up on both sides of the tracks and made for easy transport of goods from the freighter to the town’s center.  More people than usual had begun to gather around the landing site, crowding around carts already piled high with goods to trade. Multicolored strips of cloth were tied around their wrists and pinned to their shirts. 

...

“I am absolutely convinced, me boy, that there is a connection between what is myth and reality.” The old man before them turned around and gave a toothy grin. “Especially now with my latest disccov’ry.”

                “Uh huh. What is that, exactly?”

                “There might’en be more fun in showing it to ye than just talking about it.”

                “ ‘Show it’? You’ve found a ‘thing’ and not a book?”

                “Exactly. Hard proof, jist the thing that might’en interest a fine his’torian like yeself,” Jenks sent a playful punch into Jason’s arm.             

Rubbing the sore spot on his arm, the old man’s words left a different kind of impact. ‘Proof.’ That word alone could change everything. Jason stopped in his tracks, letting the importance of that phrase sink in.

                “Jenks, are you telling me you found new information about the old world? About what happened to our ancestors?”

The old man chuckled to himself and kept on walking toward the Maintenance Bay at the end of the train yard. Darn it Jenks! Why couldn’t he just give a straight answer for once? Around the landing site and beyond, the wilderness had been cultivated into pastures and farmland. The Bay was used as a transportation gateway to connect the farmlands to the main city. Seeing an empty car available, Shiri grabbed the car’s outside handle and tried to take the first step into the car.

                “Ah, if ye be taking the travel car then I’ll need to meet you on the other side.”

                “Oh, you don’t want to ride with us Mr.Jenkins?”

                “Eh, it’s more the point that I ain’t allowed,” the old man responded sheeplishly.

                Jason stopped and looked at the old man. “Jenks, did the town take away your travel privileges again?”

                “Aye. This time it’s fer good. They say I’m a…distract’n the travelers by talk’n too much.” The old man straightened up and smiled. “Besides walk’n is healthier for me body, I says. I be seeing ye on the other side.”

Jenks nodded and started to walk down the platform. With a shared smile, Jason helped his sister from the travel car’s steps. Without a word they followed Jenkins on foot. He didn’t say anything, but it looked like his shoulders were held a little higher. 

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