My Assessment So Far

“Then the blacks had lifted Conan, for so loaded with chains was he that he could not walk, and carried him from the chamber.  A glance back, before the heavy, gold-bound teak door was closed, showed him Xaltotun leaning back in his throne-like chair, his arms folded, while a thin wisp of smoke curled up from the brazier.  Conan’s scalp prickled.  In Stygia, the ancient and evil kingdom that lay far to the south, he had seen such black dust before.  It was the pollen of the black lotus, which creates death-like sleep and monstrous dreams; and he knew that only the grisly wizards of the Black Ring, which is the nadir of evil, voluntarily seek the scarlet nightmares of the black lotus, to revive their necromantic powers.  The Black Ring was a fable and a lie to most folk of the western world, but Conan knew of its ghastly reality, and its grim votaries who practice their abominable sorceries amid the black vaults of Stygia and the nighted domes of accursed Sabatea.  He glanced back at the cryptic, gold-bound door, shuddering at what it hid.”
— (Excerpt from The Hour of the Dragon, by Robert E. Howard)

My Assessment So Far
With seventeen days left in the second round of ROW80, I thought it would be a good idea to make an honest assessment of my writing progress so far.  Looking back at the beginning of the round, I had planned on writing 60,000 words towards my story-world during the 80-day challenge.  As it looks now, my word-count will only be about one-third of what I had expected to do.  Truthfully, I’m okay with that.  Consistency in my writing routine has been far more important to me this round than meeting my arbitrary word-count goal.  I prefer to have quality words over quantity at this point, especially since I’m still developing these story-ideas and don’t need excessive verbiage cluttering my files.  During the beginning of the round, I had planned to develop and outline three novella-size story-candidates during Camp NaNoWriMo, and I dutifully met my word-count during the first three weeks, but I was disappointed by the output (here’s my Camper Profile), and longed for a more leisurely pace towards story-crafting (that’s why I gravitate towards ROW80).  After May, I chose to approach the rest of the round with a more serendipitous attitude, with more emphasis on discovery and less emphasis on structure or daily word-counts.  I wanted to experience my first attempt at ROW80 as if I were one of the characters in my “sword & sorcery” universe, trekking off on an adventurous journey into the unknown wilderness, discovering my world as I went along.  And, for the most part, that has been my best use of this round.  This approach has sparked my imagination and has kept my creative-wells replenished.  As a result, my story-world has been slowly coming alive.  I now have fourteen story-ideas that I’m working on, each with their own characters and villains, and I’m setting-up and organizing each one so that I can work on them during ROW80 Round 3, this time with more structure and discipline.  Stay tuned for that...

Well, that’s all for now.  Keep the Fire Burning!
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