Nanowrimo Day 5: Checking In

So I have been Nanowrimo for five days now. For my first go at this I have to say that I think I am doing pretty well. The first day was extremely difficult to just get started. I probably ended up starting over three or four times before I finally found a good flow. So far I have written every day except today. That puts me slightly behind my target word out, but overall I am sitting at approximately 4300 words.

So far i have found that while writing, the important thing is to literally just get words written. Forget about how it is written and just keep putting words down. As I am writing I have found that I needed locations and characters that I originally did not anticipate. As I am going along I am just filling in all of that information with an "XXXX" that will allow me to go back at some later point to try and look at something. 

I have also found that writing with my eyes closed as helped tremendously. I have the ability to type on a keyboard without looking at it. So closing my eyes to fully imagine the scene that I am in has helped me a lot in trying to visualize what I might need to describe and put down onto a page. 

Overall I have to say that I am really enjoying this process so far. I will post some excerpts, completed unedited as I go along. 

I took one deep long breath. Inhaling through my nose, slowly and with intention. At the peak of my breath I held it in my lungs, just for a second. Feeling the still brisk air of the morning inside. I habitually rolled my neck to the right to crack it and see if I could ease the tension in my shoulders. I never could and it always felt like it needed a good crack or massage. Slow, I let out my breath through my mouth, letting the air run across the back of my throat and allowing the exhale to have a slightly audible tone. Slowly opening my eyes I brought my awareness back to my surroundings and took note of my body posture. I was sitting on my knees, palms resting down upon my thighs with my back straight. I slowly rose from my seated position standing and began to take note again of my surroundings. 

The campsite was beginning to get packed up from our overnight stay. Satia was over by the lamec’s beginning to load them with the packs for the day.   Lamec's are stubborn pack animals that I have always had an affinity for. They are extremely abundant in this part of the and they are used for every purpose from racing to your average pack animal. They stand nearly two men high and make a sound that is somewhere between someone chocking on mucus and someone belching. They are generally pretty ugly animals, but they can take the heat of the desert and trek for days. There is also something about their eyes that has always been alluring to me. They have this wonderful bright blue eye that seems to show an awareness to the world around them that the rest of their body doesn't seem to have. 

“Are you done with your morning meditation?” Satia, asked from across the camp site.

Satia on the other hand, well she was no lamec. I have known Satia since my time in the army. We were stationed together in the desert and we have grown a fondness for each other that is hard to describe. We certainly have had our romantic moments, but at no point would I ever have said that we were in love or even any sort of couple. More, like we are two companions that are interwined on the same path. Satia grew up in a not so different family setting as I did, only her mother died during her birth and her father had raised her himself. She, as I joined the army not  out of some dire need, but instead because she wanted to experience the world. I know as well that her father also never would have had the money to pay for the schooling that would have been needed to send her to trade as merchant. Where I trained in the art of the short spear and the throwing spear, Satia found her art with the Tulwar. During our time in the army we came across a camp of some  rather common bandits that had been operating a few hundred leagues north of a city called Cutho. IT was pretty much barren desert save for the small oasis’ scattered here and there. During one of our raids we came upon a rather impressive staff that they have collected. In that stash you have your standard banquet of jewls and gold, but Staia found a beautifully crafted Tulwar. It had a blade two finger widths across and slightly longer than a man’s arm. The hilt was cast in a dark grey metal that I had never seen before and was incredibly hard. It had seen some impressive battles, but the hilt never showed a scratch on it. Satia saw that tulwar and has had it by her side ever since. That of course along with her two hand length dagger and small blocking shield. Her skill with the Tulwar and dagger was quite impressive. The movements she was able to conduct were fluid, almost dreamlike. Her dark brown hair, which flowed down to the middle of her back would often flow behind her as if a cape.