Novel Rewards

The video game everybody is talking about this week (in my circles anyway) is Skyrim. It's the next game after Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which I must say, I played the hell out of. As in, got all the achievements on the xBox for it but the Thieves Guild. Do I want to play Skyrim? Yes I do. Roaming Dragons? Dual wielding, either weapons, or magic, or a combination? Sign me up!

The stumbling block? National Novel Writing Month.

It's my choice, really. I know as soon as I pick up that ergonomic controller, I will be glued to the couch and to that TV, playing the hell out of Skyrim. It's a big, big game, of the sort sometimes referred to as a "sandbox" game. You can follow the main quest, sure, and doing things like that can affect the game world as you play, which is really rad. Or, you can say screw it, and just forge off into the wilderness and explore all the nooks and crannies of the world first. Missing nothing. That's my style for those games, anyway. Bethesda is the company that makes the Elder Scrolls game, and I've played them since Morrowind (Elder Scrolls III). Bethesda is also the company that picked up the  Fallout franchise, so Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas have also suffered my tender mercies.

With that sort of incentive, I broke 40k words last night. I haven't written today, having a wicked cold, and a pernicious need to do things like update my blogs so that everybody doesn't abandon me. Also, playing with Elka frequently takes center stage. She's very needy and compelling, the Doberman. So, today was my official unofficial NaNoWriMo slack off day, which really, I do find to be necessary sometimes. I know how I want the novel to end, and how I want the epilogue to go, but I need to get my three heroines from their deserted factory town location to that ending, in a compelling and wrap-up sort of way, that solves the mystery (or doesn't). These things take time! Since I'm a few days ahead, I feel I can enjoy the luxury of an evening off to nurse my cold and placate the dog.