I am eight days into NaNoWriMo. On the days when I have seriously put an effort into writing, I managed to put down about 2,000 words. Unfortunately, there were a couple days when I could not shake a head ache. I have learned the hard way not to mess with headaches, so I tried not to look at any screens for a while. Unfortunately, that meant getting about 3,600 words behind. The good news is that I am close to catching back up. As of right now, I am only 1,600 words away from where I should be. I feel pretty confident that I can keep up.
I am happy with how I am doing so far. I didn't really have any expectations going into this. I hadn't expected things would go perfectly, and had doubts whether I would finish. Now that I am at least a week into this, I know that 50,000 words is entirely doable for me. However, I think my feet will be dragging by the end. Writing around 2,000 words a day gets tiring, especially when you aren't always sure what to write about... which I don't. I usually spend a good fifteen minutes staring at the screen at the beginning of the day thinking "What can I write about?" because I'm simply stumped. Jordan wonders if having started writing this ahead of time may have made this harder for me now, as at first I had no shortage of ideas. He may be right, but I think this may be partially due to poor planning on my part. The good news is that finding the time to write has not been as much as an issue as I had expected.
Although this is not my first large writing project, this one writes differently than anything else I've done. It may explain why I am having some trouble thinking of what to write. For a span of two months while I was in college, I would feel bombarded with ideas while I went to class, and then it would be no problem for me to write out around 2,500 words without breaks. I don't have that this time, and I think that is because this story is really much more complicated than anything else I've attempted before.
I do think I can do this, but I anticipate that I'm going to be exhausted by the end. Hopefully I'll still have enough in me to write another 22,000 or so in December, so that I can reach 90,000 words by the end of the year, as was my initial plan.
No new beads for my bracelet, sadly. I tend to get distracted when I go to write-ins, so I've avoided going. I'll be going to one this Sunday, hopefully, so I can pick up any that I've earned in the past few days.
NaNo Wordcount: 10,875 (21.8% of NaNo goal)
Total Wordcount: 28,175 (31.3% of goal... 80ish pages )
Friday, November 9, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
Days 1 and 2 of NaNo
I'm excited to be able to report here after my first two days of NaNo that I have successfully passed my 1,667 word goal. I was going to start writing right at midnight on the 1st until I wrote a couple thousand. In theory it was a good idea. In practice... not so much. My mind was a little sluggish, so I wasn't moving along very well. I broke 1,000 words after about an hour and twenty minutes and called it a night. I didn't want to feel dead at work the next day.
My strategy has since been to wake up early to do my first writing before my day starts. That way I can get a good chunk of the daily word count out of the way early. I figure that if I were to choose to write in the evenings alone and I didn't make my daily goal for whatever reason, I'd be behind.
One problem I found: since I haven't been sure what to do with Allie's life, I've jumped around a lot. I still don't know what to put in some of the gaps I've made, and it makes it challenging when I'm looking for something to write. If I were to decide to work on a scene I hadn't finished, I'd have to figure out where the hell it is. It's time I'd rather not waste. I was actually going to write about how I needed a new program for writing to solve this. I needed a way to chunk my chapters into individual mini-documents so I can rearrange things and find the scenes I need more easily. Just as importantly, I needed to be able to access it anywhere I have the internet. I've been using Google Drive (formerly Google Docs) and I can access that anywhere, but organization for my novel sucks on it.
What happened today can only be described as fate. (Okay, melodramatic.) I went to the first NaNo write-in at a cafe in town and the owners of a writing program showed up. Evidently they created the program that our municipal liaison (ML), Michelle, uses and swears by, and they just happened to move from Florida to good ole' Bloomington. They pop in quickly to say 'Hi' and then our ML explained their writing software to me. It was exactly what I was looking for. And it saves old versions of my novel in case I accidentally delete it. It might be a little annoying transferring everything over, but I'm very excited to check it out. It is called Yarny. (https://yarny.me/). I'll be testing it out this weekend.
I also got to start my NaNo charm bracelet today, which we can fill with beads at our write-ins. Our ML started this so we can have a tangible reminder of our progress. We get one regular bead for every 1,667 words we write, and we get a charm for hitting special landmarks, in general or on time. I've got pictures of my bracelet so far. It looks kind of empty now, but keep reading my blog and you'll see it fill up! The word bead was for hitting 1,667 words on the first day. Technically we were only supposed to take one unless we needed an -ly at the end of a word, or something similar. Well.... I saw 'make' and 'believe' and I had to get them both. Then I realized that there was another word if you flip it over, and...
Fate! Sort of. 'Always learn' isn't as fitting for NaNo, but more likely than not it should have been gibberish. It's not a bad thing to remember, either.
I am going to another write-in for about an hour tomorrow before meeting up with a friend or two from out of town. Hopefully I can get a lot of writing before they come so I can get further ahead. I wouldn't mind a couple thousand words of cushion.
Total word count: 21,187 (23.5% of final goal, 60 or so pages)
Total NaNoWriMo count: 3,872 (7.7% of NaNo goal, 1,936 words per day average)
My strategy has since been to wake up early to do my first writing before my day starts. That way I can get a good chunk of the daily word count out of the way early. I figure that if I were to choose to write in the evenings alone and I didn't make my daily goal for whatever reason, I'd be behind.
One problem I found: since I haven't been sure what to do with Allie's life, I've jumped around a lot. I still don't know what to put in some of the gaps I've made, and it makes it challenging when I'm looking for something to write. If I were to decide to work on a scene I hadn't finished, I'd have to figure out where the hell it is. It's time I'd rather not waste. I was actually going to write about how I needed a new program for writing to solve this. I needed a way to chunk my chapters into individual mini-documents so I can rearrange things and find the scenes I need more easily. Just as importantly, I needed to be able to access it anywhere I have the internet. I've been using Google Drive (formerly Google Docs) and I can access that anywhere, but organization for my novel sucks on it.
What happened today can only be described as fate. (Okay, melodramatic.) I went to the first NaNo write-in at a cafe in town and the owners of a writing program showed up. Evidently they created the program that our municipal liaison (ML), Michelle, uses and swears by, and they just happened to move from Florida to good ole' Bloomington. They pop in quickly to say 'Hi' and then our ML explained their writing software to me. It was exactly what I was looking for. And it saves old versions of my novel in case I accidentally delete it. It might be a little annoying transferring everything over, but I'm very excited to check it out. It is called Yarny. (https://yarny.me/). I'll be testing it out this weekend.
I also got to start my NaNo charm bracelet today, which we can fill with beads at our write-ins. Our ML started this so we can have a tangible reminder of our progress. We get one regular bead for every 1,667 words we write, and we get a charm for hitting special landmarks, in general or on time. I've got pictures of my bracelet so far. It looks kind of empty now, but keep reading my blog and you'll see it fill up! The word bead was for hitting 1,667 words on the first day. Technically we were only supposed to take one unless we needed an -ly at the end of a word, or something similar. Well.... I saw 'make' and 'believe' and I had to get them both. Then I realized that there was another word if you flip it over, and...
I am going to another write-in for about an hour tomorrow before meeting up with a friend or two from out of town. Hopefully I can get a lot of writing before they come so I can get further ahead. I wouldn't mind a couple thousand words of cushion.
Total word count: 21,187 (23.5% of final goal, 60 or so pages)
Total NaNoWriMo count: 3,872 (7.7% of NaNo goal, 1,936 words per day average)
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Here we go!
It's the eve of NaNoWriMo! I have put a widget on the sidebar where anyone can keep up with how I'm doing on my word count. On top of keeping tabs on my overall word score, it will also mark every day whether I reach 1,667 words (green) or not (red) as well as if I did exceptionally well (dark green) or poorly (dark red). I do anticipate a few dark red days. I may try to take a day off here and there if I am doing well enough with my word count. We'll see. Either way, I was hesitant to include the calendar because I know if I fail epically it will be broadcasted to everyone! On the other hand, keeping everyone else from seeing me fail may be another incentive to write. I will start writing tonight at midnight, so hopefully if you check the calendar on this blog sometime tomorrow, you'll see one little green box. Maybe I'll try to see how many words it takes to get a dark green box.
As I mentally prepared myself this evening to start what I fully anticipate to be an insane month, I sat by a bowl of candy for my first ever Trick or Treaters and watched The Hurricane, the movie based on Rubin Carter going to prison for three murders he did not commit. I picked it because it is the only movie my boyfriend and I own that I had never seen. I'm surprised I hadn't, really. It depicts his relationship with a boy, Lesra, who read and was inspired by the book Rubin wrote in prison. When they finally meet in person, Rubin starts talking about the magic of writing to the boy who is newly literate. I really couldn't have picked a better movie to watch tonight, for that scene on its own.
And then there is also the link between the movie's title and a certain force of destruction that has been terrorizing the east coast.
The NaNo group held a kick-off party on Monday at a martini bar in town. I'm always up for a reason to splurge on a cocktail, but I really enjoyed the event. There were at least 30 people present, so I met a lot of new people as well as received a few more movie suggestions that may help me with inspiration when I get stuck. I'll see them again on Friday for our first NaNo write-in.
My GREs are now over. I'm very happy with my scores, which means I can put most of my efforts into the novel rather than studying for a redo (although I may have to work on graduate school applications now, but we'll get to that later). I went back to planning my novel. Fortunately, I figured out some additional things I can do with Allie's life, and it also strengthened one of my characters in the process. I seem to find that adding connections in my story is a positive thing. Donald Maas recommended it in his book Writing the Breakout Novel, and I'm seeing that he was right. I had hoped I would figured out a little more before November, but people have won this thing with much less planning than I've done. None, even. What I have now will have to be enough. Wish me luck!
I can't believe that with two and half hours to go before November is here, I actually have butterflies.
As I mentally prepared myself this evening to start what I fully anticipate to be an insane month, I sat by a bowl of candy for my first ever Trick or Treaters and watched The Hurricane, the movie based on Rubin Carter going to prison for three murders he did not commit. I picked it because it is the only movie my boyfriend and I own that I had never seen. I'm surprised I hadn't, really. It depicts his relationship with a boy, Lesra, who read and was inspired by the book Rubin wrote in prison. When they finally meet in person, Rubin starts talking about the magic of writing to the boy who is newly literate. I really couldn't have picked a better movie to watch tonight, for that scene on its own.
And then there is also the link between the movie's title and a certain force of destruction that has been terrorizing the east coast.
The NaNo group held a kick-off party on Monday at a martini bar in town. I'm always up for a reason to splurge on a cocktail, but I really enjoyed the event. There were at least 30 people present, so I met a lot of new people as well as received a few more movie suggestions that may help me with inspiration when I get stuck. I'll see them again on Friday for our first NaNo write-in.
My GREs are now over. I'm very happy with my scores, which means I can put most of my efforts into the novel rather than studying for a redo (although I may have to work on graduate school applications now, but we'll get to that later). I went back to planning my novel. Fortunately, I figured out some additional things I can do with Allie's life, and it also strengthened one of my characters in the process. I seem to find that adding connections in my story is a positive thing. Donald Maas recommended it in his book Writing the Breakout Novel, and I'm seeing that he was right. I had hoped I would figured out a little more before November, but people have won this thing with much less planning than I've done. None, even. What I have now will have to be enough. Wish me luck!
I can't believe that with two and half hours to go before November is here, I actually have butterflies.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo
Lunch break. Thought I'd write something quick.
I feel like I've been talking about National Novel Writing Month for a while now. I can't believe it is almost here! I am pretty much terrified, so I've been trying to figure out how to prepare for it. I'm surprised how many websites I have found online with tips. I saw a few things I was already planning to do (let everyone know I am going to be much less available in November), but others I hadn't thought of (freeze meals for easy dinners).
Every single site I have found so far tells me I need to stock up on coffee. Well, that's great, but I don't really like coffee. Doomed. I love the smell of it, but no matter how much cream and sugar I add I cannot get past the bitterness. Luckily, there are lots of energy drinks available these days. I'm not a big fan of those, either, but I'll try them out. Or tea. I think I once saw caffeinated gum at a gas station.
I have not had the chance to write lately. I've tried a little more outlining to get me prepared for November, but I've got other things I need to work on, too. I can only do so much and stay sane when I get home from work--granted writing can be fun, but it is still work. I'm taking the GRE this Saturday evening. This might sound strange, considering that I'm writing a novel, but I'm a little concerned about the Verbal section. I bought a set of flashcards with the 500 most commonly used words, and I can't believe what I'm expected to know. When on earth will I ever use some of these? Sure, some are not too difficult to figure out (why would I ever use "pellucid" when "lucid" is a perfectly good synonym?), but others require pure, rote memory. There are a good 100 words I'm not even bothering looking at. I figure it'd be a waste of my time.
When I'm not preparing for the GRE, I'm debating with myself over the title of my novel. I had something in my head for a while, but I realized that it had religious connotations to it. I'd rather keep those out because I've got no such intentions for my book. I don't even really have any explicit message in mind for my story. I am writing it to entertain myself primarily, and others secondarily. Either way, I need a freaking working title. I started writing out all sorts of ideas and filled a sheet of paper with a combination of overdramatic, boring, and misleading titles. My working title, for lack of any more inspiring ideas, may end up being A Second Life or something else that is super literal or prosaic (GRE word!)
I know I have not really written many updates lately. I'm not sure my time will free up much in November. Even if I do have time, I'm pretty sure I'll want to get away from computers. Maybe I'll try to write just enough to get across my progress, but we'll see.
My plan as of now: invest in ear plugs; buy frozen dinners and coffee/tea/some random bad tasting, energizing crap; take a couple days after my GRE to refine my characters
And finally: on Halloween night, at 11:59 pm, I will turn on my computer and write until I hit 1,667 words. I want to start with a bang!
I feel like I've been talking about National Novel Writing Month for a while now. I can't believe it is almost here! I am pretty much terrified, so I've been trying to figure out how to prepare for it. I'm surprised how many websites I have found online with tips. I saw a few things I was already planning to do (let everyone know I am going to be much less available in November), but others I hadn't thought of (freeze meals for easy dinners).
Every single site I have found so far tells me I need to stock up on coffee. Well, that's great, but I don't really like coffee. Doomed. I love the smell of it, but no matter how much cream and sugar I add I cannot get past the bitterness. Luckily, there are lots of energy drinks available these days. I'm not a big fan of those, either, but I'll try them out. Or tea. I think I once saw caffeinated gum at a gas station.
I have not had the chance to write lately. I've tried a little more outlining to get me prepared for November, but I've got other things I need to work on, too. I can only do so much and stay sane when I get home from work--granted writing can be fun, but it is still work. I'm taking the GRE this Saturday evening. This might sound strange, considering that I'm writing a novel, but I'm a little concerned about the Verbal section. I bought a set of flashcards with the 500 most commonly used words, and I can't believe what I'm expected to know. When on earth will I ever use some of these? Sure, some are not too difficult to figure out (why would I ever use "pellucid" when "lucid" is a perfectly good synonym?), but others require pure, rote memory. There are a good 100 words I'm not even bothering looking at. I figure it'd be a waste of my time.
When I'm not preparing for the GRE, I'm debating with myself over the title of my novel. I had something in my head for a while, but I realized that it had religious connotations to it. I'd rather keep those out because I've got no such intentions for my book. I don't even really have any explicit message in mind for my story. I am writing it to entertain myself primarily, and others secondarily. Either way, I need a freaking working title. I started writing out all sorts of ideas and filled a sheet of paper with a combination of overdramatic, boring, and misleading titles. My working title, for lack of any more inspiring ideas, may end up being A Second Life or something else that is super literal or prosaic (GRE word!)
I know I have not really written many updates lately. I'm not sure my time will free up much in November. Even if I do have time, I'm pretty sure I'll want to get away from computers. Maybe I'll try to write just enough to get across my progress, but we'll see.
My plan as of now: invest in ear plugs; buy frozen dinners and coffee/tea/some random bad tasting, energizing crap; take a couple days after my GRE to refine my characters
And finally: on Halloween night, at 11:59 pm, I will turn on my computer and write until I hit 1,667 words. I want to start with a bang!
Friday, October 12, 2012
Hemingway experiment: write drunk, edit sober
I have decided to try a little experiment. While Ernest Hemingway had a reputation for indulging in alcohol, he was also a brilliant author. One of his famous quotes, "write drunk, edit sober," has always made sense in theory. After all, the quality of the first draft does not matter. You simply need to get something down. Polishing comes later. I have an issue with this, sometimes. I find it too tempting to edit as I go, I get stuck on word choices, and sometimes I sensor things in my writing. I thought I'd take his quote to a more literal interpretation.
I bought myself a bottle of Riesling wine, and have already made a dent in it. Unfortunately this particular brand is a little too sweet (I should have looked that up ahead of time). I anticipate that tomorrow morning when I have to hold a stand at the farmer's market to recruit families to do experiments, I will be nurturing hangover. Such is the price of writing.
I'm going to go on record, before I get too deep into this bottle, and say that I don't suggest that anyone who wants to write should drown themselves in alcohol for their craft. I just thought this would be a fun experiment seeing as how I've got nothing else to do on a Friday night. Also, I don't plan to get drunk so much as buzzed.
Here goes.
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Okay, so it is an hour and twenty minutes later.. I wrote about 1,300 words. I'm not sure what I think of what I accomplished, and probably won't know until I'm fully sober. Right now I think that, although I came up with a few good ideas, my writing isn't very 'pretty.' It's looking fairly basic. That doesn't really matter, because the point was to lower my inhibitions and just let myself write. Still, I'm not convinced I couldn't have come up with these ideas while sober. Normally I do come up with a few good ideas while writing, anyway. Nor do I think I would have taken this scene down a notch without the alcohol. Where is the benefit?
It was harder than I thought to write with a buzz, partially because I kept mistyping. A couple times, I wrote an entirely wrong word that started with the same letter. Plus it was tiring. Unless I wanted to drink a hell of a lot to maintain this level, I knew I was bound to start to crash soon. It's only 9:30 and I kind of want to go to bed. Seriously? My 21-year-old self would be ashamed. But she also didn't have a full time job that meant waking up early to run experiments.
All in all, I'm not sure this is something to repeat.
Word count- 17327
I bought myself a bottle of Riesling wine, and have already made a dent in it. Unfortunately this particular brand is a little too sweet (I should have looked that up ahead of time). I anticipate that tomorrow morning when I have to hold a stand at the farmer's market to recruit families to do experiments, I will be nurturing hangover. Such is the price of writing.
I'm going to go on record, before I get too deep into this bottle, and say that I don't suggest that anyone who wants to write should drown themselves in alcohol for their craft. I just thought this would be a fun experiment seeing as how I've got nothing else to do on a Friday night. Also, I don't plan to get drunk so much as buzzed.
Here goes.
----------------
Okay, so it is an hour and twenty minutes later.. I wrote about 1,300 words. I'm not sure what I think of what I accomplished, and probably won't know until I'm fully sober. Right now I think that, although I came up with a few good ideas, my writing isn't very 'pretty.' It's looking fairly basic. That doesn't really matter, because the point was to lower my inhibitions and just let myself write. Still, I'm not convinced I couldn't have come up with these ideas while sober. Normally I do come up with a few good ideas while writing, anyway. Nor do I think I would have taken this scene down a notch without the alcohol. Where is the benefit?
It was harder than I thought to write with a buzz, partially because I kept mistyping. A couple times, I wrote an entirely wrong word that started with the same letter. Plus it was tiring. Unless I wanted to drink a hell of a lot to maintain this level, I knew I was bound to start to crash soon. It's only 9:30 and I kind of want to go to bed. Seriously? My 21-year-old self would be ashamed. But she also didn't have a full time job that meant waking up early to run experiments.
All in all, I'm not sure this is something to repeat.
Word count- 17327
Thursday, October 11, 2012
October delays, and a synopsis draft
October won't be filled with as much writing as I'd hoped. I recently realized that, although I don't know for certain what I would do, I really am ready to leave my lab manager position behind. The best thing I can think to do next is try going to grad school... if I can figure out what I would go for. In order to leave the option for grad school open, I've been preparing to take a GRE later this month. (Is it strange that I'm writing a novel and yet it is the verbal section I'm worried about? I did grow up with a physics professor as a father, though.) I really should do better and study to take the one in psychology, too... but I kind of hate the idea of studying for that when I'm trying to get ready for Nano. This is discouraging, because it tells me a few things about my priorities for my future. I would love to write for a living, but realistically I would not be able to support myself, so I need to pick a career. This is where I turn into a whiner and start complaining about how I don't want to do that. I really really really need to get serious and freaking pick a path.
Plus Jordan and I have finally gotten bicycles, so we've been riding them alllllll over town.
Plus Jordan and I have finally gotten bicycles, so we've been riding them alllllll over town.
Since I can't write about having actually written... I've decided to release a draft of my synopsis. It's a work in progress, but I guess I don't see the need to be quite as secretive anymore.
Initially, Allie Hepner thinks the hospital room she has been visiting every night is part of a dream. As they return and grow longer she must face the possibility that she is not dreaming. Rather, she is waking up in the life of Candice Waybright, a woman who was involved in a car wreck Allie caused a week prior. She suddenly finds herself surrounded by Candice’s family and husband who believe she has retrograde amnesia. As they teach her about Candice’s life and try to rebuild their relationships Allie must figure out whether the life she worked so hard for is everything she thought it was, and what happened to the real Candice Waybright.
My biggest problem right now is not knowing what to do with Allie's life. I have all sorts of ideas about life as Candice. I'm excited to write it and it is much more fun... but I need to figure out how to make life as Allie more interesting. If not, I may have trouble trying to write 50k words for Nano.
I am trying to do as little traveling as possible in November, because I would love to have weekends to shut myself off to the world and write so I can stay on track. The problem is, I've got plans for 2 weekends and plans for another undetermined weekend. Something tells me I may used some of my paid time off days in November to make it work.
I do plan on doing virtually nothing else in November, though. Sorry in advance if I turn down any invitations.
I do plan on doing virtually nothing else in November, though. Sorry in advance if I turn down any invitations.
I'm still at about 16,000 words. Ack.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Breaking Bad and other writing assignments
Dexter has made way for Breaking Bad. I wish I could say it's some joke, but as soon as I caught up with one distraction, Jordan and I launched head first into another. We've gotten more than half way through the fourth season since I last wrote. I think I just have to accept that I'll always have these distractions and just find a way to write despite them.
I also spent a decent chunk of time since my last post working on a submission for a developmental psych conference. I was working on an entirely different sort of writing, and then when I emailed it to some of the professors/co-authors, one of them completely schooled me. She reworked the entire thing (which, I hear, she often does). Really, it is a great thing. She knows what the panels will be looking for and how to give the abstract the best chance of getting accepted. I'm flabbergasted I can list these professors as my co-authors. At least if I ever finish my novel I won't be as shocked if it needs heavy editing.
I have recently started dedicating myself to half an hour of writing in the mornings, before I do much else. It kind of gets my mind going for the day. Plus, I'm starting to realize I'm going to be shorter on time to write, so I need to write when I can. I've got to GOT TO prepare for a GRE I'm taking later this month. During that time, I'd love to (but won't count on) write at least 800 words a day to warm me up for NaNoWriMo in November which would simultaneously get me to the 40,000 word goal I'd love to hit by Oct.31. If I can somehow manage that AND win NaNo (seriously, who put NaNo in the month with Thanksgiving traveling?) I'll have 90,000 words. Looking at my current word count, I know I've got to get more serious.
Hey, I have written 12,000 words in a day before. Not the best writing, mind you, but I'm not looking for polished either.
I'm somewhat still using my strategy of writing out parts of conversations and then typing them up later. I started with maybe 175 words of dialogue which, when I started typing it out, transformed into just over a thousand words when as I expanded it and fleshed out the scene. Not bad.
I feel like I'm on a roll. I'm going to try to write a little more.
Total word count: 16,068 (17.8% of my goal)
I also spent a decent chunk of time since my last post working on a submission for a developmental psych conference. I was working on an entirely different sort of writing, and then when I emailed it to some of the professors/co-authors, one of them completely schooled me. She reworked the entire thing (which, I hear, she often does). Really, it is a great thing. She knows what the panels will be looking for and how to give the abstract the best chance of getting accepted. I'm flabbergasted I can list these professors as my co-authors. At least if I ever finish my novel I won't be as shocked if it needs heavy editing.
I have recently started dedicating myself to half an hour of writing in the mornings, before I do much else. It kind of gets my mind going for the day. Plus, I'm starting to realize I'm going to be shorter on time to write, so I need to write when I can. I've got to GOT TO prepare for a GRE I'm taking later this month. During that time, I'd love to (but won't count on) write at least 800 words a day to warm me up for NaNoWriMo in November which would simultaneously get me to the 40,000 word goal I'd love to hit by Oct.31. If I can somehow manage that AND win NaNo (seriously, who put NaNo in the month with Thanksgiving traveling?) I'll have 90,000 words. Looking at my current word count, I know I've got to get more serious.
Hey, I have written 12,000 words in a day before. Not the best writing, mind you, but I'm not looking for polished either.
I'm somewhat still using my strategy of writing out parts of conversations and then typing them up later. I started with maybe 175 words of dialogue which, when I started typing it out, transformed into just over a thousand words when as I expanded it and fleshed out the scene. Not bad.
I feel like I'm on a roll. I'm going to try to write a little more.
Total word count: 16,068 (17.8% of my goal)
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Lots of dialogue, and a new outline
I spent the last three or four days watching season six of Dexter. Oops. Jordan and I finished it last night, though, and immediately after I got back to work.
I thoroughly enjoyed writing today. Up until now I had been afraid that my story might solely involve questions of love and right versus wrong. I wanted to make sure I had other things going for my story. Before today I'd had some vague ideas on how to branch out, but I wasn't sure about how to execute it. I think I got it today, or at least a good start. Enter more psychology material. I'm putting my college education to good use.
The scene was a lot of fun to write, and it went by quickly. I mostly wrote the dialogue, so I didn't slow myself down with the other details of the scene (aside from brief descriptions of what I needed to fill in the blanks later). That came to about 1,000 words. By the time I go through it later and add enough to flesh it out a little, I'm hoping that scene will be closer to 2,000 words. Maybe more if I can add to it's plot.
Writing with a specific scene in mind was so much easier that I spent the rest of my time for the day working on a more concrete outline. The one I originally made dealt a little more with the general feeling of the book as it progressed, with a few key scenes described. I wasn't sure how to connect certain points, and sometimes I only had a murky sense of what was coming. I'm trying to create one that would list the specific scenes in order. Hopefully a couple days of this will speed things up. As usual, it won't be set in stone. I still want to be able to change it if I come up with new ideas.
I'm debating whether I should release more information about what my novel is about. I think I'm guarding it more than I need to, and even if someone were to try to write something similar it wouldn't be the same book at all.
I've also had a little fun lately visualizing what I have written as actual pages in a paperback book.
Total Word Count: 13533 (15%; = about 45 pages!)
I thoroughly enjoyed writing today. Up until now I had been afraid that my story might solely involve questions of love and right versus wrong. I wanted to make sure I had other things going for my story. Before today I'd had some vague ideas on how to branch out, but I wasn't sure about how to execute it. I think I got it today, or at least a good start. Enter more psychology material. I'm putting my college education to good use.
The scene was a lot of fun to write, and it went by quickly. I mostly wrote the dialogue, so I didn't slow myself down with the other details of the scene (aside from brief descriptions of what I needed to fill in the blanks later). That came to about 1,000 words. By the time I go through it later and add enough to flesh it out a little, I'm hoping that scene will be closer to 2,000 words. Maybe more if I can add to it's plot.
Writing with a specific scene in mind was so much easier that I spent the rest of my time for the day working on a more concrete outline. The one I originally made dealt a little more with the general feeling of the book as it progressed, with a few key scenes described. I wasn't sure how to connect certain points, and sometimes I only had a murky sense of what was coming. I'm trying to create one that would list the specific scenes in order. Hopefully a couple days of this will speed things up. As usual, it won't be set in stone. I still want to be able to change it if I come up with new ideas.
I'm debating whether I should release more information about what my novel is about. I think I'm guarding it more than I need to, and even if someone were to try to write something similar it wouldn't be the same book at all.
I've also had a little fun lately visualizing what I have written as actual pages in a paperback book.
Total Word Count: 13533 (15%; = about 45 pages!)
Monday, August 20, 2012
The art of 'stealing'
I know that anyone who tries to write faces all sorts of time-related obstacles. I guess I'm no different, but I've not really had the chance to write as much as I wanted to recently. I have continued to write, though, and I'm satisfied I haven't stopped.
I'm happy with what I've written in the past couple days. I had a general idea of what I needed to accomplish in a couple scenes, but wasn't sure how to do it. I was fortunate today, though, and the writing came easily enough. The scenes didn't end how I expected them to, but it feels good when a scene I write turns out differently. I take it to mean that rather than forcing a pre-conceived plot idea to fit, I am discovering how my characters really would act.
I have finished reading Before I Go to Sleep, and have now decided it might be helpful for me to go back through a book I have read before, Replay by Ken Grimwood. It is about a man who has a heart attack, and after that moment keeps going back and replaying parts of his life. Although most of the book is irrelevant to mine, there are certain key points that I hope might inspire me, even apart from the what-the-hell-is-happening-to-me element. There were a couple similarities in how we approached it, so that was encouraging. After I finish this post I'm going to go back to Replay and see if there is something in there I can 'steal'.
I take back some of what I have said about the Fifty Shades series. The very idea of fanfiction that underwent name changes so it could be sold as it's own work pissed me off at first. It still kind of does, and I still hold that it is ten times easier to write a book when you are masking characters from other works as new ones. I have done this myself (and I'm glad I did, because it was a good exercise and stepping stone), but I would never dream of trying to get any of it published because it still feels like cheating. However, yes, everything we write comes from something, whether life or another book. The creativity comes when you decide how to use the things you steal, because it can not exist in a vacuum. People do 'steal,' but in different degrees. E.L. James happened to 'steal' much more from one source. I still frown upon it, but it still does take some degree of creativity to turn Twilight into Fifty Shades of Grey. I guess the work fits into a grey area (pun partially intended).
What I think of the quality of James' creativity is unrelated, so I won't go into that here.
In the spirit of 'stealing,' here is a Ted Talk I have read on the matter by Austin Kleon, who wrote Steal like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You about Being Creative. Check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oww7oB9rjgw
Total Word Count: 11638 (13% of my goal)
I'm happy with what I've written in the past couple days. I had a general idea of what I needed to accomplish in a couple scenes, but wasn't sure how to do it. I was fortunate today, though, and the writing came easily enough. The scenes didn't end how I expected them to, but it feels good when a scene I write turns out differently. I take it to mean that rather than forcing a pre-conceived plot idea to fit, I am discovering how my characters really would act.
I have finished reading Before I Go to Sleep, and have now decided it might be helpful for me to go back through a book I have read before, Replay by Ken Grimwood. It is about a man who has a heart attack, and after that moment keeps going back and replaying parts of his life. Although most of the book is irrelevant to mine, there are certain key points that I hope might inspire me, even apart from the what-the-hell-is-happening-to-me element. There were a couple similarities in how we approached it, so that was encouraging. After I finish this post I'm going to go back to Replay and see if there is something in there I can 'steal'.
I take back some of what I have said about the Fifty Shades series. The very idea of fanfiction that underwent name changes so it could be sold as it's own work pissed me off at first. It still kind of does, and I still hold that it is ten times easier to write a book when you are masking characters from other works as new ones. I have done this myself (and I'm glad I did, because it was a good exercise and stepping stone), but I would never dream of trying to get any of it published because it still feels like cheating. However, yes, everything we write comes from something, whether life or another book. The creativity comes when you decide how to use the things you steal, because it can not exist in a vacuum. People do 'steal,' but in different degrees. E.L. James happened to 'steal' much more from one source. I still frown upon it, but it still does take some degree of creativity to turn Twilight into Fifty Shades of Grey. I guess the work fits into a grey area (pun partially intended).
What I think of the quality of James' creativity is unrelated, so I won't go into that here.
In the spirit of 'stealing,' here is a Ted Talk I have read on the matter by Austin Kleon, who wrote Steal like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You about Being Creative. Check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oww7oB9rjgw
Total Word Count: 11638 (13% of my goal)
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Dissociative fugue vs. dissociative amnesia
Considering that I was a psychology major, I feel kind of foolish. I was doing a little research on amnesia for my novel and remembered that my story might not involve 'normal' amnesia at all. It seems more like dissociative fugue. It has been at least four years since I took abnormal psychology, so I didn't remember all of the specific differences, and I found some conflicting information online. It was also hard to say because dissociative fugue involves a person assuming a new identity and physically moving elsewhere... and as of now I have planned to have my character stay where she is. I needed to look into this more, because this could change things. I may need to iron out how my character would act before I can decide. I prefer the idea of a dissociative fugue (mis)diagnosis, if it is possible, if only because it isn't nearly as overdone.
I wanted to find the technical clinical requirements. I do own a copy of DSM-IV, but on top of it being somewhere in Knoxville it is also now somewhat outdated. DSM V will be published next year, I believe.
I went to the DSM website (www.dsm5.org) and finally had a little luck. Evidently, dissociative fugue used to be its own disorder, but it has been proposed that it be entered in as a subtype of dissociative amnesia (general episodic amnesia) in the newest edition. A few of the criteria in DSM IV included travel away from home, loss of episodic memory, and confusion regarding one's identity. Some of my questions were answered, but I still was not sure of all I wanted to know. What if the person in question seems to think that they are someone else but either doesn't have the chance to leave or else does not try? Why is going elsewhere a requirement? Then I found a notation. The travel aspect is an inconsistent feature of dissociative fugue. I may be in business.
Still, I'm wondering if I can stop by and see my old abnormal psychology professor. He still works in my department, and I occasionally see him, but he probably doesn't remember me anymore. Maybe if I can do that I'll understand a little better and then will be able to decide how to tackle this. I may not have to find a reason for my character to up and leave as a part of my plot.
Now, a question. I hadn't expected my novel to go into much detail on the facts and details on all this (retrograde vs. anterograde amnesia, episodic memory, dissociative amnesia vs. dissociative fugue) but for the story to be credible I would have to include the scenes where a doctor explains these nuances. Would that make for boring reading? Maybe I can find a way to get one of the characters to spice it up. Maybe I can make a character lose their mind and start speaking in tongues.
I didn't write much today. I had a movie night tonight and I wanted to get to read more of Before I Go to Sleep. I did do a little revising. Editing as you go can be kind of risky, but I like to read through what I've written sometimes, and when I do I'd rather it not feel so raw. I might not have increased my word count by much, but I improved some of what I already had. At least it's something.
Total Word Count: 9,320
I wanted to find the technical clinical requirements. I do own a copy of DSM-IV, but on top of it being somewhere in Knoxville it is also now somewhat outdated. DSM V will be published next year, I believe.
I went to the DSM website (www.dsm5.org) and finally had a little luck. Evidently, dissociative fugue used to be its own disorder, but it has been proposed that it be entered in as a subtype of dissociative amnesia (general episodic amnesia) in the newest edition. A few of the criteria in DSM IV included travel away from home, loss of episodic memory, and confusion regarding one's identity. Some of my questions were answered, but I still was not sure of all I wanted to know. What if the person in question seems to think that they are someone else but either doesn't have the chance to leave or else does not try? Why is going elsewhere a requirement? Then I found a notation. The travel aspect is an inconsistent feature of dissociative fugue. I may be in business.
Still, I'm wondering if I can stop by and see my old abnormal psychology professor. He still works in my department, and I occasionally see him, but he probably doesn't remember me anymore. Maybe if I can do that I'll understand a little better and then will be able to decide how to tackle this. I may not have to find a reason for my character to up and leave as a part of my plot.
Now, a question. I hadn't expected my novel to go into much detail on the facts and details on all this (retrograde vs. anterograde amnesia, episodic memory, dissociative amnesia vs. dissociative fugue) but for the story to be credible I would have to include the scenes where a doctor explains these nuances. Would that make for boring reading? Maybe I can find a way to get one of the characters to spice it up. Maybe I can make a character lose their mind and start speaking in tongues.
I didn't write much today. I had a movie night tonight and I wanted to get to read more of Before I Go to Sleep. I did do a little revising. Editing as you go can be kind of risky, but I like to read through what I've written sometimes, and when I do I'd rather it not feel so raw. I might not have increased my word count by much, but I improved some of what I already had. At least it's something.
Total Word Count: 9,320
Monday, August 13, 2012
One-tenth milestone
I am not too distracted today. I've kept writing, which feels great, to be honest. I feel like I did in college when I would sit in my lectures and write ideas and snippets of conversation I wanted to remember in the margins of my notes. I feel excited to write again, and so you can probably guess what my lunch break entailed today. My idea from yesterday has made writing so much easier, and I feel like maybe, just maybe, I'm finally getting somewhere.
I don't know why I'm so occupied with the idea of completing a November NaNo. It may be because the municipal liaison for Bloomington started talking about it last Wednesday when I went to the group. She was considering where she could hold the weekly write-ins for November and the kick-off event. She also talked about how everyone has a bead bracelet as an incentive to keep going. For every 1,667 words written, you get a bead for your bracelet. If you accomplish certain goals (stay on track for the first week, be the first to 50k words, etc) you get a charm to add to the beads. Somehow I think having a tangible reward, however little, could be such a huge incentive. But then, that is a couple months away.
I was roaming the NaNoWriMo website and found the pep talks from the past years events. Published authors write them and email them out to all NaNo'ers each week during November. It just so happens that the authors of three books I loved have written these pep talks before. Two of them, Sara Gruen and Erin Morgenstern, have actually done NaNo before. Sara's pep talk showed that even now that she is published and successful she still does NaNo. Her pep talk mentioned that she was behind on her word count (which, of course, makes me feel a little better about my own progress). And then, it was great seeing the talk by Audrey Niffenegger considering that The Time Traveler's Wife is possibly my overall favorite book right now and has inspired certain elements of my book. I also liked seeing that Meg Cabot, even if I don't read her books, did a pep talk and has done NaNo in the past. I suppose that's just because she grew up here in Bloomington. She went to high school just across the street from where I lived last year.
I probably won't write more today. I have been reading Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson. It's not as relevant to my book as I hoped it might be, but I'm hooked regardless. I may take some of my focus away from writing until I finish it, but I do plan to keep working on my word count tomorrow.
I read a quote on writing that made me feel better for missing my personal deadlines:
I don't know why I'm so occupied with the idea of completing a November NaNo. It may be because the municipal liaison for Bloomington started talking about it last Wednesday when I went to the group. She was considering where she could hold the weekly write-ins for November and the kick-off event. She also talked about how everyone has a bead bracelet as an incentive to keep going. For every 1,667 words written, you get a bead for your bracelet. If you accomplish certain goals (stay on track for the first week, be the first to 50k words, etc) you get a charm to add to the beads. Somehow I think having a tangible reward, however little, could be such a huge incentive. But then, that is a couple months away.
I was roaming the NaNoWriMo website and found the pep talks from the past years events. Published authors write them and email them out to all NaNo'ers each week during November. It just so happens that the authors of three books I loved have written these pep talks before. Two of them, Sara Gruen and Erin Morgenstern, have actually done NaNo before. Sara's pep talk showed that even now that she is published and successful she still does NaNo. Her pep talk mentioned that she was behind on her word count (which, of course, makes me feel a little better about my own progress). And then, it was great seeing the talk by Audrey Niffenegger considering that The Time Traveler's Wife is possibly my overall favorite book right now and has inspired certain elements of my book. I also liked seeing that Meg Cabot, even if I don't read her books, did a pep talk and has done NaNo in the past. I suppose that's just because she grew up here in Bloomington. She went to high school just across the street from where I lived last year.
I probably won't write more today. I have been reading Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson. It's not as relevant to my book as I hoped it might be, but I'm hooked regardless. I may take some of my focus away from writing until I finish it, but I do plan to keep working on my word count tomorrow.
I read a quote on writing that made me feel better for missing my personal deadlines:
- "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
- - Douglas Adams
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Trying to get back on track
It's been a while. I kept trying to get back to work, but I couldn't. I wasn't going to the NaNo group, and I certainly wasn't writing. I was thinking a little about my story, though. I am still going to do it. I don't want this to be some passing dream that fades. I just had other things going on in my life for a while, and somehow could not make myself write. I would say I wanted to do it, but when it came down to sitting in front of my computer I couldn't come up with anything.
I'm working on it. I went to a NaNo group on Wednesday, my first time since the very end of May. Today I skimmed through some notes so I could start writing. I wrote a little, but then something strange happened. It's almost like my writing muse started tugging on me and telling me, "Alright, get back to it." I had such a crazy idea. I don't know how I didn't think of it before! It just makes sense this way, as though my story was showing me how everything really unfolds. It doesn't change much in practice--I will only have to rework a few sections--but it will add an entirely new level to everything. It adds a new sense of motivation to why my characters might act a certain way, and creates more connections between a few events in my plot...but best of all, it ties everything together so much better. Also, it is exactly what I needed to get excited about this again.
I am kind of sad I let both NaNoWriMo summer events pass me by. Technically the August one is still under way, but there is no way I'd be able to catch up in time. The official one will be in November, but I don't want to wait that long. I need to write while I've finally got my motivation back.
Total Word Count: 8,077
I'm working on it. I went to a NaNo group on Wednesday, my first time since the very end of May. Today I skimmed through some notes so I could start writing. I wrote a little, but then something strange happened. It's almost like my writing muse started tugging on me and telling me, "Alright, get back to it." I had such a crazy idea. I don't know how I didn't think of it before! It just makes sense this way, as though my story was showing me how everything really unfolds. It doesn't change much in practice--I will only have to rework a few sections--but it will add an entirely new level to everything. It adds a new sense of motivation to why my characters might act a certain way, and creates more connections between a few events in my plot...but best of all, it ties everything together so much better. Also, it is exactly what I needed to get excited about this again.
I am kind of sad I let both NaNoWriMo summer events pass me by. Technically the August one is still under way, but there is no way I'd be able to catch up in time. The official one will be in November, but I don't want to wait that long. I need to write while I've finally got my motivation back.
Total Word Count: 8,077
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
No NaNo
Hi everyone. I know my last posts have been optimistic about trying to do the June version of NaNoWriMo. The truth is, I haven't started it, and probably just won't do it. I'm not going to go into any details, but something came up, and I have not been able to muster up whatever it is that I need to write since. I'm just trying to figure stuff out.
I am not going to give up on this, though. In fact, there will probably still be a good window of time for me to do the 50k words in 30 consecutive days. It just may not fall neatly into one month. I hope to do my own version of the challenge, then.
Sorry, I know this is vague. I'm still going to keep writing. I just need some time off first.
I am not going to give up on this, though. In fact, there will probably still be a good window of time for me to do the 50k words in 30 consecutive days. It just may not fall neatly into one month. I hope to do my own version of the challenge, then.
Sorry, I know this is vague. I'm still going to keep writing. I just need some time off first.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Writing in OBX
I have been in the outer banks in North Carolina for just a few days now. Although I decided not to write anything on my travel day, I am proud to say that on my first full day that I did, in fact, meet my 1,000 words goal. I slipped on my second day because I kept falling asleep, but since today is cloudy I've already written 600 words this morning. Today may be a good day to rent kayaks.
Writing here has been a little challenging. I'm not short on ideas, but with everyone here it is difficult to want to close myself off to what everyone else is doing and focus on writing. It hasn't stopped me, though, and everyone here is encouraging. One of our family friends who came with us has some experience writing, and has offered to proofread my work (when I no longer think that it would be embarrassing to hand it off to someone else). My dad has been trying to encourage me by showing me a novel he loves that became a big hit solely through self-publishing and word-of-mouth (just in case no publisher wants my story WHEN I manage to finish it).
It may be because of all the potential distractions that I am jumping around a little in my writing. Normally I write more chronologically, but I've been leaving these blank spots where I'm not really sure what happens. It makes me uneasy even though I know it isn't a bad thing. It could help me out in the long-run, because I'm still writing things out and, who knows, maybe I'm just writing these particular parts because I'm just particularly inspired about them.
Something kind of interesting is that somehow two characters just invented themselves this morning. I hadn't planned to add them in, and I don't really have a good grasp of who they are yet. I'm not really sure where else I can fit them in to the story, so I may have to make some changes to my outline.
I should get back to writing. Between Jordan, my friends and I cooking dinner tonight and my brother arriving this evening, I need to get this done now.
total word count: ~6,000
Writing here has been a little challenging. I'm not short on ideas, but with everyone here it is difficult to want to close myself off to what everyone else is doing and focus on writing. It hasn't stopped me, though, and everyone here is encouraging. One of our family friends who came with us has some experience writing, and has offered to proofread my work (when I no longer think that it would be embarrassing to hand it off to someone else). My dad has been trying to encourage me by showing me a novel he loves that became a big hit solely through self-publishing and word-of-mouth (just in case no publisher wants my story WHEN I manage to finish it).
It may be because of all the potential distractions that I am jumping around a little in my writing. Normally I write more chronologically, but I've been leaving these blank spots where I'm not really sure what happens. It makes me uneasy even though I know it isn't a bad thing. It could help me out in the long-run, because I'm still writing things out and, who knows, maybe I'm just writing these particular parts because I'm just particularly inspired about them.
Something kind of interesting is that somehow two characters just invented themselves this morning. I hadn't planned to add them in, and I don't really have a good grasp of who they are yet. I'm not really sure where else I can fit them in to the story, so I may have to make some changes to my outline.
I should get back to writing. Between Jordan, my friends and I cooking dinner tonight and my brother arriving this evening, I need to get this done now.
total word count: ~6,000
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Impending NaNoWriMo
Despite my last post's attempt to keep writing through my cold I was not able to keep it up. The cold just would not die and on top of that I lost my voice for a good week and a half over it. When I had the time to write I could not get myself to stay focused on the task. I did do some writing yesterday, though, now that I am feeling almost better.
I'll be going to the outer banks in North Carolina this Sunday for a week. I'm very much looking forward to it for obvious reasons (a break from work, time with friends and family, who doesn't like the beach?) but I'm also looking forward to having a full week without 40 hours to keep me from writing as much. Yes, I do plan to make the most of walking on the beach, swimming in the ocean, and visiting light houses, but I'm not going to be outside enjoying the weather the whole time. So, I am setting myself a goal that I hope is reasonable. I am going to write 1,000 words a day. I can probably do that in about an hour if I don't get caught up in editing myself as I go.
I have a couple reasons for wanting to do this. I am completely intimidated about maintaining 1,667 words a day if I plan on doing the summer version of NaNoWriMo in June, so this would be a good warm up. I hope. On the other hand it could make me wear down on writing three weeks into June, before I can reach the 50,000-word goal. We'll see. I'm hoping this time off will help me develop the writing habits I will need to make 50,000 words possible for me. Secondly, I would love to break 10,000 words before NaNo starts. The way I see it, if I have 10,000 words beforehand and then add 50k to that, I will be 2/3 of the way to my goal. I know that is a very tall order, but like everyone has been saying at my writing group (I went to another NaNo group last night) you just can't care about writing something that is polished. It can be a pile of crap. That is the point of editing... AFTER you finish the draft. Luckily Jordan is 100% supportive of my writing, because if I do succeed in completing NaNo I'll be busy for 10 hours every work day.
total word count: 4,500
... I can't help noticing how low my word count is for how far I am into the year and feel like I will need some sort of miracle to get through NaNo.
I'll be going to the outer banks in North Carolina this Sunday for a week. I'm very much looking forward to it for obvious reasons (a break from work, time with friends and family, who doesn't like the beach?) but I'm also looking forward to having a full week without 40 hours to keep me from writing as much. Yes, I do plan to make the most of walking on the beach, swimming in the ocean, and visiting light houses, but I'm not going to be outside enjoying the weather the whole time. So, I am setting myself a goal that I hope is reasonable. I am going to write 1,000 words a day. I can probably do that in about an hour if I don't get caught up in editing myself as I go.
I have a couple reasons for wanting to do this. I am completely intimidated about maintaining 1,667 words a day if I plan on doing the summer version of NaNoWriMo in June, so this would be a good warm up. I hope. On the other hand it could make me wear down on writing three weeks into June, before I can reach the 50,000-word goal. We'll see. I'm hoping this time off will help me develop the writing habits I will need to make 50,000 words possible for me. Secondly, I would love to break 10,000 words before NaNo starts. The way I see it, if I have 10,000 words beforehand and then add 50k to that, I will be 2/3 of the way to my goal. I know that is a very tall order, but like everyone has been saying at my writing group (I went to another NaNo group last night) you just can't care about writing something that is polished. It can be a pile of crap. That is the point of editing... AFTER you finish the draft. Luckily Jordan is 100% supportive of my writing, because if I do succeed in completing NaNo I'll be busy for 10 hours every work day.
total word count: 4,500
... I can't help noticing how low my word count is for how far I am into the year and feel like I will need some sort of miracle to get through NaNo.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
thank you, numbing lozenges
I was going to get a good chunk of writing done this weekend. I did get some done, but not as much as I had hoped. I've started coming down with a nasty cold. I haven't been sick at all for about a year now, so I suppose I thought I had made it through the year unscathed. It figures that I didn't make it. When you work with toddlers you just can't escape it.
I did push myself, though. I was afraid that if I didn't it would be too easy for me not to write tomorrow, or the next day. I need to keep going, even if it is only a little bit at a time. Sore throat be damned, I was going to write something. Or else I only ended up writing because Jordan helped me pick out numbing throat lozenges... grateful as I am I'd like to think I would have written anyway.
I think I got past the tricky spot in the story. The hangover comparison helped, or it at least satisfied me enough that I didn't feel too much nagging at me to fix it. I've got something for now, and I'll fix it during future edits. Right now I'm very much looking forward to my main character realizing something is completely wrong and starting to put the pieces together. I've only just started that. I won't need to be skipping scenes for a while.
My one concern now deals with my ending. Luckily I've got a long way to go before I have to write it, so I can think about how I can make it better... but there isn't really any major way I can change it. I've been discussing it with my writing buddy, and she agrees that there isn't really any other way to end it... but I want something happier. It's a little more bittersweet than I wanted. But hey, I've read other books with much sadder endings than mine, and I still loved them. I'll just have to be super careful when I finally get to that stage of my novel.
I'd write more but my computer screen is giving me a headache.
words written today: ~1,100 words
total word count: 3,550 (1/25 of the way to 90,000!)
I did push myself, though. I was afraid that if I didn't it would be too easy for me not to write tomorrow, or the next day. I need to keep going, even if it is only a little bit at a time. Sore throat be damned, I was going to write something. Or else I only ended up writing because Jordan helped me pick out numbing throat lozenges... grateful as I am I'd like to think I would have written anyway.
I think I got past the tricky spot in the story. The hangover comparison helped, or it at least satisfied me enough that I didn't feel too much nagging at me to fix it. I've got something for now, and I'll fix it during future edits. Right now I'm very much looking forward to my main character realizing something is completely wrong and starting to put the pieces together. I've only just started that. I won't need to be skipping scenes for a while.
My one concern now deals with my ending. Luckily I've got a long way to go before I have to write it, so I can think about how I can make it better... but there isn't really any major way I can change it. I've been discussing it with my writing buddy, and she agrees that there isn't really any other way to end it... but I want something happier. It's a little more bittersweet than I wanted. But hey, I've read other books with much sadder endings than mine, and I still loved them. I'll just have to be super careful when I finally get to that stage of my novel.
I'd write more but my computer screen is giving me a headache.
words written today: ~1,100 words
total word count: 3,550 (1/25 of the way to 90,000!)
Thursday, May 3, 2012
NaNoWriMo Writing Group
So I've attended my first writing group session. I went to the bookstore with my laptop but at first couldn't even figure out who were the NaNoWriMo-ers. I should have expected it'd be a favored spot for students studying for their finals. There were laptops everywhere. Turns out I missed the sign that clearly displayed the NaNo symbol. I was intimidated at first (let's face it, all of them have much more experience than I have), but everyone was extremely welcoming. A few of the people had already written several full-length books and novellas (at various stages of editing and revisions) and a few have self-published books available. I'm pretty impressed, and would love to reach that point someday.
The particular scene that may have derailed my earlier attempt to write this novel came up at the session. Considering that I've never woken up from a coma before, I'd had difficulty writing anything I was happy with. I got a few suggestions that should give me some direction, some of which involved me recalling what it feels like waking up after a night of heavy drinking... or reliving the experience if I need a reminder what it is like. All for the sake of art, of course. Seriously though, the comparison a terrible hangover gave me something to work with. No need to get drunk. Also on my to-do list: watch Life on Mars and Sliding Doors. I'm wary of the former because it is a TV series, and those do terrible things to my productivity. They take too much time and I tend to watch multiple episodes back-to-back. But, if it might give me some inspiration for my book...
I'd intended to come home afterwards and do some good writing, but by the time I got home, then got my car back from the shop, blah blah blah, I ended up not really having the time. Whoops. I swear I've got the best intentions still! I've been reviewing the notes I'd made on all my characters, and after that I'm going back to coma-scene. If that fails, I'll just have to accept temporary defeat and come back to it later. At the very least, the weekend is coming up. I may be going to a Kentucky Derby party, but other than that I'm hoping I'll get to write.
The particular scene that may have derailed my earlier attempt to write this novel came up at the session. Considering that I've never woken up from a coma before, I'd had difficulty writing anything I was happy with. I got a few suggestions that should give me some direction, some of which involved me recalling what it feels like waking up after a night of heavy drinking... or reliving the experience if I need a reminder what it is like. All for the sake of art, of course. Seriously though, the comparison a terrible hangover gave me something to work with. No need to get drunk. Also on my to-do list: watch Life on Mars and Sliding Doors. I'm wary of the former because it is a TV series, and those do terrible things to my productivity. They take too much time and I tend to watch multiple episodes back-to-back. But, if it might give me some inspiration for my book...
I'd intended to come home afterwards and do some good writing, but by the time I got home, then got my car back from the shop, blah blah blah, I ended up not really having the time. Whoops. I swear I've got the best intentions still! I've been reviewing the notes I'd made on all my characters, and after that I'm going back to coma-scene. If that fails, I'll just have to accept temporary defeat and come back to it later. At the very least, the weekend is coming up. I may be going to a Kentucky Derby party, but other than that I'm hoping I'll get to write.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Getting back on that horse
I know, I know, it has been a while. I got distracted. I blame trying to watch every episode of Dexter in existence. No more though. I have decided that until I get a good chunk of my book done, I won't be playing catch-up with any TV shows or even reading any more novels (unless to observe technique). Those were also an issue. It may mean stopping halfway though what I've already started reading, but I really just want to get going again.
A couple changes. I have recently found myself a writing buddy. I found her on the forums at nanowrimo.com. We're still learning about what each other is trying to write and accomplish, but I'm already optimistic that we will make a good match.
For those of you who don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. The idea is that during the month of November, participants attempt to write 50,000 words in thirty days. The site has all sorts of tools to help the writers, mainly in the forums. People list characters they thought up but have no use for so other writers can 'adopt' them if they so choose, as well as titles, character quirks, anecdotes/childhood stories, first sentences, character weaknesses, etc. Other forums offer advice if people get stuck or have a problem with their story. Essentially, everyone tries to help each other, so it is a great resource during that month. I've always wanted to do it, but I've never really put aside the time to do it.
Before you point out to me that November is six months away, they do have other events. November is the main one, however they have recently started doing 'summer camps,' which are essentially the same thing over the summer. I'm assuming they aren't as well attended, but I may use them to boost me into a lot of writing. Fifty thousand words may not be enough to make my novel, but it would certainly get me underway. The first 'camp' starts in June. I'll probably write a little before I get into the 50k for June.
If I can write 50k words in a month that will be some sort of miracle. To do that I wouldn't be able to edit as I go, which is a bad habit but oh so horribly tempting. Maybe that high goal will get me on track if I don't have the time to edit. I remember writing a novella for my Senior Out of School Experience and, procrastinator that I was, I was stuck writing about 10,000 words the night before it was due. Surely I can manage 1,667 words a day after that... only I'd have to do it every day.
Another feature NaNo offers: regional writing groups. The site allows people to find other people in their area so they can get together to socialize, write, and get help from each other. I've been getting emails for a while, now, about the occasional meetings they have at the local Barnes and Noble, and the next one is today. I think I'm going to try going. I know that if I'm going to finish something as huge as a novel I am going to need support from other people with writing experience... might as well immerse myself in the writing community.
I also decided to buy a book called Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas. It came highly recommended on a few different websites and was written by someone in the publishing business, so he knows what publishers are looking for. It has made good arguments so far on what makes a book more more appealing. I'm glad to see that I've been doing a lot of things the 'right' way (according to him), but I've also found a lot to think about that I hope to apply to my writing. Granted, it's about how to get published more than how to write better, but I'm kind of counting on that they are for the most part two sides of the same coin. That seems to be the case so far.
A couple changes. I have recently found myself a writing buddy. I found her on the forums at nanowrimo.com. We're still learning about what each other is trying to write and accomplish, but I'm already optimistic that we will make a good match.
For those of you who don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. The idea is that during the month of November, participants attempt to write 50,000 words in thirty days. The site has all sorts of tools to help the writers, mainly in the forums. People list characters they thought up but have no use for so other writers can 'adopt' them if they so choose, as well as titles, character quirks, anecdotes/childhood stories, first sentences, character weaknesses, etc. Other forums offer advice if people get stuck or have a problem with their story. Essentially, everyone tries to help each other, so it is a great resource during that month. I've always wanted to do it, but I've never really put aside the time to do it.
Before you point out to me that November is six months away, they do have other events. November is the main one, however they have recently started doing 'summer camps,' which are essentially the same thing over the summer. I'm assuming they aren't as well attended, but I may use them to boost me into a lot of writing. Fifty thousand words may not be enough to make my novel, but it would certainly get me underway. The first 'camp' starts in June. I'll probably write a little before I get into the 50k for June.
If I can write 50k words in a month that will be some sort of miracle. To do that I wouldn't be able to edit as I go, which is a bad habit but oh so horribly tempting. Maybe that high goal will get me on track if I don't have the time to edit. I remember writing a novella for my Senior Out of School Experience and, procrastinator that I was, I was stuck writing about 10,000 words the night before it was due. Surely I can manage 1,667 words a day after that... only I'd have to do it every day.
Another feature NaNo offers: regional writing groups. The site allows people to find other people in their area so they can get together to socialize, write, and get help from each other. I've been getting emails for a while, now, about the occasional meetings they have at the local Barnes and Noble, and the next one is today. I think I'm going to try going. I know that if I'm going to finish something as huge as a novel I am going to need support from other people with writing experience... might as well immerse myself in the writing community.
I also decided to buy a book called Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas. It came highly recommended on a few different websites and was written by someone in the publishing business, so he knows what publishers are looking for. It has made good arguments so far on what makes a book more more appealing. I'm glad to see that I've been doing a lot of things the 'right' way (according to him), but I've also found a lot to think about that I hope to apply to my writing. Granted, it's about how to get published more than how to write better, but I'm kind of counting on that they are for the most part two sides of the same coin. That seems to be the case so far.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Day 8: Changing my technique
I apologize in advance if this entry is not perfectly written. As I write this, I'm lying on my couch where my cat has decided that my right arm would make a cozy resting spot. I don't have the heart to move him.
My last writing session was a little more productive. I suppose I've had to retrain myself to sit down and do it and also remember what works best for me. I don't know why I didn't immediately start doing this earlier: I do have a general outline to tell me what will happen through the entire story, but that is not the only one I like to use. When I sit down to start a scene or a chapter I like to create one specifically for what I'm about to write. This one goes into more detail and includes more snippets of conversation. The reason I like to do this is pretty much the same reason why I'm trying not to edit as I go. I don't want to bog myself down with thinking up the best way to write it.
When I try to write in full paragraphs I usually will close my eyes and trying to put myself in my characters' shoes. What are they thinking now? What might bug them? What are they trying to do? That certainly needs to be done, but sometimes it slows me down some and makes writing a little tougher if I start out that way, at least for me. If I flesh out exactly what happens in a scene first I can get it all out before I forget my ideas or get too worn down trying to write something polished.
My dialogue in particularly improves with this method. I write that best if I write it fast, at the speed that the exchange might realistically happen. It gets unnatural if I slow it down by typing out what the characters are doing physically at the moment or the emotions they experience. Plus, this gives me the added bonus of making my dialogue a more realistic length. Otherwise my exchanges tend to be just a few lines long each, mainly because they become too succinct (let's face it, none of us are very good at getting straight to the point when we speak. It just doesn't happen.) I don't want my characters to talk in too many circles, but somehow I find balance here.
Then I write it out with more flow, connecting the bits of conversation into a larger picture, anchoring it into a physical world, adding more details. I can close my eyes and see how it should really happen... and change whatever I may realize does not work after all.
I should note that this might not be the best method for everyone to use. If I have learned anything in my time writing so far it is that everyone has their own strategies that work for them. Some people don't plan their stories at all. Some people write their best work with music that matches the mood they are trying to depict while others (me) either get horribly distracted by it or else forget there is even anything playing.
I am not done writing for the day. I've got other things to do, but I'm planning on writing a little more tonight before I go to bed.
Shortly after I decided to write this novel I talked about it with a few of my friends. One of them told me that she had also finally decided to do something she'd been considering for a long time: start a YouTube channel. Well, she has put up her introductory video and I am very much looking forward to seeing what she does with it. You can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seWLkH8fnB4&feature=plcp&context=C3337ad1UDOEgsToPDskJEiUce3jusu3plyi3eMoZC
I think I have also figured out something else I'd like to accomplish with this blog. During the years when I was only wishing I was writing a novel I visited site after site about writing. Some were inspirational, some gave advice, some focused on writing technique and others on publishing. I am going to try to pass this information on to those who read my blog with the hope that anyone else out there wants to try to write something and either does not have the courage to try or else does not know how to start can also take this leap. My link for today will take you to a TED talk. I'm obsessed with these. This one is a presentation by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love. Since the video on the TED talk site does not seem to be working, here it is on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=86x-u-tz0MA
Phew. Long post and my cat is still balanced on my arm.
Words written today (so far): 938
Total word count: 2469 (1/36 of the way to 90,000!)
My last writing session was a little more productive. I suppose I've had to retrain myself to sit down and do it and also remember what works best for me. I don't know why I didn't immediately start doing this earlier: I do have a general outline to tell me what will happen through the entire story, but that is not the only one I like to use. When I sit down to start a scene or a chapter I like to create one specifically for what I'm about to write. This one goes into more detail and includes more snippets of conversation. The reason I like to do this is pretty much the same reason why I'm trying not to edit as I go. I don't want to bog myself down with thinking up the best way to write it.
When I try to write in full paragraphs I usually will close my eyes and trying to put myself in my characters' shoes. What are they thinking now? What might bug them? What are they trying to do? That certainly needs to be done, but sometimes it slows me down some and makes writing a little tougher if I start out that way, at least for me. If I flesh out exactly what happens in a scene first I can get it all out before I forget my ideas or get too worn down trying to write something polished.
My dialogue in particularly improves with this method. I write that best if I write it fast, at the speed that the exchange might realistically happen. It gets unnatural if I slow it down by typing out what the characters are doing physically at the moment or the emotions they experience. Plus, this gives me the added bonus of making my dialogue a more realistic length. Otherwise my exchanges tend to be just a few lines long each, mainly because they become too succinct (let's face it, none of us are very good at getting straight to the point when we speak. It just doesn't happen.) I don't want my characters to talk in too many circles, but somehow I find balance here.
Then I write it out with more flow, connecting the bits of conversation into a larger picture, anchoring it into a physical world, adding more details. I can close my eyes and see how it should really happen... and change whatever I may realize does not work after all.
I should note that this might not be the best method for everyone to use. If I have learned anything in my time writing so far it is that everyone has their own strategies that work for them. Some people don't plan their stories at all. Some people write their best work with music that matches the mood they are trying to depict while others (me) either get horribly distracted by it or else forget there is even anything playing.
I am not done writing for the day. I've got other things to do, but I'm planning on writing a little more tonight before I go to bed.
Shortly after I decided to write this novel I talked about it with a few of my friends. One of them told me that she had also finally decided to do something she'd been considering for a long time: start a YouTube channel. Well, she has put up her introductory video and I am very much looking forward to seeing what she does with it. You can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seWLkH8fnB4&feature=plcp&context=C3337ad1UDOEgsToPDskJEiUce3jusu3plyi3eMoZC
I think I have also figured out something else I'd like to accomplish with this blog. During the years when I was only wishing I was writing a novel I visited site after site about writing. Some were inspirational, some gave advice, some focused on writing technique and others on publishing. I am going to try to pass this information on to those who read my blog with the hope that anyone else out there wants to try to write something and either does not have the courage to try or else does not know how to start can also take this leap. My link for today will take you to a TED talk. I'm obsessed with these. This one is a presentation by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love. Since the video on the TED talk site does not seem to be working, here it is on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=86x-u-tz0MA
Phew. Long post and my cat is still balanced on my arm.
Words written today (so far): 938
Total word count: 2469 (1/36 of the way to 90,000!)
Friday, January 13, 2012
Day 7: Pushing through
I've read that you should just push through your first draft of a novel without worrying about double-checking facts or making sure that you are writing something polished. You should just get the story written and therefore it will be, frankly, pretty bad. The good news is that means that my book is exactly where it should be right now. Maybe I'm being over-dramatic--in fact that's very likely, but after sitting at my computer for an hour and writing something that I believe uses some pretty rookie elements... I'm not so sure I'm happy with what I've just written. I am still setting the story up for the real conflict to develop, though, and until I find a rhythm I know it will be rocky. I've got to keep pushing.
It's almost the weekend, though. I get Monday off so I'm hoping that over the extended weekend I'll be able to get out of this funk and keep writing. Normally I write much more in a given writing session, but I just don't have it in me right now.
Words written today: 516
Total word count: 1531
It's almost the weekend, though. I get Monday off so I'm hoping that over the extended weekend I'll be able to get out of this funk and keep writing. Normally I write much more in a given writing session, but I just don't have it in me right now.
Words written today: 516
Total word count: 1531
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Days 5-6:
I have had a couple people let me know that they had read my blog. It's nice knowing I'm not just writing this and putting it out into nothingness. Twelve people read my my last blog entry the day I posted it, plus a few since then. Not too shabby, eh?
I've been discovering the importance of having a set schedule for writing, because I have not been doing a good job of writing consistently. Actually to say 'writing' would be a lie. I've more been trying to figure out a few issues with my plot-line. The problem is that I've hit some sort of wall already. I don't have enough momentum yet to see exactly what is going to happen next. In those first words I have written I tried to jump right into the action, writing about the events that set the whole book in motion. If that led straight to the rest of the rising action I'd be in great shape, but it doesn't exactly. In my book it does not make sense to do that, and plus I've got to establish a little more of a base first. I don't plan to have the story linger on that for long because I don't want things to move slowly. Once I can get past that I think the story will start to write itself. I hope. Cross your fingers for me!
Tonight I am going to force myself to sit down and write, not plan. I need to download one of those programs that turns off my access to the internet for a period of time to make sure I don't get distracted. Stumbleupon is henceforth my enemy.
Before I end this blog entry, I want to post a link. For those who haven't heard of him, Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon who died of pancreatic cancer in 2008. Before he died, he gave a lecture called Really Achieving your Childhood Dreams (famously known as The Last Lecture). If you are like I had been and had heard about it but not seen it, please watch it. The professor for my lab wanted me to watch it when I started my job, and I recently re-watched it with my novel in mind. It is phenomenal. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
I've been discovering the importance of having a set schedule for writing, because I have not been doing a good job of writing consistently. Actually to say 'writing' would be a lie. I've more been trying to figure out a few issues with my plot-line. The problem is that I've hit some sort of wall already. I don't have enough momentum yet to see exactly what is going to happen next. In those first words I have written I tried to jump right into the action, writing about the events that set the whole book in motion. If that led straight to the rest of the rising action I'd be in great shape, but it doesn't exactly. In my book it does not make sense to do that, and plus I've got to establish a little more of a base first. I don't plan to have the story linger on that for long because I don't want things to move slowly. Once I can get past that I think the story will start to write itself. I hope. Cross your fingers for me!
Tonight I am going to force myself to sit down and write, not plan. I need to download one of those programs that turns off my access to the internet for a period of time to make sure I don't get distracted. Stumbleupon is henceforth my enemy.
Before I end this blog entry, I want to post a link. For those who haven't heard of him, Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon who died of pancreatic cancer in 2008. Before he died, he gave a lecture called Really Achieving your Childhood Dreams (famously known as The Last Lecture). If you are like I had been and had heard about it but not seen it, please watch it. The professor for my lab wanted me to watch it when I started my job, and I recently re-watched it with my novel in mind. It is phenomenal. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Day 4: Starting the word count tally
Today has been an improvement over the past couple days of ruminating over what to do. I was trying to figure out a few more details, thinking that I would need a little more information on what I was doing before I could start, and I realized that I needed to jump into actually writing it. Coming up with the plot was exciting and exhilarating because I had 10 ideas flying at me at once, each competing to be the next one written down and saved. It was the honeymoon phase. After the major plot points were figured out things started to move more slowly. I wasn't sure what to do with my main character's life at home. That might not be the most exciting part of my novel, but it is certainly important and I want to find something fun to do with it so that it will be more enjoyable for other people to read.
Anyway, that had been bogging me down and I realized that I didn't need to know all that yet. I can start writing and those ideas would come to be eventually. Once the need to address those unknown parts of my story arises I'll have more context to figure out what fits. Thus, I wrote my first few pages. It's not much yet, but I broke a thousand words.
It was hard to come up with an opening paragraph, because every author is pressured to come up with a genius idea for one. It's what gives the reader a first impression and sets the tone for the novel. That's a ridiculous amount of importance for just a few sentences! I came up with a first shot at it, but who knows if I will keep it. I'm guessing it will change dramatically by the end. Once I got that first paragraph it got much easier.
I am very excited to say that I have joined writing forces with a good friend of mine. Manny, who I've known for a few years now, had told me before that she would love to write a novel as well. After I mentioned this idea to her she told me she would try to start hers as well. The great thing is that I now have someone with writing experience to swap stories with. Since I know my first drafts won't be great it is a relief to know I've got someone to show my story who understands that what I first write is not my best work.
I do plan to eventually try to join some sort of writing group around campus. I need to take advantages of the other resources available on campus here while I've still got them. I just don't think I'll feel ready for that until I've got a bigger chunk of this written. We'll see.
Total Word Count: 1015
Anyway, that had been bogging me down and I realized that I didn't need to know all that yet. I can start writing and those ideas would come to be eventually. Once the need to address those unknown parts of my story arises I'll have more context to figure out what fits. Thus, I wrote my first few pages. It's not much yet, but I broke a thousand words.
It was hard to come up with an opening paragraph, because every author is pressured to come up with a genius idea for one. It's what gives the reader a first impression and sets the tone for the novel. That's a ridiculous amount of importance for just a few sentences! I came up with a first shot at it, but who knows if I will keep it. I'm guessing it will change dramatically by the end. Once I got that first paragraph it got much easier.
I am very excited to say that I have joined writing forces with a good friend of mine. Manny, who I've known for a few years now, had told me before that she would love to write a novel as well. After I mentioned this idea to her she told me she would try to start hers as well. The great thing is that I now have someone with writing experience to swap stories with. Since I know my first drafts won't be great it is a relief to know I've got someone to show my story who understands that what I first write is not my best work.
I do plan to eventually try to join some sort of writing group around campus. I need to take advantages of the other resources available on campus here while I've still got them. I just don't think I'll feel ready for that until I've got a bigger chunk of this written. We'll see.
Total Word Count: 1015
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Days 2-3: Character profiles
I hadn't originally planned to tell anyone about this blog, but I did. I was hoping that if people knew what I was working on it'd help motivate me to work, but I do get embarrassed about my writing, I admit. Usually I'm pretty secretive that I'm even writing at all. The response has already made me bashful. Thank you everyone for your encouragement. I hope you all like my blog.
Yesterday and today I have done a little work creating some character profiles. It's easier for me to see if I've got both enough information and enough unique details to make a character feel real if I have it all written out, rather than writing from the seat of my pants. I try to make sure I know how the character responds to stress, what their quirks and mannerisms are, and their histories. I also write down the information on how I visualize them in my head: eye color, hair, distinguishing features. I'm hoping to get more information about them hammered out than I will actually use because I want a firm grasp on who they are. It will make everything much more consistent and (hopefully) believable. Odds are, though, that I won't be including nearly as much information as I'll have about them in the novel.
I've also started reading Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card (author of the Ender's Game books). I do feel like I'm pretty good at creating characters, but I really want to make sure I've got them down. Hence the book. The characters are easily one of the most important parts of a book, in my opinion, because their personality and characteristics usually determine where the plot goes. You may want your main character to elope with someone, but realistically they might not do it if they're family-oriented and have a little sibling back home. Plus, I've never carried through with a book who didn't have a character that I could believe and root for.
One of my main characters is a little elusive for some reason. I can't quick lock down how I envision him. I think it is because nothing I've though up yet quite fits. I've got enough, though for most of my other major characters, or at least enough to get started. I'm getting antsy and really want to start writing, so I don't think I'll let myself wait much longer. I don't want to get stuck in the planning because things are going to change as I go according to what feels right anyway. I'm hoping that as soon as I'm comfortable with that one male character that I will feel ready to start.
Before I call it quits for the day, I'd like to acknowledge my grandmother. She is a major reason why I have decided to start writing this. Back when I was taking creative writing classes and writing short stories she gave me some of the best critiques as well as encouragements. She was the one who made me feel like I have the potential to write this, and made me see what a waste it would be not to do something with my love for writing. Thank you, Grandma.
Yesterday and today I have done a little work creating some character profiles. It's easier for me to see if I've got both enough information and enough unique details to make a character feel real if I have it all written out, rather than writing from the seat of my pants. I try to make sure I know how the character responds to stress, what their quirks and mannerisms are, and their histories. I also write down the information on how I visualize them in my head: eye color, hair, distinguishing features. I'm hoping to get more information about them hammered out than I will actually use because I want a firm grasp on who they are. It will make everything much more consistent and (hopefully) believable. Odds are, though, that I won't be including nearly as much information as I'll have about them in the novel.
I've also started reading Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card (author of the Ender's Game books). I do feel like I'm pretty good at creating characters, but I really want to make sure I've got them down. Hence the book. The characters are easily one of the most important parts of a book, in my opinion, because their personality and characteristics usually determine where the plot goes. You may want your main character to elope with someone, but realistically they might not do it if they're family-oriented and have a little sibling back home. Plus, I've never carried through with a book who didn't have a character that I could believe and root for.
One of my main characters is a little elusive for some reason. I can't quick lock down how I envision him. I think it is because nothing I've though up yet quite fits. I've got enough, though for most of my other major characters, or at least enough to get started. I'm getting antsy and really want to start writing, so I don't think I'll let myself wait much longer. I don't want to get stuck in the planning because things are going to change as I go according to what feels right anyway. I'm hoping that as soon as I'm comfortable with that one male character that I will feel ready to start.
Before I call it quits for the day, I'd like to acknowledge my grandmother. She is a major reason why I have decided to start writing this. Back when I was taking creative writing classes and writing short stories she gave me some of the best critiques as well as encouragements. She was the one who made me feel like I have the potential to write this, and made me see what a waste it would be not to do something with my love for writing. Thank you, Grandma.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Day 1: Outlining
Starting off, I know this isn't technically Day1 for me since I have already put a decent amount of thought into this novel I want to write. I figure that since this is my first day really working with a strong intent to see this through, this works just as well as my Day 1.
I was going to do a little more research for my first day of work, but I decided I needed a better idea of the specific questions I would have to answer, first. Plus, I figured I needed something a little more exciting to get me going. That is why I spent about 2 and a half hours writing up an outline. I find that my plots are much better when I plan it out a little ahead of time. It gives me the opportunity to have details show up at one point of the story and then pop up later with a twist. Without it, I couldn't make my stories nearly as complex. That is not to say that I am going to stick to it. In fact, I am counting on myself diverting from it a few times and changing it around. If I have a certain inspiration or if I realize that a character would act differently than I originally planned, I don't want to be stuck to a perfectly defined path. My outline is more a loose idea of my path.
My outline right now is 2,945 words long, and I feel like it's got all the main points I want to hit and the feelings I want to convey at certain points of the plot. It makes me feel pretty good looking at that number, because I know there are things that will end up in the novel that I have not thought of yet. Without those unknown plot details, I could have a lengthy-enough novel if I were to multiply that by 30. Although a novel is traditionally thought to be at least 60,000 words long, I'd like to hit 80-90,000. I'd like to think I could hit that range.
An unexpected benefit to this outlining: normally, I think my writing suffers from not having enough characters. I would like to think that my characters are real enough, but I usually am a little lazy with creating others. Through writing this outline, not only was I hit with inspiration for plots I had not thought about before, but I thought of relevant ways to bring in a few other characters. Now I just have to find ways to keep them from making simple brief appearances.
I'm cautiously optimistic as of right now. If I can keep this momentum up, I will be in really good shape to make my resolution.
I was going to do a little more research for my first day of work, but I decided I needed a better idea of the specific questions I would have to answer, first. Plus, I figured I needed something a little more exciting to get me going. That is why I spent about 2 and a half hours writing up an outline. I find that my plots are much better when I plan it out a little ahead of time. It gives me the opportunity to have details show up at one point of the story and then pop up later with a twist. Without it, I couldn't make my stories nearly as complex. That is not to say that I am going to stick to it. In fact, I am counting on myself diverting from it a few times and changing it around. If I have a certain inspiration or if I realize that a character would act differently than I originally planned, I don't want to be stuck to a perfectly defined path. My outline is more a loose idea of my path.
My outline right now is 2,945 words long, and I feel like it's got all the main points I want to hit and the feelings I want to convey at certain points of the plot. It makes me feel pretty good looking at that number, because I know there are things that will end up in the novel that I have not thought of yet. Without those unknown plot details, I could have a lengthy-enough novel if I were to multiply that by 30. Although a novel is traditionally thought to be at least 60,000 words long, I'd like to hit 80-90,000. I'd like to think I could hit that range.
An unexpected benefit to this outlining: normally, I think my writing suffers from not having enough characters. I would like to think that my characters are real enough, but I usually am a little lazy with creating others. Through writing this outline, not only was I hit with inspiration for plots I had not thought about before, but I thought of relevant ways to bring in a few other characters. Now I just have to find ways to keep them from making simple brief appearances.
I'm cautiously optimistic as of right now. If I can keep this momentum up, I will be in really good shape to make my resolution.
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