Yes, I am well aware that there's still one more day to NaNo (or to be more precise, around 17 hrs). I'm also aware I fell 5211 words short of the 50K goal. However, I'm stopping short and I've got a very good reason for it.
I finished the story yesterday.
Well, the first draft of the story anyway. I've got a lot of work to do before this book is finished.
Still, I'm pretty proud of my accomplishments this month. I said I was going to do it, and I did it. In fact, if I hadn't finished the story, I probably could've gotten to the 50K. I was grooving with the keyboard yesterday morning. I got 2200+ words out before 10am. Then the story was finished and I spent the majority of yesterday bored out of my mind. I even considered starting the second book in this series just to be able to write more about this world and these characters.
In the end, though, I'm glad I stopped. This story has to gel, and I can't really move ahead with the series until this book is polished. I'm excited about it, though.
Now, with regards to the loose ends I talked about yesterday. Most of them are still loose. I'll nip and tuck and tighten when I edit, and some I'll leave hanging for subsequent books. I'm thinking of them like little teasers to encourage readers to buy the next book. We'll see how that goes.
Okay, so for number sake, here are the totals:
9/7 - began the book (or rather restarted after wiping out the original beginning)
11/1 - started NaNo with 23K already written
11/29 - finished the first draft at 66747 words
For the month of November, I wrote a grand total of 44789 words - 17898 of those in the past week or so.
What's on tap for the month of December? More Nano... Or rather, I'll be revisiting the manuscript I affectionately call Nano (short for Nanotechnology). It's a suspense with a techno slant. I really love the premise and the characters and the story, but I let it slide out of fear. Thanks to a kick in the pants by one of my writing idols, though, I'm going to fight the fear and finish the damn book. I'm hoping to query it some time after the first of the year - depending on how long revisions take.
And this NaNo WIP I just finished? I'm letting it cure. I'll probably hit it again after a I finish polishing Nano - or sooner if the mood strikes me.
How was your November? What's coming up for your writing in the month ahead?
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
NaNo Pitfall #9
:cue tightrope music:
With tomorrow fast approaching - a little too fast, if you ask me - we come to the ninth and final pitfall of the year...
NaNo Pitfall #9 - The Fine Line
Sure, you've written loads of words. Hopefully they've worked together and made a somewhat cogent story with coherent characters. All this time you've been creating, though, you've been walking a fine line between needing to get x-number of words on paper and making those words work as a logical story.
Maybe you plotted the story out ahead of time. If you did, you probably don't need to read this post. Your word count and your storyline are probably running parallel. Congratulations.
Me? I rarely plot out anything. Therefore, the fine line I walk sometimes isn't any thicker than frog's hair. I'm sure when I look back over those scenes, I'll be asking myself "What the hell were you thinking here?" Sometimes I'll be able to figure it out. Other times I'll read a scene and never be able to discern what I was going for. (Here's hoping this book has more of the former than the latter, eh?)
Why is this a pitfall? Because as we reach the final words for NaNo and thus the final scenes for our books, we need to be able to remember all those threads we created over the past month and weave them to their natural conclusion. And that, my friends, can totally stop you in your tracks.
Hence, the Pitfall. See? I knew I'd wrap it together somehow...
As I was laying in bed last night, once again battling my subconsious for some snooze-time, my brain was racing through all the threads. With only a few thousand words left, am I absolutely sure I wrapped up the thread about Nigel? Am I bringing the whole thing with the dog to a logical conclusion? Is the dastardly killer getting what he deserves or should I insert another twist that will carry through to the subsequent books in the series? And what about that weirdo being who crept into the fight scene? Did I really introduce a hint of romance, and what the hell am I going to do about THAT?
Needless to say, my brain was on overdrive and I woke up this morning not knowing what the hell to do with the next few scenes. I could wrap it all up with a pretty bow for now and fix it later. On the other hand, I could write a dozen more scenes to explain... Bleh, I hate reading pages of things the writer should've already explained. Or, I could stop what I'm doing and go back - rereading and editing until I can finish the end.
See? This could conceivably stop me in my tracks inches from the finish line. Will it? Nah. I'm just using myself as an example. If this is happening to you, though, you might not be able to get past this Pitfall without a litte nudge. Here's what I'm going to do.
Take the bit in my teeth and run like hell.
Probably not the advice you were expecting. Definitely not the best advice for writing the end of your story any other time of the year. This is NaNo, though. Right now, thinking about loose ends is only going to stall your progress.
Am I advocating writing 5000 words of nonsense?? Certainly not. I mean, it's still going to be part of your story. What I'm saying is, get the words out and worry about tying it all up later. That's what editing is for. So what if I introduced some threads five chapters ago that I now realized I never fully finished? I'll catch when I sit down to edit.
Sorry if this wasn't the post you were expecting. I didn't edit this any more than I'm editing my work right now. Plus, my brain is the equivalent of pumpkin puree. Maybe soon I'll write a post on the mush my brain turns into after writing so many words in one month.
Have a great day, everyone. Tune in tomorrow for what I hope will be a less meandering post.
With tomorrow fast approaching - a little too fast, if you ask me - we come to the ninth and final pitfall of the year...
NaNo Pitfall #9 - The Fine Line
Sure, you've written loads of words. Hopefully they've worked together and made a somewhat cogent story with coherent characters. All this time you've been creating, though, you've been walking a fine line between needing to get x-number of words on paper and making those words work as a logical story.
Maybe you plotted the story out ahead of time. If you did, you probably don't need to read this post. Your word count and your storyline are probably running parallel. Congratulations.
Me? I rarely plot out anything. Therefore, the fine line I walk sometimes isn't any thicker than frog's hair. I'm sure when I look back over those scenes, I'll be asking myself "What the hell were you thinking here?" Sometimes I'll be able to figure it out. Other times I'll read a scene and never be able to discern what I was going for. (Here's hoping this book has more of the former than the latter, eh?)
Why is this a pitfall? Because as we reach the final words for NaNo and thus the final scenes for our books, we need to be able to remember all those threads we created over the past month and weave them to their natural conclusion. And that, my friends, can totally stop you in your tracks.
Hence, the Pitfall. See? I knew I'd wrap it together somehow...
As I was laying in bed last night, once again battling my subconsious for some snooze-time, my brain was racing through all the threads. With only a few thousand words left, am I absolutely sure I wrapped up the thread about Nigel? Am I bringing the whole thing with the dog to a logical conclusion? Is the dastardly killer getting what he deserves or should I insert another twist that will carry through to the subsequent books in the series? And what about that weirdo being who crept into the fight scene? Did I really introduce a hint of romance, and what the hell am I going to do about THAT?
Needless to say, my brain was on overdrive and I woke up this morning not knowing what the hell to do with the next few scenes. I could wrap it all up with a pretty bow for now and fix it later. On the other hand, I could write a dozen more scenes to explain... Bleh, I hate reading pages of things the writer should've already explained. Or, I could stop what I'm doing and go back - rereading and editing until I can finish the end.
See? This could conceivably stop me in my tracks inches from the finish line. Will it? Nah. I'm just using myself as an example. If this is happening to you, though, you might not be able to get past this Pitfall without a litte nudge. Here's what I'm going to do.
Take the bit in my teeth and run like hell.
Probably not the advice you were expecting. Definitely not the best advice for writing the end of your story any other time of the year. This is NaNo, though. Right now, thinking about loose ends is only going to stall your progress.
Am I advocating writing 5000 words of nonsense?? Certainly not. I mean, it's still going to be part of your story. What I'm saying is, get the words out and worry about tying it all up later. That's what editing is for. So what if I introduced some threads five chapters ago that I now realized I never fully finished? I'll catch when I sit down to edit.
Sorry if this wasn't the post you were expecting. I didn't edit this any more than I'm editing my work right now. Plus, my brain is the equivalent of pumpkin puree. Maybe soon I'll write a post on the mush my brain turns into after writing so many words in one month.
Have a great day, everyone. Tune in tomorrow for what I hope will be a less meandering post.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
The Home Stretch
With only three days left to reach the 50K goal, I'm going to put my head down and write like a crazy person. (Yesterday's post-Thanksgiving trytophan-induced, football-enabled laziness didn't help.)
Good luck to all of you racing to reach the NaNo goal, and remember...
Even if you don't reach your goal, you're awesome just for trying.
But like the turkey said: "I'm going to finish this novel if it's the last thing I do."
Good luck to all of you racing to reach the NaNo goal, and remember...
Even if you don't reach your goal, you're awesome just for trying.
But like the turkey said: "I'm going to finish this novel if it's the last thing I do."
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
Have a great holiday everyone!
*Previously hilarious image deleted to avoid any chance of copyright infringement*
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Warning: Climax Ahead
In all honesty, I almost didn't reach my daily goal yesterday. After all, it was Tuesday - aka Biggest Loser day. By the time 9 o'clock rolled around, I was beat. Bed was calling its siren song of sleep. My muse was telling me to bugger off. But since I'm already behind on my wordcount, I can't afford to take a day off. I kicked myself mentally and dragged my buns over here.
Good thing, too. Last night was an amazing writing sprint. Jo was up against the wall, and in the face of certain doom, she pulled through. Of course, this last scene was not without its own problems. Looking back, everything happened too fast and some of it seems a little contrived. :shrug: I can fix that.
Another thing that happened, that I totally didn't expect, was I'm creeping into the climax. I sat down thinking I was just going to write another piece of the puzzle and before I knew what was happening, things started to snowball. Everything in the story is leading up to the next few scenes, and once those are finished, the only thing left is the denouement - during which I will set up the story for the next book in the series (if I'm lucky enough to score a contract, that is) and wrap up the loose ends. Another 10-15K and this puppy will be in the can. (It's a big climax, what can I say?)
If I write this the way I'm expecting, I'll finish up with a 70-75K first draft and a finished product around 80-85K. Typical for me. Once again, I have a lot of scenes that are mostly dialogue that need description, and I have a couple chunks that I need to rewrite, and I'm pretty sure I have some background that needs filling in. It's all good.
Wish me luck.
*All images deleted to avoid any chance of copyright infringement* - It was of the freeway sign for the offramp to Climax, MI.
Monday, November 23, 2009
NaNo Pitfall #8
Today's Pitfall is less mental and more physical...
NaNo Pitfall #8 or "Something so good shouldn't hurt so much"
Yesterday I banged out over 4K words. Yay! The only problem with that is this morning my hands are lumps of meat with ten tubes of overstuffed sausage attached. Not that I'm complaining. Hurting hands mean I got some real work done, but...
Unfortunately, my brain is still on a roll and my hands don't want to cooperate. Type two words... ouch ouch ouch... If typing this post is killing me, what's my manuscript going to do?
Hang on a sec, I have to slather myself in Aspercreme™.
Okay, that's better. I guess what I'm trying to say, especially since this week marks the home stretch of NaNo is: The more you write the higher the probability that something somewhere in your body is going to protest. Maybe your ass becomes flat and numb. Maybe your back becomes a tangle of tension. Perhaps you're like me and your fingers balloon up to Mickey Mouse proportions.
Take a pain reliever. Rub on some creme. Break out the heating pad or the ice pack. Promise yourself a long, hot bath after your writing session is over. Whatever you choose do, though, don't let the pain in your body stifle the story in your head.
And now that the Aspercreme is kicking in, I'm off to write. Have a great day, everyone. =o)
NaNo Pitfall #8 or "Something so good shouldn't hurt so much"
Yesterday I banged out over 4K words. Yay! The only problem with that is this morning my hands are lumps of meat with ten tubes of overstuffed sausage attached. Not that I'm complaining. Hurting hands mean I got some real work done, but...
Unfortunately, my brain is still on a roll and my hands don't want to cooperate. Type two words... ouch ouch ouch... If typing this post is killing me, what's my manuscript going to do?
Hang on a sec, I have to slather myself in Aspercreme™.
Okay, that's better. I guess what I'm trying to say, especially since this week marks the home stretch of NaNo is: The more you write the higher the probability that something somewhere in your body is going to protest. Maybe your ass becomes flat and numb. Maybe your back becomes a tangle of tension. Perhaps you're like me and your fingers balloon up to Mickey Mouse proportions.
Take a pain reliever. Rub on some creme. Break out the heating pad or the ice pack. Promise yourself a long, hot bath after your writing session is over. Whatever you choose do, though, don't let the pain in your body stifle the story in your head.
And now that the Aspercreme is kicking in, I'm off to write. Have a great day, everyone. =o)
Sunday, November 22, 2009
NaNo Pitfall #7
As I may have said, Darling Daughter is also doing NaNo. These posts are as much for her as for anyone. Like any writer, she has her stumbling blocks, and like anyone new at anything, she thinks she's the only one. After reading my Pitfall #6 post, we talked about the various things that can make a writer stumble during this race to finish a novel - or during any writing time - and she was dumbfounded to discover these Pitfalls aren't just things I thought might happen to someone else. These Pitfalls have happened to me - this month even. So, as you're reading this series of posts remember: You're not alone.
Now onward to NaNo Pitfall #7 - aka "Wow, I just remembered that I have to :insert procrastinatory item here:!"
We're writers. We also have a million other things we have to do as human beings. Laundry needs to get done. We need to cook meals. We have shopping and errands. Some people have day jobs and others, like me, have internet businesses to maintain. Add in homeschooling or kids' events or homework (either to do if you're still in school or to assist with if you're a parent), and the list of non-writing things requiring our attention can be staggering.
This month is no different. Except when you're using those things to put off writing.
For instance, I had some stuff I legitimately had to do for my Amazon store. True, it was stuff I'd put off and I should've done it sooner, especially since the deadline fell in November. That was last weekend's blip in my writing schedule. This weekend was another story. You see, doing all that stuff made me realize that I had a bunch of other stuff I needed to do to make my store easier to work with - for me, not my customers. Yesterday, I spent a good portion of my day screwing around with that. It needed to be done... Just not right this moment. Certainly none of it was so crucial it couldn't wait until NaNo was over.
As I lay in bed last night lamenting my lack of words, it came to me. This was yet another pitfall - not only in NaNo but for any writing we're trying to accomplish. There's always something you can find to take the place of writing. There are so many, in fact, I used to have a link to a site that listed all the things one can do instead of working on one's book.
Thinking about it now, I'm wondering if I should've made this a corollary to the other Pitfalls. You see, the reason this push to do something else came up is because my brain is currently scrolling through the other Pitfalls. Right now, I'm bouncing between "OMG, This Sucks!" and "Ack! I'm Lost!"
Enter "Wow! I have something else I really should be doing!"
So, I've slapped myself around. Today I will not being mucking around in the store, cleaning the house, doing yardwork, alphabetizing my socks, sorting my recipes, baking cookies, organizing my bookmarks...
Or sitting here thinking of other things to add to that growing list.
Today, I will write. It may be several thousand crappy words and I may only succeed in getting myself more lost, but I will accomplish something writerly if it kills me.
Writerly? Hmmm.... I never did sort through those last submissions and enter them into the database...
Now onward to NaNo Pitfall #7 - aka "Wow, I just remembered that I have to :insert procrastinatory item here:!"
We're writers. We also have a million other things we have to do as human beings. Laundry needs to get done. We need to cook meals. We have shopping and errands. Some people have day jobs and others, like me, have internet businesses to maintain. Add in homeschooling or kids' events or homework (either to do if you're still in school or to assist with if you're a parent), and the list of non-writing things requiring our attention can be staggering.
This month is no different. Except when you're using those things to put off writing.
For instance, I had some stuff I legitimately had to do for my Amazon store. True, it was stuff I'd put off and I should've done it sooner, especially since the deadline fell in November. That was last weekend's blip in my writing schedule. This weekend was another story. You see, doing all that stuff made me realize that I had a bunch of other stuff I needed to do to make my store easier to work with - for me, not my customers. Yesterday, I spent a good portion of my day screwing around with that. It needed to be done... Just not right this moment. Certainly none of it was so crucial it couldn't wait until NaNo was over.
As I lay in bed last night lamenting my lack of words, it came to me. This was yet another pitfall - not only in NaNo but for any writing we're trying to accomplish. There's always something you can find to take the place of writing. There are so many, in fact, I used to have a link to a site that listed all the things one can do instead of working on one's book.
Thinking about it now, I'm wondering if I should've made this a corollary to the other Pitfalls. You see, the reason this push to do something else came up is because my brain is currently scrolling through the other Pitfalls. Right now, I'm bouncing between "OMG, This Sucks!" and "Ack! I'm Lost!"
Enter "Wow! I have something else I really should be doing!"
So, I've slapped myself around. Today I will not being mucking around in the store, cleaning the house, doing yardwork, alphabetizing my socks, sorting my recipes, baking cookies, organizing my bookmarks...
Or sitting here thinking of other things to add to that growing list.
Today, I will write. It may be several thousand crappy words and I may only succeed in getting myself more lost, but I will accomplish something writerly if it kills me.
Writerly? Hmmm.... I never did sort through those last submissions and enter them into the database...
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