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Monday, December 1, 2014

I Failed NaNoWriMo....

That is to say, I did not reach the goal of 50,000 words written in the month of November. I also didn't write every day, which was my personal goal. Life gets in the way sometimes (lovely excuse to throw out there, eh?) but I DID however gain some knowledge about writing for next year. So here's my list of things I learned.

1) Think of an idea in advance - I had less than a week to come up with a decently solid idea that I could spend a month writing about. Do you know how hard that is!?! I pretty much had to choose the first idea I could think of, which doesn't exactly mean I was thrilled to be writing it. Do me a favour, next time you participate, go into it with a half formed idea at least!

2) Prep is good - Because I left my idea making to the last minute, I also had no idea who my characters were, where they lived, or what the hell was going on with them. I am definitely a prepper. In order for me to write, I need to know who my characters are so I can get into their brains. I can't do that if I don't even have their names sorted out.

3) Discipline is necessary - I gave up (yes I'll admit it) fairly early on because I accidentally skipped one day, which consciously turned into two, which meant by the end of the third day I was a couple thousand words behind, and it felt like I'd never catch up. So I admitted defeat a head of time. I think maybe next time I try and tackle something like this, I'll put a calendar up on the wall with times I've blocked out to write instead of hoping time shows up each day. That never happens.

Those are the three main things I learned this November. Hopefully I can do better next time! I hope everyone else had a ton of fun and reached their word counts, or have a half formed novel that they will continue to work on.

Now, what shall I do with this here blog...

Friday, November 14, 2014

Failing Miserably

Fourteen days in.

Two weeks gone. Two weeks to go.

And I suck.

I am really not good at this whole discipline thing. I just broke 4, 000 words yesterday. That seems like a lot, doesn't it? To me it does.

BUT NOT WHEN YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE AT 23, 000 WORDS!

Holy shit, Batman.

The days have slipped away and I've fallen farther and farther into word debt. And I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to get out of it. According to the NaNoWriMo website, I need to write an average of 2, 700 words a day to make up for it. Pft. When I couldn't even manage to keep on top of 1, 600 words?

It's my fault though, I got lazy. And sucky. WHY MUST YOU SUCK SELF?!

We'll see how well this continues. I'm not too thrilled with my story already. I think next time I'll have to map it out a little better. Right now I'm just staring at the computer going "duuuuuhhhhh" with a little bit of drool running down my face because I can't connect to my character. Who is she and why is she making me write about her?

It's too bad I couldn't include these blog posts in my novel. Brilliant idea there!

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

NaNoWriMo Schedule

I decided to do this yesterday to keep track of where I am supposed to be. I know that roughly I have to write 1,667 words a day, but how much does that equal out to for my word count each day?

So, below, you'll find the total words per day you are supposed to have written to keep on track with the 50,000 word goal. Other people have probably posted this before but I wanted it for my own reference.

Day  Total Words 
1                   1,667
2                   3,334
3                   5,001
4                   6,668
5                   8,335
6                 10,002
7                 11,669
8                 13,336
9                 15,003
10                 16,670
11                 18,337
12                 20,004
13                 21,671
14                 23,338
15                 25,005
16                 26,672
17                 28,339
18                 30,006
19                 31,673
20                 33,340
21                 35,007
22                 36,674
23                 38,341
24                 40,008
25                 41,675
26                 43,342
27                 45,009
28                 46,676
29                 48,343
30                 50,010

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

We Start All Over

Yesterday I had to start my story over, not that I'd written much beforehand. But it still means that I'm falling drastically behind schedule.

When I originally wrote the 900 or so words I started with, it just wasn't sitting right with me. It was blocky and choppy, and I just could not find my characters voice. I sat down, thought about it, and realized that I'd started at the wrong point in my characters life. I also started in third person, which I have since switched to first person, although I keep going back and forth.

So as of today, I'm sitting at just under 2,500 words. Which sounds great, if I wasn't supposed to be sitting at around 6,000 words. Man this is tough.

I'm thinking that it might be a good idea to sit down and block out scenes, but I've never written like that before. This is definitely uncharted territory for me. I'm getting all nervous that no one is going to like my story even though no one has to read it!

It seems my pesky inner editor is still in my head.

Any thoughts on whether or not planning ahead or just letting it flow is better? I know one or the other isn't going to work for everyone, but I'm curious if one works more often.

Monday, November 3, 2014

My Word Count Is Not Your Word Count

So it's day three of hell...ur, I mean NaNoWriMo. And I suck.

Saturday I wrote about 950 words, which wasn't too bad considering I probably actually wrote close to 2,000 words, I just couldn't decide how I wanted my novel to start.

I kept flipping back and forth between first and third person (still not sure which one I prefer). Then I didn't know where I wanted my character to start out. I've had an opening line stuck in my head for a couple of weeks, but when I started with it, it didn't feel right. So I rewrote.

Then I wasn't altogether happy with the story. An idea I loved Friday, I hated Saturday. It was not flowing at all. Usually I visualize in my head what is happening as I wrote and I couldn't. It felt like I was standing in a room with my eyes closed and TRYING to describe what was going on around me. It just was not working at all.

Sunday I failed even more. I. Did. Not. Write. A. Single. Word. Not one.

I'm still working on my schedule, to see if I write better in the morning, afternoon or night. I like my sleep and I work during the day, so it's probably going to end up being night time. I need to get into the flow though.

Today I will force myself to sit down and write. Even if I have to glue my ass to the seat.

Tonight is all about keyboards and coffee (see what I did there? ;).

Friday, October 31, 2014

The End Is Nigh

Well, really, it's just the beginning. But it is nigh, very, very nigh.

Tommorow is THE BEGINNING. The beginning of NaNoWriMo. The beginning of my month long abuse of my computer. The beginning of permanent brain damage from banging my head against the wall. The beginning of me figuring out if I've got what it takes to follow through on a dream.

I've always considered myself a writer. It's been awhile since I've actually written though. It used to be all I would do between scarfing down supper and turning the lights out at night. Lately that hasn't been the case. Life tends to get in the way of dreams sometimes, as sad as that is. This month I get to see if I can actually, maybe, get close to finishing something.

I find I lack the discipline. I'm not good at making myself sit down every night at a computer no matter what. But now I will have to.

This might be the beginning of something wonderful. I can see it now. Finishing November with a perfect novel in hand, some other great ideas, quitting my job and moving to somewhere warm that enhances my creativity.

Or I'll end November by closing my laptop, sighing deep and going, "Thank God that is over."

Either way it will be an interesting month!

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Nerves and Excitement and Failure OH MY!

T minus about a day and a half until I completely regret signing up for NaNoWriMo.

I sat down last night (or during the day when I needed a break from working) and brainstormed some ideas. Which mostly turned into me reminiscing about past ideas I have written about but never gotten around to finishing. None of them LEAPT at me though.

I think I might end up sitting down at the computer Nov 1st, closing my eyes, cracking my knuckles, taking a deep breath in and praying to every God/Goddess that has ever existed to PRETTY PLEASE put some shit into my head.

Unfortunately that's only my first issue.

The second issue I have is my ability to follow through. Never been a strong suit for me. I'm great at starting with ideas (once they appear) but I have never completed a written piece of work. I came close. Once. But then my creative writing class ended and I hid it on a shelf somewhere.

I'll have to figure out a way to keep the juices flowing, or at least a way to keep me trying to keep the juices flowing. Rewards? Penalty system? Detention?

We'll see. I think I will start to deal with my first issue, by finding a character who I love and need to write about. That seems easier to me than thinking up a whole plot. If I find the character, they can help me tell their story. Hopefully.

The second issue, from what I read, will hit me at about the two week mark when I will be banging my head against the wall and wishing I could drop out. But I can't. I've told to many people.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

The Plot Thickens

Actually, it doesn't at all. The plot is very much not an active thing currently. AT ALL.

Since deciding to participate in NaNoWriMo, my main thought has been, "Well, what the fuck do I write about?" No characters have knocked on my noodle and gone, "Yes, hello, can you let me out now?" No world has bombarded my dreams demanding to be put on paper. So still, the main question before I sit down and spend an entire month writing is, "What the fuck do I write?"

Usually I write when I have inspiration, when there is something in me that needs to be let out. My mind gets stuck on a sentence, or a scene, SOMETHING and then all I can think about is that. My fingers get antsy, the lines on paper stand out more and I NEED to write something before I explode.

The issue with this is, when it comes time for me to actually want to write something, I have no ideas. The cobwebs have realigned themselves in the crevices of my brain, making me forget I ever had good ideas in the first place. Or ideas at all, lets be realistic.

So, what shall I write today, what shall I write? Hopefully I can bang out a process that allows the idea flow to be a little bit more flowly and a little bit less like a toss up between constipation and diarrhea.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

NaNoWriMo 2014

I've wanted to participate in NaNoWriMo since I heard about it in my publishing course two years ago. I never put the time aside (or bothered to even attempt to put the time aside) to write an ENTIRE novel in one month.

Tons of people are doing it, so, really, what's my excuse? When harassed by a friend to do it with her, I decide I've got nothing to lose. 

So here I will documenting the ups and downs on my writing process during NaNOWriMo to see if I want to do it next year, or if it really is not for me. 

But first thing's first, what the hell is my plot going to be?