It's June. Kiddo is home for the summer and the Writing Gods seem to have a knack for cramming tight deadlines into the whims, wants, and needs of bored school children with a sudden expansive estate of open, unstructured time. That's right, my "writing" days of free time, alone, by myself, uninterrupted, are gone until the middle of August.
So let's talk about excuses. This is a PERFECT time for me to say, meh, guess I can't write today--gotta watch the child, got to clean the house, got to make babysitting plans for the days I work. All of those sound like the easy way out of writing. They are. These days/weeks/months (summer, for me, other times for you) turn into the best excuses. It just makes sense to "take a break" or "relax a little."
For me, however, the excuses (even mine) are heard for what they are: procrastination with a backstory.
While it seems very convenient to bow down to the Writing Gods' will and just give in, because, hey, the kid's got to eat/play/be taken to gymnastics, this scenario is totally the tunnel painted onto the brick wall. I will slam into that sucker at full speed if I'm not careful and by the time I come to, months will have past and no writing will have been done.
What I have discovered over the years is that the kryptonite of excuses is dedication and a plan. As I mentioned above, I'm working on some tight deadlines right now. If these dates aren't hit, I will crumble. I need to hit my mark each time in order to feel progress within myself. A sense of accomplishment cannot come without measured goals, after all.
What I didn't mention above is that these deadlines which are so tight and foreboding are my own. This is where dedication comes in. Yep, they are MY push on myself to produce X amount of work by Y date. If I miss them, no one but me notices. If I hit them, no one but me notices. The key is that I'm building and nurturing a discipline for myself which is productive. And each time I build up a new discipline, I find it easier to tack a little more on.
Initially (ten/twelve years ago?) my writing discipline was about just shitting or getting off the pot in terms of writing regularly. Then, I started to make it a daily goal. Then, because I had written, I began a routine of regular editing paired with daily writing. All of this is to say that there was, in fact, a summer season during each year of my discipline journey and each year I've grown better able to tackle the excuses and power through the temptation to "just take a break for a little while." I manage my time tighter to offer loads of interaction with kiddo followed by down time where we each do our own thing, mine being writing.
So, as the Writing Gods poke and prod at my deadlines, and glare at my late nights spend hunched over the keyboard, I know that I'm creating something here that I'll be proud of come fall. To me, that is more satisfying than any well said excuse.
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
This Crazy Hectic Life
Believe it or not, I wrote an entire post for you about 2013. I spilled my guts, stated my goals in writing and life, and sounded really optimistic. And then that post sat there in the "draft" stage for nearly two weeks and I never posted it. Why? I don't know. I really don't. Maybe because I don't have any mountain moving things to say, or because my goals sound like those of other writers out there: query agents, edit, write. It's not that this aspect of my life is bland, it's just that the whole post started to read like my laundry list, and you really deserve better from me than reading my laundry list.
That list is for me to check things off from, not for you to go, "oh look who posted, and what drabby-shabby information she shared."
Basically, if I had to sum up in a word how my life is going right now, I'd say things are simple and straightforward. There's three words actually. Sure, I struggled with depression over the holidays and will continue to (I've blogged about depression before), but things aren't horrible and I know they'll improve.
But if I step back even a few feet from my mediation and my obsessive nature about being near my laptop, my life is more like this crazy juggling act that involves flaming knives and maybe a few cats.
As of right now I'm editing Burning Spirit (teaser on that here). So far Burning has been all the way through my critique and I'm planning to spend the next seven months cleaning it up real nice like. You read that right. The groundhog saw his shadow, seven more months of edits.
I'm also two-thirds done with writing the first draft of Darkened Sky, the sequel to Burning Spirit. This is where my brain lives right now. When I'm sitting at work, I'm thinking of Elsbeth. When I'm cooking dinner, my mind is deep in a cave spending time with warlocks. When I'm in the shower, you guessed it, I went to work with conditioner in my hair because these characters took over my mind.
Add all of that work to my day job, which I enjoy, and being a wife and mother, which I also wouldn't trade for anything that isn't dark chocolate, and my schedule was definitely too full when our car broke down for two weeks. Stress, yes. How life goes, yes.
I guess the real point of this post then is to say, yeah, it's a crazy, hectic life--we should enjoy it while we have it. If I quit writing, my heart would feel like something's missing, so I'd rather have the crazy any day than sit on the sidelines and watch it all go by.
How are you holding up in 2013? Leave comments below.
Wiping the Slate Clean
Life has a way of becoming terribly busy on you even when it seems like nothing is happening, and when it appears you're moving painfully slow. That's been my experience lately. I turn around and it's been two months since I've posted on the blog and really gotten a chance to touch base.
Well, first and most important in my heart: I've been writing. Without question, anytime I disappear from the blog it means I'm writing harder, working toward a self-inflicted deadline, or overwhelmed with the quantity of work I want to do but can't get my body to run without sleep.
I've also been doing critiques for my writing group, which takes its own amount of time to do well and helpfully. If writing is my baby, the critique group is my stepchild; these are the people that will pull me out of a burning building with their words and I would do the same for them--they cannot be neglected.
In the process of incorporating their notes about my chapters into my chapters, I had an epiphany and this is the nugget of wisdom I wanted to share that started this post in the first place.
What Writers Should Be Doing While Writing
Every writer has a list of naughty things they do when they write that all but destroys the movie magic imagery of the creative type whisking themselves away to sit at an old table to focus and bang out a novel in a single weekend on a typewriter. If you're looking for some insight into my dirty writing habits, then you're in the right place. Before I get started with my list, however, I must bash upon the rocks those "movie writer" notions. Novels aren't written from start to finish in one sitting and no one can seclude themselves for a weekend to complete the task either. There's a reputation/stereotype that writers hang out in their slippers all day, and while that's a possibility, the writing life is anything but comfortable. There's a lot of mental anguish going on that requires slippers, coffee, snacks, and a few other things to get the job done. No writer can snap their fingers like Mary Poppins and have the story told.
My Advice for New Writers
If you're a would-be, wannabe, gonna-be, aspiring writer and you're just getting started (or you've dipped your toe into the pool, but have yet to make the plunge) a quick Internet search will provide you with a mound of both helpful and less than helpful information. There's no shortage of dos and don'ts about everything from plotting entire novels, to how to craft a good sentence. Want advice about descriptions? It's there. Need to find a suitable name for your character? You won't have to look far.As for the actual task of "being a writer," there's a plethora of that, too. Stephen King insists you be a reader and I couldn't agree more. Neil Gaiman says to finish your work, also sound advice. There's also a lot of caution delivered by successful writers for you to quit while you have the chance. Writing is, after all, a terribly cruel and difficult business which requires the thickest skin and many hours of solitary work. My advice for new writers is this:
Getting Trapped in the Gap
Like a lot of people, I go through spurts of heavy creativity followed by plateaus of blahdom. Either I'm terribly intensive, slaving away on my story and annoyingly stuck in my own head, focused on the world I'm building for Elsbeth and Burning Spirit,...or I'm not. I'm either the crazy chick from The Craft, or I'm the girl next door: someone calm and fun. The problem is that you can't really get any work done in either situation. If you're girl-next-door (GND), then you're out having coffee and not working at all, and if you're crazy-bitch-from-the-craft (CBFC) you can't be objective about your work and you, my lovely readers, get left behind.
Editing and Other Labor Intensive Jobs
So, I'm currently editing the first draft of la novel tentatively titled A Burning Spirit. I'm also still trying to come up with a title that sticks for longer than a few happy days. I swear I'm just going to start calling it my witchy book and then you will all know what I'm talking about without me giving it a title.
As always, I find editing to be the real meat and potatoes of "writing." There's just so much work involved and while it is work to clean up sentences that were no more birthed from you as much as they just fell out while you were on your way somewhere, I love the challenge of the job.
This witchy book, huh, you like? Anyway, this witchy book is actually the fourth novel I've written and the first that I have loved from start to finish during the writing of the first draft and I'm still in love with it now that I'm editing. While I'm no idiot, and I know damn well, this feeling might fade away by the time I'm line editing, right now it feels like momentum and potential. I still want to be in the same room with Elsbeth, the main character, and I still crush on the boys, the innocent Andrew and horrific Hopkins, for so many different reasons.
So, that's where I am: buckling down, choosing to work on my novel, and editing to make it a better tale for you to some day pick up in the store or download and really enjoy the ride whether it be on a broom, a team of black oxen, or otherwise.
As always, I find editing to be the real meat and potatoes of "writing." There's just so much work involved and while it is work to clean up sentences that were no more birthed from you as much as they just fell out while you were on your way somewhere, I love the challenge of the job.
This witchy book, huh, you like? Anyway, this witchy book is actually the fourth novel I've written and the first that I have loved from start to finish during the writing of the first draft and I'm still in love with it now that I'm editing. While I'm no idiot, and I know damn well, this feeling might fade away by the time I'm line editing, right now it feels like momentum and potential. I still want to be in the same room with Elsbeth, the main character, and I still crush on the boys, the innocent Andrew and horrific Hopkins, for so many different reasons.
So, that's where I am: buckling down, choosing to work on my novel, and editing to make it a better tale for you to some day pick up in the store or download and really enjoy the ride whether it be on a broom, a team of black oxen, or otherwise.
Day 29: The Post-NaNo Ritual You Need to Know About
It's winner's eve today. Tomorrow is the day you've won or not, and like your mother always told you, if you tried your best then that was good enough. Today's goal is 48,333 and then you're almost finished.
If you haven't hit today's goal, then you'll want to push today so you're not toeing the line at ten minutes to midnight on the 30th. If you're like most everyone else I know that's still writing, seeing this goal met somehow fuels you through the last 1,667 words. You will become like some crazy motivated train that would be going 100 miles an hour if it wasn't for this steep hill of words and plot.
I say, climb it. What's on the other side is totally worth it.
Since I know you'll be too busy celebrating tomorrow to think of things like this, I wanted to share my post-nano rituals with you to guard yourself against yourself. (I can tell by the way you're sitting that you've lost a document or two in your day.)
1) Save a copy of your novel to a disk, USB flash drive, or cloud (frankly I don't know what these clouds are, but hey, if you do, save it there.)
2) Email a copy of the document to yourself at an Internet held account. For example, I use MS Outlook for the majority of my mail, but I don't know how to check that mail when I don't have my laptop with me, so I email my document to my less used gmail account for safe keeping. Google offers gmail for free, so there's no reason not to do something like this.
3) Print. The nerdy nerd in me who might own a Staples customer rewards card (discount card, NOT credit card) might go onto the Staples website, upload her document to be printed, and she may go to the store, pay the $15, and pick up a physical printed copy. This is a cheaper ink option for me and I don't have to babysit my printer and hand feed it paper every five to ten pages. This copy, of course, is the rough draft which needs major work, not a manuscript to be shared. This gives me a hard copy to stash, edit, and make plot notes on when I don't want to be in front of the computer, but do want to work.
4) Wine or margaritas. Self-explanatory.
There you have it. Have a great winner's eve day!
If you haven't hit today's goal, then you'll want to push today so you're not toeing the line at ten minutes to midnight on the 30th. If you're like most everyone else I know that's still writing, seeing this goal met somehow fuels you through the last 1,667 words. You will become like some crazy motivated train that would be going 100 miles an hour if it wasn't for this steep hill of words and plot.
I say, climb it. What's on the other side is totally worth it.
Since I know you'll be too busy celebrating tomorrow to think of things like this, I wanted to share my post-nano rituals with you to guard yourself against yourself. (I can tell by the way you're sitting that you've lost a document or two in your day.)
1) Save a copy of your novel to a disk, USB flash drive, or cloud (frankly I don't know what these clouds are, but hey, if you do, save it there.)
2) Email a copy of the document to yourself at an Internet held account. For example, I use MS Outlook for the majority of my mail, but I don't know how to check that mail when I don't have my laptop with me, so I email my document to my less used gmail account for safe keeping. Google offers gmail for free, so there's no reason not to do something like this.
3) Print. The nerdy nerd in me who might own a Staples customer rewards card (discount card, NOT credit card) might go onto the Staples website, upload her document to be printed, and she may go to the store, pay the $15, and pick up a physical printed copy. This is a cheaper ink option for me and I don't have to babysit my printer and hand feed it paper every five to ten pages. This copy, of course, is the rough draft which needs major work, not a manuscript to be shared. This gives me a hard copy to stash, edit, and make plot notes on when I don't want to be in front of the computer, but do want to work.
4) Wine or margaritas. Self-explanatory.
There you have it. Have a great winner's eve day!
Day 23: Writing Experience and the Only Way to Get It
I'm sitting pretty going into NaNo Day 23 with a word count goal of 38,333. I had a break through in plot which I shared yesterday and I a great writing session followed. I wrote a new scene and really felt everything working and coming together. How did I know? Experience. I've written (and read) enough bad stories and lacking scenes to know when they are bad and lacking.
For me, writing is a lot like hockey. You think it's going to be hard to skate on a thin metal blade on slippery ice, but if you understand the blade and gain experience with it, then it isn't anything more than practice and time before you're taking off on the ice. Just like there are misconceptions about writing, a skate blade is also misunderstood. The blade isn't a single, knife-like point touching the ice, but more of an upright rectangle with the middle curved upward. Because of this shape, a blade actually has two sides: the inner edge and the outer edge.
The inner edge (basic storytelling) is relatively easy. It's there, right under you, you lean in either direction, the edge gains pressure, and you spin in that direction. The only real difficulty of the inner edge is having the inner thigh strength (determination to write) to control it.
The outer edge (word choice, pacing, characters, etc.) is much more difficult. Lean too far on that outer edge without enough momentum and you're on your ass on the ice. Don't lean enough and you have no grip whatsoever. Mastering the outer edge takes practice and time, just like mastering these more difficult aspects of writing. Through these things, you start to trust yourself to move.
It's that simple: Practice + Time = Experience
Once you've gained experience, you're ready to carry the puck, check people into the boards, and throw snow in a goalie's face without even thinking about your blades because your body and mind instinctively know how to skate. You can feel it. The same happens when you write. There's a sense you have when a scene is working or not working. Experience not only gives you this sense, but also tells you why something works or doesn't.
Even if you're struggling right now, I hope you remember that anytime you are writing you're working on your experience.
For me, writing is a lot like hockey. You think it's going to be hard to skate on a thin metal blade on slippery ice, but if you understand the blade and gain experience with it, then it isn't anything more than practice and time before you're taking off on the ice. Just like there are misconceptions about writing, a skate blade is also misunderstood. The blade isn't a single, knife-like point touching the ice, but more of an upright rectangle with the middle curved upward. Because of this shape, a blade actually has two sides: the inner edge and the outer edge.
The inner edge (basic storytelling) is relatively easy. It's there, right under you, you lean in either direction, the edge gains pressure, and you spin in that direction. The only real difficulty of the inner edge is having the inner thigh strength (determination to write) to control it.
The outer edge (word choice, pacing, characters, etc.) is much more difficult. Lean too far on that outer edge without enough momentum and you're on your ass on the ice. Don't lean enough and you have no grip whatsoever. Mastering the outer edge takes practice and time, just like mastering these more difficult aspects of writing. Through these things, you start to trust yourself to move.
It's that simple: Practice + Time = Experience
Once you've gained experience, you're ready to carry the puck, check people into the boards, and throw snow in a goalie's face without even thinking about your blades because your body and mind instinctively know how to skate. You can feel it. The same happens when you write. There's a sense you have when a scene is working or not working. Experience not only gives you this sense, but also tells you why something works or doesn't.
Even if you're struggling right now, I hope you remember that anytime you are writing you're working on your experience.
Day 20: The Downside of Cast Lists
Good evening, writing buddies. Today's Nano goal is 33,333 words. I love this word count for both it's simplicity and how much closer we're getting to 50K.
Over the course of this month, I've had to come to terms with a problem regarding my writing that affects all months of the year. This problem is the downside of cast lists. If you don't know what a cast list is, I'll tell you. When you have an idea in your mind of a character, you make the next leap and think of a celebrity or other famous person who would "be" this character.
For example, your main character is a young guy who jokes around all the time, dark hair, but has a serious side. I'd go Jimmy Fallon, Paul Rudd, or Donald Glover. Then you decide he's a little chubby -- switch it over to Seth Rogen or Jonah Hill. Find that part in your mind that knows their face as your character and go with it.
Once you have the entire character list picked, then, when you're writing your story you can refer back to your perception of these people for your characters and even flip through pictures of them online when you need inspiration.
The downside of this is that my celebrity cast "bad guy," who needs to be rough and gruff, also does voice work in television commercials. When I hear his commercials come on TV while writing, suddenly my vicious and torturous bad guy turns to the softy who really wants you to enjoy batteries or cars or soup.
I don't really know where I'm going with this I suppose other than to tell you to watch out for running into your cast in ways you don't want to see them. If you want the psycho crazy Angelina Jolie from Girl, Interrupted, then don't watch The Tourist where she'll be more sophisticated and glamorous.
How's that novel of yours coming? I think I'm getting slap happy from blogging every day.
Over the course of this month, I've had to come to terms with a problem regarding my writing that affects all months of the year. This problem is the downside of cast lists. If you don't know what a cast list is, I'll tell you. When you have an idea in your mind of a character, you make the next leap and think of a celebrity or other famous person who would "be" this character.
For example, your main character is a young guy who jokes around all the time, dark hair, but has a serious side. I'd go Jimmy Fallon, Paul Rudd, or Donald Glover. Then you decide he's a little chubby -- switch it over to Seth Rogen or Jonah Hill. Find that part in your mind that knows their face as your character and go with it.
Once you have the entire character list picked, then, when you're writing your story you can refer back to your perception of these people for your characters and even flip through pictures of them online when you need inspiration.
The downside of this is that my celebrity cast "bad guy," who needs to be rough and gruff, also does voice work in television commercials. When I hear his commercials come on TV while writing, suddenly my vicious and torturous bad guy turns to the softy who really wants you to enjoy batteries or cars or soup.
I don't really know where I'm going with this I suppose other than to tell you to watch out for running into your cast in ways you don't want to see them. If you want the psycho crazy Angelina Jolie from Girl, Interrupted, then don't watch The Tourist where she'll be more sophisticated and glamorous.
How's that novel of yours coming? I think I'm getting slap happy from blogging every day.
Day 18: Flying High at 30,000 Words
Today's goal in NaNoLand is 30,000 words. 30,000!!!! This is an amazing feat for starting at zero only 18 days ago.
Hitting 30,000 words is a confirmation that your hard work, day after day, is not only piling up, but also turning into a massive collection. This isn't some little story idea that maybe you will write some day. This is the commitment you've made to yourself and kept.
Take a minute to acknowledge how awesome that aspect of you is and just soak up the satisfaction.
By 30,000 words, your story should be coming right along. Sometimes the pace of the story alone and the action involved and the characters' wants start to drive you to your computer or notebook each day to write more and more.
30K is also 3/5ths of the way done with this crazy whirlwind of a writing adventure you either started planning months ago, or decided to do somewhere near the end of October. These wacko commitments we make to ourselves to write novels in months and tell our friends about (or keep a secret for fear of ridicule), these are the commitments character is built on.
When you "win" with 50K, you can look back and be proud of who you chose to be in November.
What inspires you in your own writing? Leave comments below.
Hitting 30,000 words is a confirmation that your hard work, day after day, is not only piling up, but also turning into a massive collection. This isn't some little story idea that maybe you will write some day. This is the commitment you've made to yourself and kept.
Take a minute to acknowledge how awesome that aspect of you is and just soak up the satisfaction.
By 30,000 words, your story should be coming right along. Sometimes the pace of the story alone and the action involved and the characters' wants start to drive you to your computer or notebook each day to write more and more.
30K is also 3/5ths of the way done with this crazy whirlwind of a writing adventure you either started planning months ago, or decided to do somewhere near the end of October. These wacko commitments we make to ourselves to write novels in months and tell our friends about (or keep a secret for fear of ridicule), these are the commitments character is built on.
When you "win" with 50K, you can look back and be proud of who you chose to be in November.
What inspires you in your own writing? Leave comments below.
Day 17: Giving Your Characters a Hard Time
Day 17 and the goal for word count is 28,333. I hope you're keeping up. I slipped back by 667 words yesterday, but I'll make it up today.
By now you may be feeling like your story is getting out of hand, is playing everything just right, or you're falling in the middle. Sometimes your characters comply and sometimes they show you sides you didn't know they even had. No matter what they're doing, if you want to make your novel interesting, I hope you're giving your characters a hard time.
My daughter is doing the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program this year. She's eight and had a story she wanted to tell of a girl in the woods with her siblings. Other than that basic information, she didn't know what to do with the story. Here's what I told her:
Think about what you want your character to do. What is their goal? Know that about your main character, get familiar with them.Think of how they will acheive their goal and what they want to do about it. Then, you as the author, make it difficult for the main character to do this. This may mean the character needs to change their goals, or do something else before they can acheive their primary goal. Whatever it is, make it hard for them, but not impossible.
For example, last night my main character, Elsbeth, needed to escape from having been kidnapped. I wanted her to slip out the window. Done. There's her goal.
Instead of letting it be that easy, however, I wrote her peeking to see if the coast was clear one last time, and this time the antagonist, Hopkins, is standing in the doorway and lunges after her. She still makes her escape (that is the plot afterall), but this way there was a lot more tension, action, and drama than originally planned.
If you're thinking your plot is going blah-ville or your characters are just milling about, then it might be time to shake things up for them and make getting from A to B a rougher road.
What's the worst you've done to your characters to give them a hard time?
By now you may be feeling like your story is getting out of hand, is playing everything just right, or you're falling in the middle. Sometimes your characters comply and sometimes they show you sides you didn't know they even had. No matter what they're doing, if you want to make your novel interesting, I hope you're giving your characters a hard time.
My daughter is doing the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program this year. She's eight and had a story she wanted to tell of a girl in the woods with her siblings. Other than that basic information, she didn't know what to do with the story. Here's what I told her:
Think about what you want your character to do. What is their goal? Know that about your main character, get familiar with them.Think of how they will acheive their goal and what they want to do about it. Then, you as the author, make it difficult for the main character to do this. This may mean the character needs to change their goals, or do something else before they can acheive their primary goal. Whatever it is, make it hard for them, but not impossible.
For example, last night my main character, Elsbeth, needed to escape from having been kidnapped. I wanted her to slip out the window. Done. There's her goal.
Instead of letting it be that easy, however, I wrote her peeking to see if the coast was clear one last time, and this time the antagonist, Hopkins, is standing in the doorway and lunges after her. She still makes her escape (that is the plot afterall), but this way there was a lot more tension, action, and drama than originally planned.
If you're thinking your plot is going blah-ville or your characters are just milling about, then it might be time to shake things up for them and make getting from A to B a rougher road.
What's the worst you've done to your characters to give them a hard time?
Day 15: Halfway Party
This is it folks, day 15, the official halfway mark. 25,000 words is a lot for anyone.
If you're at this milestone, you should feel fantastic to be on target for finishing NaNoWriteMo by the end of the month.
You've put aside less urgent tasks to focus on yourself and your goals and your story. You've done the thing others haven't or are struggling to prioritize. I have hopes that each of you have also felt this pulsating drive to sit down and do the work during NaNo because it needed to be done for you.
Think of Michelangelo waking up in the morning thinking,"Man, I don't want to climb that scaffolding and lie on my back with my arms in the air, but damn, this ceiling isn't going to paint itself." And so he went...and he laid on his back and he painted.
If we could all at least tap into this ideal that we do what needs to be done even when it's not easy because it is what we do, what we want, and what we're made of, then the world would be an amazing place. If you aren't up for a challenge, then what you doing trying to write anything?
As I've always said, writers aren't storytellers, we're word laborers. The beauty of NaNo is that we labor together. I think just knowing that a bazillion other people around the globe are typing in their new word counts right along with you should count for something. There's creativity zipping through the air each night and I like to think if I reached up I could touch the sparkling underbelly as it floats by.
How did you decide to do NaNo? Leave comments below (after you celebrate 25K words).
If you're at this milestone, you should feel fantastic to be on target for finishing NaNoWriteMo by the end of the month.
You've put aside less urgent tasks to focus on yourself and your goals and your story. You've done the thing others haven't or are struggling to prioritize. I have hopes that each of you have also felt this pulsating drive to sit down and do the work during NaNo because it needed to be done for you.
Think of Michelangelo waking up in the morning thinking,"Man, I don't want to climb that scaffolding and lie on my back with my arms in the air, but damn, this ceiling isn't going to paint itself." And so he went...and he laid on his back and he painted.
If we could all at least tap into this ideal that we do what needs to be done even when it's not easy because it is what we do, what we want, and what we're made of, then the world would be an amazing place. If you aren't up for a challenge, then what you doing trying to write anything?
As I've always said, writers aren't storytellers, we're word laborers. The beauty of NaNo is that we labor together. I think just knowing that a bazillion other people around the globe are typing in their new word counts right along with you should count for something. There's creativity zipping through the air each night and I like to think if I reached up I could touch the sparkling underbelly as it floats by.
How did you decide to do NaNo? Leave comments below (after you celebrate 25K words).
Day 13: Pushing Beyond Problems of Your Novel Writing Experience
NaNo day 13 brings us to a goal of 21,666 words. This is nearly halfway to the finish line. If you're there with me, then take a small moment to be proud of yourself. If you're with me in spirit, then keep pushing.
I have a lot of friends in the middle of NaNoCraZo that are falling short of the word count by thousands as this point, but where they lack words, they make up for it in spirit. None of these lovely ladies are giving up. They share their deficit with the group, and then they push on. One woman in particular had zero words on Day 8, but she's writing in the morning before her children wake up and again in the evening, and is now around 14,000 words. I believe she'll make it because she's willing to do the work.
Whether your limitation is not having the stamina to hit the goal each day, or not finding enough plot elements, or unsupportive family members, or dealing with computer problems, the only option you have (if you truly want this) is to push onward and write.
Here's an example:
Mylaptopkeyboard has decided that it will onlygive me thespacebar whenitdecides Ishould have thespace bar. This notonly makes readinganythingI'm typing difficult, butalso really screws witha wordcountgoal becuase what my writingprogramis sayingI've writtenis actuallymuchlarger once I go back inand add thespaces,which takesup a lot oftime.
That is really frustrating! But, I push forward. I whine to my husband about how old my computer is and then I, to quote my sister, put my big girl panties on and deal with it. I write anyway, and then I backtrack to the beginning of that day's work and I add spaces, one at a time.
If you want to have a finished first draft (aka: rough draft) by the end of this month, then you will muster the strength and desire to push through anything.
What have you pushed through to keep your novel going? Leave comments below.
I have a lot of friends in the middle of NaNoCraZo that are falling short of the word count by thousands as this point, but where they lack words, they make up for it in spirit. None of these lovely ladies are giving up. They share their deficit with the group, and then they push on. One woman in particular had zero words on Day 8, but she's writing in the morning before her children wake up and again in the evening, and is now around 14,000 words. I believe she'll make it because she's willing to do the work.
Whether your limitation is not having the stamina to hit the goal each day, or not finding enough plot elements, or unsupportive family members, or dealing with computer problems, the only option you have (if you truly want this) is to push onward and write.
Here's an example:
Mylaptopkeyboard has decided that it will onlygive me thespacebar whenitdecides Ishould have thespace bar. This notonly makes readinganythingI'm typing difficult, butalso really screws witha wordcountgoal becuase what my writingprogramis sayingI've writtenis actuallymuchlarger once I go back inand add thespaces,which takesup a lot oftime.
That is really frustrating! But, I push forward. I whine to my husband about how old my computer is and then I, to quote my sister, put my big girl panties on and deal with it. I write anyway, and then I backtrack to the beginning of that day's work and I add spaces, one at a time.
If you want to have a finished first draft (aka: rough draft) by the end of this month, then you will muster the strength and desire to push through anything.
What have you pushed through to keep your novel going? Leave comments below.
Day 12: How to Prioritize Your Writing and Writing Time
Hey, guys. Sorry I can't do a new blog post tonight. I need to write.
Today's goal is 20,000 and I'd want to get there.
See how I did that?
Today's goal is 20,000 and I'd want to get there.
See how I did that?
Day 11: Sometimes Life Happens
Today is Day 11. We should be sitting pretty at 18,333 words, and sometimes...life happens...even in the middle of novel writing.
I'll summarize my day: Wake up, cold house, broken furnace, furnace repairmen, talk about cats, giant furnace bill, charge it, child comes home, "Let's go to my school tonight and watch a movie," no school -- pizza delivery and stay home, deal?, deal, pizza, yeah, phone call, your child won a contest but you forgot a form, no problem -- email or mail?, bring it to your house?, in car multiplication tables times 4, find a dark house in the dark, old man falls over backward in street, eeeeeeerrrttttt!, form to lady, yeah, congrats, thanks, Barnes and Noble, the books are gone and there are toys everywhere, WTF, mommy my throat hurts, sa-what?, home, heat = good, ugh, still need to write.
This, the above and aforementioned BS, is the shit that happens when you're trying to write a novel.
These are not roadblocks.
These are obstacles.
Go around them.
Sit down.
Focus.
Write.
The world doesn't care if you're writing a novel or not. That's not the world's job. It's your job. Like the classic parenting advice: If you wait for the right time to write a novel, then you'll never do it.
How's your BS going and how are you keeping it from interrupting your writing?
I'll summarize my day: Wake up, cold house, broken furnace, furnace repairmen, talk about cats, giant furnace bill, charge it, child comes home, "Let's go to my school tonight and watch a movie," no school -- pizza delivery and stay home, deal?, deal, pizza, yeah, phone call, your child won a contest but you forgot a form, no problem -- email or mail?, bring it to your house?, in car multiplication tables times 4, find a dark house in the dark, old man falls over backward in street, eeeeeeerrrttttt!, form to lady, yeah, congrats, thanks, Barnes and Noble, the books are gone and there are toys everywhere, WTF, mommy my throat hurts, sa-what?, home, heat = good, ugh, still need to write.
This, the above and aforementioned BS, is the shit that happens when you're trying to write a novel.
These are not roadblocks.
These are obstacles.
Go around them.
Sit down.
Focus.
Write.
The world doesn't care if you're writing a novel or not. That's not the world's job. It's your job. Like the classic parenting advice: If you wait for the right time to write a novel, then you'll never do it.
How's your BS going and how are you keeping it from interrupting your writing?
Day 9: Turn Your Writing Struggle into Your Strength
It's Day 9 in NaNoVille and today's goal is 15,000 words. This is a great milestone and I hope you eat a big bowl of ice cream and do a little hip shaking kind of dance in the shower if you've made it this far. 15,000 words is awesome!
This can also be a little scary as plots start to crumble and you start to feel a little less than sure about what it is you're tyring to do in November. I urge you to keep going. NaNo is more than just word count. Sure, word count is the core goal of the month, but there's more to this whirlwind than just the words.
This month NaNo is also teaching you about motivation, perseverance, digging deep, and finishing what you start. You're learning to value your writing time, to carve out space for it, and you're gaining the experience of seeing what writing a full first draft is like (whether you've done it before or not, each novel is different).
Turn your struggle into your strength.
Write with abandon.
Don't judge your story. Don't judge your work. Don't focus on any other version of your story (the plot in your head or in the imaginary future finished bestseller) other than the one you are creating right now.
If your story's not working, then make something happen. No rule says you're stuck sitting in a dirty apartment eating old pizza with your main character listening to their thoughts. This is fiction. Make something happen. Challenge your characters, your setting, the tension between characters. As my sister says, "It's your baby, you rock it."
What was your 15K celebration?
This can also be a little scary as plots start to crumble and you start to feel a little less than sure about what it is you're tyring to do in November. I urge you to keep going. NaNo is more than just word count. Sure, word count is the core goal of the month, but there's more to this whirlwind than just the words.
This month NaNo is also teaching you about motivation, perseverance, digging deep, and finishing what you start. You're learning to value your writing time, to carve out space for it, and you're gaining the experience of seeing what writing a full first draft is like (whether you've done it before or not, each novel is different).
Turn your struggle into your strength.
Write with abandon.
Don't judge your story. Don't judge your work. Don't focus on any other version of your story (the plot in your head or in the imaginary future finished bestseller) other than the one you are creating right now.
If your story's not working, then make something happen. No rule says you're stuck sitting in a dirty apartment eating old pizza with your main character listening to their thoughts. This is fiction. Make something happen. Challenge your characters, your setting, the tension between characters. As my sister says, "It's your baby, you rock it."
What was your 15K celebration?
Day 5: Weekend Frenzy
Today's NaNo word count goal is 8333. I'm up to 7104 so far, but I haven't written yet today, so expect that number to come up as I take Elsbeth, my main character, to jail and torture her. Seriously.
If you're an experienced WriMo, you'll be Writing More than the minimum 1667 words per day this weekend. The weekend, for most of us, is prime time to take advantage of "non-work" days and crank out your story in large quantities.
If you can manage it, adding excess words now will do a few things for you.
Truth or dare: How many times have you thought about hanging it up and writing something else in November?
If you're an experienced WriMo, you'll be Writing More than the minimum 1667 words per day this weekend. The weekend, for most of us, is prime time to take advantage of "non-work" days and crank out your story in large quantities.
If you can manage it, adding excess words now will do a few things for you.
- You'll be that much further ahead in your plot outline (if you made one) than anticipated for Days 5 and 6.
- You'll have wiggle room for days where you just come up short in the motivation or words department. This may or may not be a day you're stuffed with turkey, for those in the US.
- You can sleep sounder at nigh during the week.
- Bragging rights, duh.
- You'll not only amaze yourself that you beat the word count goal, but also you can use the sense of accomplishment to fuel your writing over the next few days.
Truth or dare: How many times have you thought about hanging it up and writing something else in November?
Day 4: The Devil is Shaking Up Your Story
Today's NaNo word count goal is 6666. {The Omen anyone?}
It's 9pm (Eastern time) and I have written nothing yet.
Zero. Words. Period.
I don't have to tell you that feels awful. Fear not! I'm going to get my word count in as soon as my child is lying in her bed.
By around Day 4 any weaknesses in the foundation of your story might start shaking things up. This is normal and to be expected. Demonic possession is the name of the NaNo game. Seriously, this shaky ground can actually be because of many things up to and including: low self-confidence, a weak story, boring characters, a lack of tension, excess description, too little action, etc.
The good news is that ALL of this is fixable with time and perseverance. (Two out of four written scenes for me are less than stellar. I make a note, something like, "where's the f-ing action?" and move on. I'll amp things up during the second draft.)
I urge you to also keep going. This first week is the introduction to the school of hard knocks. This is the week when all of the drop-outs drop out. Keep going. If you don't push through to the other side now, then you'll never know if you are capable of pushing through Week 2 or the horrors that make up Week 3. Seriously. Horrors. Not kidding here. Horrors.
What ways are you finding make writing through NaNo easier? [Coffee/wine/water and music are helping me out.]
It's 9pm (Eastern time) and I have written nothing yet.
Zero. Words. Period.
I don't have to tell you that feels awful. Fear not! I'm going to get my word count in as soon as my child is lying in her bed.
By around Day 4 any weaknesses in the foundation of your story might start shaking things up. This is normal and to be expected. Demonic possession is the name of the NaNo game. Seriously, this shaky ground can actually be because of many things up to and including: low self-confidence, a weak story, boring characters, a lack of tension, excess description, too little action, etc.
The good news is that ALL of this is fixable with time and perseverance. (Two out of four written scenes for me are less than stellar. I make a note, something like, "where's the f-ing action?" and move on. I'll amp things up during the second draft.)
I urge you to also keep going. This first week is the introduction to the school of hard knocks. This is the week when all of the drop-outs drop out. Keep going. If you don't push through to the other side now, then you'll never know if you are capable of pushing through Week 2 or the horrors that make up Week 3. Seriously. Horrors. Not kidding here. Horrors.
What ways are you finding make writing through NaNo easier? [Coffee/wine/water and music are helping me out.]
Day 3: NaNo Brings It
By day 3 your word count should be rocking at 5000+ words. I hit my target around 5200something. How are you holding up?
I'll be honest, NaNo tried to throw me a curve ball in Day 3, but I still met the word goal. The curve ball involved my being exhausted and the time already being late at night. For the record, my brain fries easily at night, but rather than being a well rested NaNoLoSer in the morning, I stayed up to get my story on the page. By "get" I mean "extract." It was downright painful to work. Even though I knew exactly where the story was headed and I was enthused about writing this scene, my mind and my fingers were having none of it.
Sentences started to look at lot like this: Elsbethw aited in hte roomunti lthe moon slide out from behind the cloudes,
Me writing late at night is the equivalent of driving drunk through a crowded mall. Bad shit is just going to happen. The beauty of NaNoWriMo, however, is that these horribly typed words, tense slips of verbs, and bad punctuation don't matter. I'll edit the sucker later. What matters is that we know Elsbeth is waiting for the moon in her room. Done. I can fix my dead-brain-typing issues in December.
If you've having trouble with things like this, I urge you to keep going and worry about editing later. So long as the story is flowing/extracted, you're still going to get a first draft of a novel written.
Is your story still headed where you thought it would be going? I'd love to hear about it.
I'll be honest, NaNo tried to throw me a curve ball in Day 3, but I still met the word goal. The curve ball involved my being exhausted and the time already being late at night. For the record, my brain fries easily at night, but rather than being a well rested NaNoLoSer in the morning, I stayed up to get my story on the page. By "get" I mean "extract." It was downright painful to work. Even though I knew exactly where the story was headed and I was enthused about writing this scene, my mind and my fingers were having none of it.
Sentences started to look at lot like this: Elsbethw aited in hte roomunti lthe moon slide out from behind the cloudes,
Me writing late at night is the equivalent of driving drunk through a crowded mall. Bad shit is just going to happen. The beauty of NaNoWriMo, however, is that these horribly typed words, tense slips of verbs, and bad punctuation don't matter. I'll edit the sucker later. What matters is that we know Elsbeth is waiting for the moon in her room. Done. I can fix my dead-brain-typing issues in December.
If you've having trouble with things like this, I urge you to keep going and worry about editing later. So long as the story is flowing/extracted, you're still going to get a first draft of a novel written.
Is your story still headed where you thought it would be going? I'd love to hear about it.
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