Nanowrimo
Words written so far: 19,198 total. Ok - I am color coding this orange because I am ahead of my goal but not quite at my super goal. But I am tired and am going to sleep.
Impressions: I really liked the writing advice in the Nanowrimo pep talk of the week by Naomi Novik. Here is my favorite part of the pep talk and the one I have been using the past two days, "If you're finding a scene boring to write, cut it and skip to the good part. Set something on fire. Have zombies attack." Now I haven't set anything on fire or had zombies attach but I have definitely been skipping to the good parts.
I may be thinking far too much about my story (or perhaps not enough) because I keep trying to find ways to bring it back around. What I suspect is that I have created far too many non-essential characters that I now have to a) deal with and b) figure out something for them all to do. I remember doing this the last time I did Nanowrimo in 2004. At the end of my 50K words, I had like 40 characters which is far too many to keep track of (by me or the readers). I need to be very intentional about adding characters.
My story is very "good guys vs. bad guys". The problem is, the bad guys are generally faceless and nameless (big corporations). This is a problem because you want to get to know your bad guy for them to be realistic. However, this, of course, goes against my point above about creating too many characters. Another quandary to work my way out of.
Likelihood of finishing NaNoWriMo: I am still going strong but I am finding it harder and harder to stay with my story. I need to let my characters take me where they want to go and not worry so much (for this draft anyway) about tying things together. 100%.
Likelihood of finishing NaBloPoMo: I am still in the game.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Day 10: Nanowrimo (and NaBloPoMo)
NaNoWriMo - Progress report for yesterday, November 10, 2007
My words written so far: 17,901 total.
Impressions: I don't like doing the progress report for yesterday, today. It is disconcerting and I can't really remember what my impressions are! I think I am going back to the old way of doing it. It really doesn't save me any time either way. Yesterday's writing was ok. It was mostly done in a coffee shop but a little was also done while trying to direct a gluing project for two 4 year olds. Needless to say, I couldn't concentrate very well!
Likelihood of finishing NaNoWriMo: 100%. But I have to say drinking two beers before trying to write is probably not a good thing to do all the time.
Likelihood of finishing NaBloPoMo: 100%.
My words written so far: 17,901 total.
Impressions: I don't like doing the progress report for yesterday, today. It is disconcerting and I can't really remember what my impressions are! I think I am going back to the old way of doing it. It really doesn't save me any time either way. Yesterday's writing was ok. It was mostly done in a coffee shop but a little was also done while trying to direct a gluing project for two 4 year olds. Needless to say, I couldn't concentrate very well!
Likelihood of finishing NaNoWriMo: 100%. But I have to say drinking two beers before trying to write is probably not a good thing to do all the time.
Likelihood of finishing NaBloPoMo: 100%.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Day 9: Nanowrimo (and NaBloPoMo)
NaNoWriMo - Progress report for yesterday, November 9, 2007
My words written so far: 16,378 total. I am back on track with my Super Goal of finishing two days early.
Impressions: Dogs barking at each other freak me out. I say this because I am in a "dog-friendly" coffee shop right now and there are a lot of dogs here. They keep having little tiffs and it is freaking me out. I don't have a dog so I think they are going to hurt each other. It is a little unsettling.
Back to my impressions of NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo...I got back on track writing last night. I was so tired I didn't think it was going to happen but it did. I actually got into a really nice groove and felt good enough about the story to post an excerpt on my NaNoWriMo page. Check it out and tell me if you don't just hate the characters! (You are supposed to!)
So I feel good; even in this dog heavy coffee shop. And I am just getting ready to start Chapter 6. Last night I was able to weave the story back around and now I am going to do more of that. I am going to visit back with some of my original characters. The question is, if an Augmentor dies, does the part that split off from him or her, the spirit part, die, too? If you have a thought, let me know. I think it is one of those crucial pivots to the story that I just don't have an instinct for.
Likelihood of finishing NaNoWriMo: 100%. Can you tell I got a decent night's sleep?
Likelihood of finishing NaBloPoMo: 100%.
Now, back to writing. If you are reading this, let me know!!!
My words written so far: 16,378 total. I am back on track with my Super Goal of finishing two days early.
Impressions: Dogs barking at each other freak me out. I say this because I am in a "dog-friendly" coffee shop right now and there are a lot of dogs here. They keep having little tiffs and it is freaking me out. I don't have a dog so I think they are going to hurt each other. It is a little unsettling.
Back to my impressions of NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo...I got back on track writing last night. I was so tired I didn't think it was going to happen but it did. I actually got into a really nice groove and felt good enough about the story to post an excerpt on my NaNoWriMo page. Check it out and tell me if you don't just hate the characters! (You are supposed to!)
So I feel good; even in this dog heavy coffee shop. And I am just getting ready to start Chapter 6. Last night I was able to weave the story back around and now I am going to do more of that. I am going to visit back with some of my original characters. The question is, if an Augmentor dies, does the part that split off from him or her, the spirit part, die, too? If you have a thought, let me know. I think it is one of those crucial pivots to the story that I just don't have an instinct for.
Likelihood of finishing NaNoWriMo: 100%. Can you tell I got a decent night's sleep?
Likelihood of finishing NaBloPoMo: 100%.
Now, back to writing. If you are reading this, let me know!!!
Friday, November 9, 2007
Day 8: Nanowrimo (and NaBloPoMo)
You may be wondering why I am writing about Day 8 on what is technically Day 9. Well, last night I was thinking that I would get to bed a little earlier and post this today. But the day has gone by and now I am needed to actually work on my book and I have this hanging over my head. Hmmm...not sure what is a better way to do things. I guess I will have to wait to see how I feel tonight.
Day 8 words written: 13,767 total. This is above my normal day's goal but below my super goal. I am leaving it black.
Impressions: I figured a way out of my dilemma of characters who couldn't speak to each other. That was fun. Now I need to work on pulling all the parts of the story together. Because I created an outline before I started writing, and I have been writing to the outline, I have more like a series of short stories right now. They are all vaguely related but I need to tie them all together.
Writing is hard work and at the same time it is easy. I want to go back and edit but I know now is not the time for that. As I read over what I have written, I see so much room for improvement. And yet, I like what I am writing. I guess my question is...how bad does a story need to be to abandon it? Or how good does a story need to be to pursue it?
It is easy because once you turn it on, it just flows out (on a good day). I never know what is going to happen!
Likelihood of finishing NaNoWriMo: 0% unless I can get healthy. Otherwise I may not have the energy.
Likelihood of finishing NaBloPoMo: ditto.
Day 8 words written: 13,767 total. This is above my normal day's goal but below my super goal. I am leaving it black.
Impressions: I figured a way out of my dilemma of characters who couldn't speak to each other. That was fun. Now I need to work on pulling all the parts of the story together. Because I created an outline before I started writing, and I have been writing to the outline, I have more like a series of short stories right now. They are all vaguely related but I need to tie them all together.
Writing is hard work and at the same time it is easy. I want to go back and edit but I know now is not the time for that. As I read over what I have written, I see so much room for improvement. And yet, I like what I am writing. I guess my question is...how bad does a story need to be to abandon it? Or how good does a story need to be to pursue it?
It is easy because once you turn it on, it just flows out (on a good day). I never know what is going to happen!
Likelihood of finishing NaNoWriMo: 0% unless I can get healthy. Otherwise I may not have the energy.
Likelihood of finishing NaBloPoMo: ditto.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Taking Challenges Seriously
While I realize that NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo are voluntary challenges, I still had to make a commitment to fulfilling the challenges. I take these challenges very seriously. NaNoWriMo is more forgiving than NaBloPoMo. If I miss a day, I just have to make it up another day as long as at the end of 30 days, I have written 50,000 words. NaBloPoMo is a different sort of challenge. It challenges you to write a blog post every day. I fear that I won't be able to meet this challenge. I fear I will fall asleep with my sick son and miss posting. I fear I will fall prey to Blogger's silly pre-post dating. I fear that I won't fulfill the challenge.
What I don't understand, is why I can't take other challenges as seriously. For example, I have an excellent reason to lose some weight right now. I am going to be filmed in 10 days. Why am I not pulling out all the stops to a) not eat and b) exercise more? I don't know. That challenge is much harder than NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo combined. How weird is that?
My throat is hurting and I am tired. I am not sure I will write for NaNoWriMo tonight. But that is OK because I am still ahead. I will definitely not post my progress tonight. I will give myself a break and do that tomorrow.
What I don't understand, is why I can't take other challenges as seriously. For example, I have an excellent reason to lose some weight right now. I am going to be filmed in 10 days. Why am I not pulling out all the stops to a) not eat and b) exercise more? I don't know. That challenge is much harder than NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo combined. How weird is that?
My throat is hurting and I am tired. I am not sure I will write for NaNoWriMo tonight. But that is OK because I am still ahead. I will definitely not post my progress tonight. I will give myself a break and do that tomorrow.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Day 7: Nanowrimo (and NaBloPoMo)
Nanowrimo
Total words written: 12,691 total words
Impressions: Another day of strange writing. Today I was writing a scene in which the two main characters couldn't hear each other. They had to make lots of gestures and try to read each other's lips. How do I write myself into these crazy corners? The story is still flowing but I am less optimistic about it than I was the first few days. I keep trying to convince myself that it will get better with editing (which I don't have time to do). Having never written a published book before, I am curious about the process. I mean, how good does your first draft have to be? My novel from Nanowrimo 2004 was crap with a few interesting ideas in it. It was not worth any editing (even though I did attempt it). This story seems to be worthy. I guess we shall see if I can tie everything up in the end. I am introducing characters like crazy which is making me nervous. I had to create a "character descriptions" file to keep track of everyone! I am happy that I just popped over the 12,500 word bar. Yay!
Likelihood of finishing Nanowrimo: 100%. I am still motivated.
Likelihood of finishing NaBloPoMo: 100%. Although I may change the way I post about Nanowrimo and leave those posts till mornings (thus allowing me to go to sleep earlier).
Super goal: End up with a decent first draft that is worth all the work of editing.
Total words written: 12,691 total words
Impressions: Another day of strange writing. Today I was writing a scene in which the two main characters couldn't hear each other. They had to make lots of gestures and try to read each other's lips. How do I write myself into these crazy corners? The story is still flowing but I am less optimistic about it than I was the first few days. I keep trying to convince myself that it will get better with editing (which I don't have time to do). Having never written a published book before, I am curious about the process. I mean, how good does your first draft have to be? My novel from Nanowrimo 2004 was crap with a few interesting ideas in it. It was not worth any editing (even though I did attempt it). This story seems to be worthy. I guess we shall see if I can tie everything up in the end. I am introducing characters like crazy which is making me nervous. I had to create a "character descriptions" file to keep track of everyone! I am happy that I just popped over the 12,500 word bar. Yay!
Likelihood of finishing Nanowrimo: 100%. I am still motivated.
Likelihood of finishing NaBloPoMo: 100%. Although I may change the way I post about Nanowrimo and leave those posts till mornings (thus allowing me to go to sleep earlier).
Super goal: End up with a decent first draft that is worth all the work of editing.
Kids Yoga Game
Today I thought up a game to play with my man and kids. Our kids already know a few yoga poses. Wouldn't it be fun to teach them so more and then when someone shouted out the name of a pose, everyone would have to do it? It would help me do more yoga and it probably be good for the kids to be "in control" some of the time. I am sure there would be limits like "no yoga during meals". I am looking forward to trying it.
p.s. You could also do this using yoga cards. Each person could just pull a card and then everyone would have to do the pose on the card.
p.s. You could also do this using yoga cards. Each person could just pull a card and then everyone would have to do the pose on the card.
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