Entries from The Fountain Pen tagged with 'NaNoWriMo'
Things I've Learned from NaNoWriMo
It's November and NaNoWriMo is in full swing. A co-worker of mine is participating for the first time this year, and chatting with him has given me occasion to reflect on writing, my process, NaNoWriMo, and why I'm not participating...
Day One: A Good Start
The good news is I hit my goal of 2,000 words for tonight, and even better, I had time left over to relax and watch some TV. That was the good news. The not-so-good news is in a few different...
Welcome to The Shrouded Asylum
I have decided to write a Lovecraftian story for NaNoWriMo this year, and as if that were not enough of a challenge the protagonist is a woman. Not only will I be conscious of atmosphere, pacing, tension, and suspense, but...
Ready for NaNoWriMo 2007!
I threw my hat into the ring for NaNoWriMo earlier this month and I am now happy to say I am as ready and prepared for it as I can be. This afternoon I completed my outline and while that...
Writing Group
<p> We had our final meeting tonight. Not a meeting so much as a small party, a time where we could relax from the pressure, talk about writing in general, and then take the plunge and read an excerpt from our novels. It was by far my favourite meeting of the entire time, and not just because I did not have to write anything; I rather enjoyed the social time. It was fun to get to know the people behind the frantic looks, the hurried typing (or writing), and those moments of frustrating writer's block. I will not miss the stress of writing, but I will miss getting together with other writers and talking about our shared passion (at least I hope we would all have some level of passion for the craft). </p>
Life After NaNoWriMo
<p> I will say this past month has been eye opening. I never thought I would be able to achieve what I have without more work than I put into it. That does not mean I didn't put forth a mammoth amount of effort to pour out 50,000 words in just 30 days; that was something akin to a herculean task. In the aftermath I now know that I could most likely accomplish a mere 20,000 words a month and consider that comfortable. The shock I have in making that statement makes November worthwhile. I would have thought it impossible to write close to 200 pages in a month (double spaced). And yet I did it. I did it because it was only 50,000 words, which meant 2,000 words a night, and after I figured out I could do 1,000 an hour . . . well the math is rather obvious is it not? </p>
\\\\'001!! <Woot!!>
<p> I prevailed! I crossed the finished line with 24.<em>something</em> hours to spare! I'm too hyper and tired to give it a full write up, but I am listed among the 3,000+ winners, and have been given permission to display the following picture with pride (I thought the viking helmet was apropos). More to follow tomorrow. </p>
The End is Near!
<p> “A man paces up and down the street, a wild and desperate look in his eyes and a wooden sign strapped to his chest proclaiming: 'The End Is Near!'” That's not a quote from my book, but that's what I think of when I look at my word count and my calendar (I always think that word needs to “L”s in it). The end of the month is near, and the end of my goal is near, but to continue the little scene: “A little girl, prim and proper in her lacy pink dress, walks up to the man, tugs on his greasy robes and looks up at him with large brown eyes. He stoops down curious what such a small child would have to say. She opens her mouth and shyly states, ”But the end is not near. There is still a lot more of the story to tell.“ I know for certain I will not complete my book for quite some time, but I think I might actually reach the 50,000 word mark. I will reach 42,000 words before I go to sleep tonight, and while I doubt I will finish the book tomorrow, I ought to be able to get it done before the final deadline. </p>
Invisible Opposition
<p> I had a good start. I religiously met my goals, even exceeded them from time-to-time, and often went to bed satisfied with evening's work. Last week stopped that, and this week is proving worse than last week (presently I am 3,000 words behind. Ouch!). In the last two days I have been getting home late from work (Monday we went live with my mammoth update/rewrite, and last night I was caught in the worst traffic jam I'll likely see in my little State), and as if that is not enough both nights I've had some phone calls that I either needed to make (figuring out the family Thanksgiving plans) or were forced upon me (tech support for my brother and his new iBook). Add to this the fact that I am beginning to feel under the weather and do not wish to be the sacrificial lamb this year (it seems every year only one person in my family is sick during the holidays, and it “rotates” at random). </p>
Update From the Trenches
<p> Last week was by far my worst week. Exhaustion set in and my brain did not want to cooperate. I had to fight with it every day, every hour, for every word. With the arrival of the weekend came a break-in with our car (more on that at <a href="http://blog.0kelvin.net/">my blog</a>) and even less motivation to write. My team lost its final game of the season, playing so miserably I don't want to see them in bowl game, and would like my Saturdays back. My wife drug me down to the Humane Society to look at a kitty, a potential playmate for our cat, and after an hour of spending time with her we decided she would be just as hyper as our current cat and we did not want to two terrors. Despite all of this I manages to sit down and pound out 5,000 words last night, with an ease that surprised me. I am still 1,000 words behind my desired goal, but I think I can make that up fairly quickly. </p>
Chapter Three Complete
<p> I will probably have a tired audience, being forced to read many thousands of words just to finish a chapter. I wish I could offer some apology, but since I cannot yet bring myself to divide my chapters any further, nor shorten them, I will hope they find my words engrossing and not notice the number of pages they turn. This might seem like a wistful dream, but I received and email to this effect just this morning. I completed the chapter last night (making up some of my deficit but not enough of it to be real progress) and sent it off to my First Readers (as I call them). This morning I found a quick note from one of them, informing me he did not have to read my chapter, but after reading the first paragraph soon found himself half-way through it and had to force himself to stop. High praise indeed! If only the rest of my book will turn out the same way. I might actually have a little more gas in my tank to fuel me onwards into and through the next chapter (as soon as figure out what will happen in this chapter . . . I hate it when I change my mind midstream). </p>
Managed Loss
<p> I squeaked out 1,300 words last night, bringing my deficit to 1,500. I might recover but this morning, after more caffeine than I usually imbibe, I am about ready to fall asleep. I might have to work like mad on my lunch hour then go home and go to bed early (say 8 PM?). This silly project is not worth my health, and if I cannot do it, I cannot do it. I should be more concerned with getting the entire book done, than with meeting the 50,000 word goal. </p>
Trouble Brewing
<p> All is not well in NaNoWriMo land. I am tired. I am more tired than I have ever been. I've been exhausted, I've been burned out, but I've never been tired like this. Last night I could have gone to sleep at 9PM (A full 2-3 hours early!) and tonight is no different. My brain is not functioning normally. I am forgetting things, my speech is abnormal (in conversation my words are getting jumbled). Things are not good. I cannot even write. </p>
Stunning Accomplishment
Progress I'm not sure if I should be terribly excited, ashamed, embarrassed, stunned, or a combination thereof. I'm on target as of this morning. I needed to be at 20,000 words by the time my head hit the pillow last...
Bitter Disappointment
<p> Last night did not go so well. As it turns out, last night was a horrid night for writing. I arrived home late, accidentally deleted the show from our PVR that we were going to watch (I did this <em>before</em> we watched it), fought with my wife's machine, trying and failing to get it to cooperate with a microphone, and had to send a gob of pictures to my brother in Hawaii. In the end I had 90 minutes to write and a fume that took 60 minutes to calm down from, so I only managed 500 words. </p>
Sweet Success
<p> The second day of the second week (I cannot count Sunday) and I'm in great shape (though my wife tells me I need to get some exercise). I not only hit my goal of 2,000 words, but I finished early, and I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 words on the tip of my tongue. I decided to quit because I was tired, excited, and really wanted to continue watching a series on TV. I've learned that when I lose focus I don't write well, so I took a break and don't mind not writing any further tonight. I've met my goal, I'm on track. The tortoise beat the hare in the fable. </p>
Palindromic Word Count
My writing software informs me I have completed 28% of my goal, an exact count of 14141 words, pure luck that it's a palindrome. As to the percentage completed I want to strut about proudly. Double spaced this would be about 50 pages, and I can honestly say I've never written anything so large in my life, and I'm only in the second chapter! I would be slightly worried about this week, considering the veterans tell us this is the worst week of the entire month, but I cannot see how I will struggle. I do well writing in the evenings after work, and I am coming upon the sections of my story that I'm somewhat eager to tell. The real challenge, for me, will be near the end, because I'm not quite sure how to unravel and resolve the conflict. I know the end result, but not the means, not yet anyway.
Weekend Traps
<p> This weekend was a terrible mess as far as writing goes, but in that mess I think I might have learned something I suspected might be true: the weekends are bad writing times for me. There are simply too many distractions, too many things I want to do, too much unwinding from the week I need to do in order for me to make any real progress. This is good for me to know, because in the future, when I want to write another book, I will not force myself to write on the weekends. Instead I'll be free to socialize, work on household projects, and vegetate. </p>
First Chapter Completed
<p> I did it! I actually finished my first chapter of my novel! I'm not so much stunned that I finished a chapter, so much as that I have been consistent in reaching my word count goals each day (on average that is). By this time I thought I would be complaining that I was 1,000 or more words behind and giving myself an ulcer. Instead I have found that at any given point I can sit down and crank out words. I'm flabbergasted that I can do this, for at no other time in my fiction writing attempts have I been able to just write. I usually had to sit there and agonize over what to write. I credit my success to my outline, for I know where I am and what I need to do next, so I always have something to write (until I run into one of those dreaded plot holes). </p>
Dullet Bodging
<p> I was lucky last night; at least that is how I look at it. My wife's car needed some work done on it, so we took it over to my parent's place as it is better suited for work (our drive way is sloped, and I'd rather not trust an emergency brake with my life). I knew last night would be a hard night for writing; my parents are friendly people and we get along well enough that we usually miss our intended departure because we are engaged in conversation. Last night was not much different, with the exception of my ability to show off my writing software to my mother (who writes), and that they left me alone for about an hour so I could try to hack out something, and that is where I got lucky. </p>
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