I just finished sprinting, cuz who doesn't wanna hunch over their computer & try'n string together coherent & entertaining sentences after they come home from working all night, right? lol/I'm currently at 17,139. I might be able to clear that 20k later tonight! Wht's more, one pair of chars found a clue, another did a pretty impressive piece of godly magic & the last just discovered a forgotten secret temple....after a brief, musical interlude of course, lol.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
The Race for 20k
Ty for the support guys :) I appreciate it. So, last night I finished at just over 13k & today, it's more sprints. I'm starting to think 20 is pretty downright attainable, possibly by day's end even, but certainly before the week end is out.
Today's word is: Argyle.
Today's word is: Argyle.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Right on!
Apparently my writing groove comes in spurts, lol. I had a good first couple days, only wrote a few hundred, wrote tons in the write in, couldn't muster anything yesterday, now things are flowing again *knocks wood, throws salt & anything else she can think of to unjinx herself by saying that out loud*
I think I know where the story is going finally, have a vague notion of the far distant shores of an ending & my chars are finally off in the world doing things! This is exciting! I even updated my novel info & put up a teeny excerpt today, I've never done that before. I'm currently at just shy of 12.5k & I hope to be at 15 tonight. That way, tomorrow's sprints should knock out that 20k in no time.
I think I know where the story is going finally, have a vague notion of the far distant shores of an ending & my chars are finally off in the world doing things! This is exciting! I even updated my novel info & put up a teeny excerpt today, I've never done that before. I'm currently at just shy of 12.5k & I hope to be at 15 tonight. That way, tomorrow's sprints should knock out that 20k in no time.
Welcome to a brand new day
So yesterday was kind of a bust. I just felt very....meh all day. I didn't sleep a lot & that combined with the glut of words I dredged the day before combined to make me feel a li'l tapped out, I suppose. I know, I shoulda worked through it anyway. The ironic thing is, I spent a lotta time yesterday encouraging other people to put the time in & not give up on their novels. Anyway, this morning I got home from work, I had a li'l breakfast, a li'l Doctor Who & am on my second big thermos mug of coffee, so I should be getting down to work in a few here. Today feels better. Technically, I guess I could not write at all today & not be 'officially' behind, but ya know what? I think, if I can make it to 50 & am looking back on this NaNo later, the thing that'll stand out & really bug me most, won't be the quality(or lack of) work, it'll be the days I didn't work at all. Still, it's a long way to 20k if I'm going to make it by week's end. I'll post a new count later.
Today's word is: swindle.
Today's word is: swindle.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Thanks for all the stories
Recently one of my favorite authors, Michael Crichton, died. if you've never read his work, you're likely still familiar with it & have probably seen at least one of the movies his books were turned into. Jurassic Park, Sphere, Timeline, Andromeda Strain, Eaters of the Dead(which became 13th Warrior on the big screen), Congo, Rising Sun, Disclosure, just to name a few. He was also involved in the movie Twister & the tv show E.R.
I first heard of him several years ago when he was on the Today Show one morning. There sat this polite, intelligent, well spoken man discussing a book he'd written about someone trying to bring dinosaurs to life & how they'd just began work towards making it a movie. I thought it was an intriguing possibility, ressurecting an extinct species & I set out to find the book. Like a lot of people do when trying out an author for the first time, I grabbed it not necessarily expecting loads. Sure, the premise sounded cool, but that didn't mean his style would be to my liking. Boy, was I wrong!
Since then, I've owned at least seven of his books, read one or two others & seen the bulk of his movies. He is, to my mind, a giant in fiction. And, the thing I loved about the books of his that I read was their tangibility. I'm a big sci fi fan, but this wasn't space ships or crazy aliens or ray guns, this was possible & that was what made them so thrilling...and sometime, so frightening. His stories were modern day science, things going on in labs today & just taken a step & a half beyond. They were plausible. Disturbingly so in some cases. They were filled with sharp characters & exciting action sequences & provided that perfect blend of science that wasn't someone talking clean over your head, nor someone talking down to you. It provided a life like premise to each scenario that offered you, the reader, a chance to decide whether you thought this or that char was right or wrong, whether possibility trumped right. It gave you a crisp, clean set up an then gave it just enough twist to make it fantastic.
The world needs more books like that. Thanks for the great reads.
I first heard of him several years ago when he was on the Today Show one morning. There sat this polite, intelligent, well spoken man discussing a book he'd written about someone trying to bring dinosaurs to life & how they'd just began work towards making it a movie. I thought it was an intriguing possibility, ressurecting an extinct species & I set out to find the book. Like a lot of people do when trying out an author for the first time, I grabbed it not necessarily expecting loads. Sure, the premise sounded cool, but that didn't mean his style would be to my liking. Boy, was I wrong!
Since then, I've owned at least seven of his books, read one or two others & seen the bulk of his movies. He is, to my mind, a giant in fiction. And, the thing I loved about the books of his that I read was their tangibility. I'm a big sci fi fan, but this wasn't space ships or crazy aliens or ray guns, this was possible & that was what made them so thrilling...and sometime, so frightening. His stories were modern day science, things going on in labs today & just taken a step & a half beyond. They were plausible. Disturbingly so in some cases. They were filled with sharp characters & exciting action sequences & provided that perfect blend of science that wasn't someone talking clean over your head, nor someone talking down to you. It provided a life like premise to each scenario that offered you, the reader, a chance to decide whether you thought this or that char was right or wrong, whether possibility trumped right. It gave you a crisp, clean set up an then gave it just enough twist to make it fantastic.
The world needs more books like that. Thanks for the great reads.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
And at the end of the day
Ok, it was sprint-a-thon day. Word sprints are when you & a group of friends pick a set time frame, write like mad, then break briefly & compare counts, talk about twists, problems & anything else about your story & then, you go again. My group tends to do 35/10 sprints. Today, I did eight. I'd never done word sprints before this year, but wow, from now on, I'm gonna! Nearly all my writing has been in sprints this year & today I started around 6k & am finishing the day at 11,798. Cha-ching! I'm gonna try to hit 20k by week's end. Wish me luck.
Along the way, I split the chars up into separate scenes, one pairing is totally antagonistic with each other, one's very friendly & the other has fallen prey to my first real pitfall...literally. Poor Coyote crashed through the ground & is current stranded, lol. Plus, for Gypsy, at some point the diner which is my main setting, is getting robbed. And what's more, it's getting robbed by a guy with an alligator tattoo, lol. Orginially she suggested
having somebody just up & heave an alligator through the window, lol. I gave it some thought, but I just couldn't figure out were somebody would get a gator in the middle of a city, much less how they'd get the thing around to heave it through a window, lol. But then again....maybe when the time comes, I'll get inspired.
Hope your novels are going well.
Along the way, I split the chars up into separate scenes, one pairing is totally antagonistic with each other, one's very friendly & the other has fallen prey to my first real pitfall...literally. Poor Coyote crashed through the ground & is current stranded, lol. Plus, for Gypsy, at some point the diner which is my main setting, is getting robbed. And what's more, it's getting robbed by a guy with an alligator tattoo, lol. Orginially she suggested
having somebody just up & heave an alligator through the window, lol. I gave it some thought, but I just couldn't figure out were somebody would get a gator in the middle of a city, much less how they'd get the thing around to heave it through a window, lol. But then again....maybe when the time comes, I'll get inspired.
Hope your novels are going well.
Power Writing
Ugh....LOL. I just finished the 5th of FIVE sprints today. Anybody that says writing isn't physically taxing obviously hasn't done it for long enough, lol. Still, I started today @ 6k & change & now, my word count is...*drum roll* 9903! There's another 5 sprint session tonight. Maybe I can get to 15k tonight?
Yeah...I probably can make it. Lol, I am so going for 20k before week's end!
Oh, in other news, A new char wandered into my story, lol. I think it's Coyote! Lol, he should keep things nice & interesting. Happy noveling!
Yeah...I probably can make it. Lol, I am so going for 20k before week's end!
Oh, in other news, A new char wandered into my story, lol. I think it's Coyote! Lol, he should keep things nice & interesting. Happy noveling!
An interlude for talking pep & tips
I know, I was just here, lol. But, in another window, I'm talking to one of my NaNo buddies & she's struggling, so I figured I would impart on you, dear reader, what I'm telling her.
Ok, and I cannot stress this enough, DO NOT REREAD. It's bad. It creates doubt. No book you ever read & loved came out of first draft looking like it does on the shelf in the store. Some days will whiz by, others are plodding, you just have to keep putting one word in front of the other. Set the font to match the background or type with the monitor off. Just get things set up, click it off & go. Then, next session, read back, and I'm serious here, no more than 2 sentences. Get things set up, click off the monitor & go. Just write, don't worry about what's there, just write. Understand that this is just a first draft & can be changed later & just write.
Creating anything can be beautiful & exhilarating, but just as often it's slow, arduous & plagues with nagging self doubt. DON'T GIVE UP! I've done this four time before & haven't made it to 50k....yet. I haven't hit it, and still I come back every year & I try. This year I am determined to do it. I don't care if I end up collapsing on my keyboard & typing the last 10,000 words with my nose! I'm hitting that 50. I'm hitting it & you're coming with me!
There are millions of people that never make anything in their life, never bother, don't so much as read a book let alone write one. The attempt is a leap of faith & an act of commitment. Enjoy it! Forget the inner editor or what needs tending to or the rest of the world, for just a little while! This is the very first time you'll ever be able to meet these extraordinary people & explore this whole new world with fresh eyes, the world YOU create. You are the only person on Earth that can tell this story the way you will, with your voice, your ideas. So tell it! Embrace the chaos, for it's a great ride!
Ok, and I cannot stress this enough, DO NOT REREAD. It's bad. It creates doubt. No book you ever read & loved came out of first draft looking like it does on the shelf in the store. Some days will whiz by, others are plodding, you just have to keep putting one word in front of the other. Set the font to match the background or type with the monitor off. Just get things set up, click it off & go. Then, next session, read back, and I'm serious here, no more than 2 sentences. Get things set up, click off the monitor & go. Just write, don't worry about what's there, just write. Understand that this is just a first draft & can be changed later & just write.
Creating anything can be beautiful & exhilarating, but just as often it's slow, arduous & plagues with nagging self doubt. DON'T GIVE UP! I've done this four time before & haven't made it to 50k....yet. I haven't hit it, and still I come back every year & I try. This year I am determined to do it. I don't care if I end up collapsing on my keyboard & typing the last 10,000 words with my nose! I'm hitting that 50. I'm hitting it & you're coming with me!
There are millions of people that never make anything in their life, never bother, don't so much as read a book let alone write one. The attempt is a leap of faith & an act of commitment. Enjoy it! Forget the inner editor or what needs tending to or the rest of the world, for just a little while! This is the very first time you'll ever be able to meet these extraordinary people & explore this whole new world with fresh eyes, the world YOU create. You are the only person on Earth that can tell this story the way you will, with your voice, your ideas. So tell it! Embrace the chaos, for it's a great ride!
WOOT!
I did three sprints this morning & wrote more than 2k new words! HUZZAH! Lol. Also, I'm so excited about this, my chars are actually starting to talk in their own voices! Yes, the story is still choppy, meandering & weird, but...new words!! WOOT!
So, I'm thinking of setting myself a pretty big challenge. I think I might set a target word count of 20k by the end of the week. Is that a lot? Yeah. Am I sure I can manage it? Lol, not even a little bit! Does the idea of having a 20k first week seem awesome & Herculean? Absolutely!!
Oh, and Dana? Radioactive yard junk?? I LOVE it! Lol, that could be a novel in & of itself, thanks!
So, I'm thinking of setting myself a pretty big challenge. I think I might set a target word count of 20k by the end of the week. Is that a lot? Yeah. Am I sure I can manage it? Lol, not even a little bit! Does the idea of having a 20k first week seem awesome & Herculean? Absolutely!!
Oh, and Dana? Radioactive yard junk?? I LOVE it! Lol, that could be a novel in & of itself, thanks!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Retribution
I have really, really annoying neighbors. Rude, loud, sauced, sloppy, antagonistic pack of vulgarians. Over the last couple years, the cops have been called by various people around the neighborhood about...oh, maybe 8-10 times. I know at least two people called the Health Dept. on them & the Fire Dept. has been here 3 times. No...no, four times. I, by no means, live in the Biltmore estate or anything, but their yard looks like someone took the bastard child of a flea market & city dump, took said child to the most rinky-dink carnival it could find, loaded the child up on elephant ears & onion rings, put them on the Scrambler a good half a dozen times & then took them to this yard t throw up. It's not pretty.
they have, on more occasions than I care to count, held curse filled screaming matches on the front lawn in the middle of the night. They sit & karaoke, badly even by karaoke standards, off their front porch. They play the stereo ALL HOURS of the day & night to a volume that runs through my entire house. They've set their own porch on fire at least twice(because, not only should you not drink & drive, you should not drink & grill either.)
They are seemingly not at all equipped with even the most basic grasp of decorum, the rights of others, or indeed the kindergarten concept of 'the inside voice'. They are, in short, a menace.
You may ask why I bring this up. It's because, I decided today, as I had headphones on & could still hear them banging things & yelling all afternoon, that they are going in the book. I'm not sure how & I'm not sure where, but they' going in the book & I shall have some truly dreadful fate befall them. Any suggestions for a suitably terrible end would be welcomed.
I didn't hit my count goal for the day, but I did add about 500 words, which is better than none at all, I suppose.
Oh, and the word for tomorrow is 'mutation'.
they have, on more occasions than I care to count, held curse filled screaming matches on the front lawn in the middle of the night. They sit & karaoke, badly even by karaoke standards, off their front porch. They play the stereo ALL HOURS of the day & night to a volume that runs through my entire house. They've set their own porch on fire at least twice(because, not only should you not drink & drive, you should not drink & grill either.)
They are seemingly not at all equipped with even the most basic grasp of decorum, the rights of others, or indeed the kindergarten concept of 'the inside voice'. They are, in short, a menace.
You may ask why I bring this up. It's because, I decided today, as I had headphones on & could still hear them banging things & yelling all afternoon, that they are going in the book. I'm not sure how & I'm not sure where, but they' going in the book & I shall have some truly dreadful fate befall them. Any suggestions for a suitably terrible end would be welcomed.
I didn't hit my count goal for the day, but I did add about 500 words, which is better than none at all, I suppose.
Oh, and the word for tomorrow is 'mutation'.
A nickel's worth of free advie
Gather 'round children, Auntie Bristow has a very important lesson to impart. Hunting Blogger for NaNo participants, hitting the NaNo site repeatedly or IMing NaNo friends will -NOT- count towards your total word count. *rolls eyes*
Now then, if you'll excuse me, I need to go hide the phone cord till I hit my target count.
Now then, if you'll excuse me, I need to go hide the phone cord till I hit my target count.
Wow, will this thing need editing!
Ok, so after a fairy promising first weekend 'm just barely managed to creep past 6k. The 'official' target today (going by the 50k/30 - 1667wpd) says I should hit 6668 today. I'm hoping to hit at least 8 before I conk out for the night. Wish me luck.
So, I've begun to notice a trend...this book is SO disjointed! I'm getting the (more or less) globby impressions of what I want done, but when I think on them all later, there's a lot of 'I should have put X before Y' kind of thinking. Once I'm finished,I'll have to read it all through & map things out on little cards or something, lol. There's supposed to be suspense to it & I'm just stepping all over it. Still, I'm not going back and fixing it, no matter how much of a trainwrecked mess it's coming out. One word in front of the other, just gotta remember that. Rewrites can wait. Rewrites kill your story before it has a chance to suck in fresh oxygen. I just need to keep going, no matter what comes spewing across the page. There's nothing so horrible it can' be edited later, but first, you need to have a finished book to edit.
And, with that in mind, I'm off to write. There are two 5 hour write ins tomorrow. I dunno that I'll be able to do both(anyone that says writing isn't physically taxing hasn't written enough!)m but I'll go through at least one. I'll post again once I have the night's final count.
So, I've begun to notice a trend...this book is SO disjointed! I'm getting the (more or less) globby impressions of what I want done, but when I think on them all later, there's a lot of 'I should have put X before Y' kind of thinking. Once I'm finished,I'll have to read it all through & map things out on little cards or something, lol. There's supposed to be suspense to it & I'm just stepping all over it. Still, I'm not going back and fixing it, no matter how much of a trainwrecked mess it's coming out. One word in front of the other, just gotta remember that. Rewrites can wait. Rewrites kill your story before it has a chance to suck in fresh oxygen. I just need to keep going, no matter what comes spewing across the page. There's nothing so horrible it can' be edited later, but first, you need to have a finished book to edit.
And, with that in mind, I'm off to write. There are two 5 hour write ins tomorrow. I dunno that I'll be able to do both(anyone that says writing isn't physically taxing hasn't written enough!)m but I'll go through at least one. I'll post again once I have the night's final count.
Today's word
As she popped up and asked for her word just as I was finishing watching Iron Man, for about the 25th time lol, today's word is 'hero'.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Ugh....
Slow day today. I didn't start writing 'til late in the evening cuz I was pretty burned out from doing sprints in chat yesterday. They're a great way to get your count up; write like made for X amount of time, take a short break, repeat. We were doing 35-10 yesterday. Good for the word count, but tough on everything else. I did three sprints yesterday, I think & then a couple nearly hour ones the day before. My back was all knotted up, my brain was fried, my eyes were all dry....but i crossed 5k in the first 2 days, so that's ok. LOL.
Got some shiny new presents for the muses today - a new coffee maker & some dark chocolate cookies! Here's hoping that'll coax a few more words out. I was hoping to hit 7k today, but I'm not sure I'll make it. Atm, I'm @ 5819. I[m gonna get up & wander around for a few, see if I can't shake a few hundred more words out, otherwise I'll hit it first thing when I get up. Sorry the counter's not updated, the site's down for a bit while Russ puts in a new server.
Got some shiny new presents for the muses today - a new coffee maker & some dark chocolate cookies! Here's hoping that'll coax a few more words out. I was hoping to hit 7k today, but I'm not sure I'll make it. Atm, I'm @ 5819. I[m gonna get up & wander around for a few, see if I can't shake a few hundred more words out, otherwise I'll hit it first thing when I get up. Sorry the counter's not updated, the site's down for a bit while Russ puts in a new server.
Today's Word
And today's word is: 'Marcasite'. I know, it's getting to be a weird collection, isn't it? Anyway, enjoy. I'll post more after my next word count.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
And on the second day...
Ok, this'll be quick, cuz my brain's gone all melty, lol. I named all my chars!! WOOHOO! Plus, I used one of the dares I picked up & I'm finishing the day @ over 5k! Ok, so I know a woman that's past 15k already (yeah, I know!) but still, I'm pretty excited.
So, good night everybody. And keep putting one word after another ;)
So, good night everybody. And keep putting one word after another ;)
Welcome to Week One
So the first day of my '08 novel went, I think, fairly well. I finished out the day at 3032 words, nearly twice my daily minimum. Plus, I figured out a few things that might be helpful, like oh, say...the point of the story, lol. I don't wanna get too ahead of myself, but I think I figured out why these people are all coming together & what their goal will be before the end. I'm very excited! The short, short explanation is, they're going to notice a trend in their particular community & will have to decide whether to fall to it themselves or try to change things to stop it where it is. The one will make them all individually reassess their place in the world & what they think on how life is going, while the other will risk toppling their current lives, exposing their true nature & possibly failing anyway. It should be fun.
I'd like to end today above 5k somewhere. But, before I start, I have GOT to go hunting for names, lol. I'm into my second chapter & no one's been properly names yet. And, I can't go through the whole book calling people by pronouns & descriptions. True, there's only one 'the Asian girl' or 'the red haired woman' or 'the pompous guy', but that doesn't mean I want to refer to them as that 3,700 more times. I know who they are; that one's Zeus, this one's Clotho, etc, etc, I just can't go around calling them that in their modern, everyday life all the time. I thought about keeping them with names from their original regions, but that won't always work either. Hathor, for instance, is an Egyptian goddess. Most 'popular' Egyptian names are, in fact, other goddesses. Pass, ty. It wouldn't be too hard to come up with a Greek name for Zeus, but his char's on tv & something like....'Stavros Anatopolis' isn't a very 'tv friendly' name. I don't wanna just have them be 'John' & 'Mary' (which are perfectly fine names, just not ones I want an entire coterie of gods to be called) or what have you, so I have some digging to do today, so, wish my luck as I go name hunting.
Oh, the link to my anniversary pep talk anthology thing came today, so I've been reading that. It was one of the thank you gifts from my OLL donation & it was sooo worth the money. Lol, I really dig Chris(the NaNo founder), he's a riot & at the same time, really encouraging.
Ok, I'm off to find things to call people....Ya think 'Hey you!' #1-5 would be too much??
Oh, and to whom it may concern, today's word is 'accentuate'.
I'd like to end today above 5k somewhere. But, before I start, I have GOT to go hunting for names, lol. I'm into my second chapter & no one's been properly names yet. And, I can't go through the whole book calling people by pronouns & descriptions. True, there's only one 'the Asian girl' or 'the red haired woman' or 'the pompous guy', but that doesn't mean I want to refer to them as that 3,700 more times. I know who they are; that one's Zeus, this one's Clotho, etc, etc, I just can't go around calling them that in their modern, everyday life all the time. I thought about keeping them with names from their original regions, but that won't always work either. Hathor, for instance, is an Egyptian goddess. Most 'popular' Egyptian names are, in fact, other goddesses. Pass, ty. It wouldn't be too hard to come up with a Greek name for Zeus, but his char's on tv & something like....'Stavros Anatopolis' isn't a very 'tv friendly' name. I don't wanna just have them be 'John' & 'Mary' (which are perfectly fine names, just not ones I want an entire coterie of gods to be called) or what have you, so I have some digging to do today, so, wish my luck as I go name hunting.
Oh, the link to my anniversary pep talk anthology thing came today, so I've been reading that. It was one of the thank you gifts from my OLL donation & it was sooo worth the money. Lol, I really dig Chris(the NaNo founder), he's a riot & at the same time, really encouraging.
Ok, I'm off to find things to call people....Ya think 'Hey you!' #1-5 would be too much??
Oh, and to whom it may concern, today's word is 'accentuate'.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Word Count
Follow the Madness
Posts
All Comments