Category: NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo – Day 5 – Adding to the word count

Which by the way, is the most important thing to be doing.

Today, day 5, the count is 1,862 words, making a total of 8,943 words so far.

What I have to be careful about is not to let the pressure get to me, I mean, I have to write about 1,700 words a day to maintain target.

If I miss a day, or the creative juices stop flowing…

OK, not something we need to think about.

Just a minor issue, though, I left a section out, to be written, because I was not sure what I wanted to write.  Perhaps what is coming may give some insight.

In the meantime, yet another yellow post-it note.

I’m thinking of getting a new color, perhaps a more soothing color like pale green.

NaNoWriMo – Day 4 – People day

Those pesky characters seem to be always getting in the way.

And no matter how much you think you have that character down, they always find a new way to surprise you.

Of course, these people are mostly an amalgam of characteristics that you’ve observed over a long period of time.

I used to sit at the railway station at busy times to observe people and filled a dozen notebooks with both characteristics and eccentricities.

A little backpedaling is required.  I know there isn’t time for revisions, but there are ‘glaring’ mistakes, even for a first draft which is not meant to be perfect.

As they say, moving on…

NaNoWriMo – Day 3 – Finally…

So, finally, the plan is working.

The story is progressing and I can see, for the moment, that the story is heading in the right direction.

Of course, in saying that, it might just jinx the project.

There was a small moment of hesitation though, one of those, perhaps this might be a better way moment that caused a brief stoppage while I considered the consequences.

Then I just added another sticky note to the four hundred others lining the monitor and nearby shelves and went back to work.

Got to get those 1,667 words written.

 

Nanowrimo – Day 2, at last, a chance to get words on paper

Planning is fine but it’s not much good if you are up against a deadline, with only the barest of outlines to work with

I know where this story is going to end up, that isn’t going to change, but some elements of it might.  That’s the ramifications of yesterdays tangent.

I guess writing a story is always a fluid situation, but it’s a first for me.

I’m generally a fly by the seat of my pants writer so let’s see where this takes me.

For now, it’s back to the pen and paper.

I haven’t written my quota of words for today yet.

NaNoWriMo – A good start?

I thought I had this under control.

After all, for the first time, I had a title, a plan, a synopsis, and was ready to go.  I’ve never tried to write a novel this way before.

Of course, it NANOWRIMO 2019. and yo write 50,000 words in a month you need a plan.  Ad-hoc writing just doesn’t get it done.

Even though for the previous two years, it has.

So, I start writing.

Then, damn it, I get another idea, and off I go on that tangent.

The plan’s now looking like it needs an update.

Didn’t plan for that, did I?

Oh, well, day 1 down, 29 more to go, perhaps tomorrow will be better.

I’m in training for NaNoWriMo

It’s frightening to think that I have to write 50,000 words in 30 days.

Yet I have done it before, last November in fact.  But I believed then I couldn’t do it but persevered and I surprised myself and finished up with a novel titled ‘The Enemy Within’.

Rather apt I thought at the time, writers are always battling those inner demons!

But this year, I’m in for the challenge once again.

Usually, I sit down and start writing, not sure where it’s going to take me.  Some say a book needs to be meticulously planned,

Characters planned down to their foibles,

Plot lines to drive the characters, adding twists and turns until the surprise ending that no one saw coming.

Even me.

All in 30 days?

Another issue I have is that when I start writing, it is not necessarily the ‘start’.

Some of my stories in the rewrite, or even when I’m halfway through, suddenly cry out for a new start, something relative to the plot earlier, or a missed detail will come to you, usually in the most unlikely place, and this for me is the shower.

This can cause a cascade of rewrites of earlier chapters.

Nothing a little planning might have resolved, but there will not be time.

Once again, it’s going to be a challenge.

At least I have a title, ‘The Document’.

I have the basis for the central character, a man who’s been existing, not living.  I have a clear idea of where it will end, but that could change as the story progresses.

I basically know where and when it will start.  I’ve always like the start to the James Bond films, that short period when the action of pulsating just before the credits, a small slice of what’s to come, but not today.  This is going to be a gentle nudge.

What’s in between?

That will be topics for November.  What I’ve written and where it’s going, if I have time.

Stay tuned.

 

#NaNoWriMo2017 Update – Day 10, 11 & 12

At last, the story is coming together.

The first seven chapters, with the necessary revisions and additions to provide stepping stones for later events, have been amended.

The next chapter has been slightly revised.

Chapter 9 is still under construction and can be written later.  The information on the characters in this chapter will be drawn upon for later events, and it doesn’t have to happen straight away.

Chapter 10 is now done and has tied up several loose ends.

I have now been able to sit down and do the forward plan for at least three more chapters, and I know what will happen next.

Stay tuned, anything can happen between now and the next report!

#NaNoWriMo2017 – Day 9

So, we won’t talk about day 8.

Day 8 never happened.  I want to believe that I went to bed at the usual time, and slept for 24 hours.

Except I didn’t.

What happened?  A now plot twist came out of the new writing, and you guessed it, I had to go back and write some new lines to accommodate it.

Who said writing is fun?

Then, of course, a new idea pops into my head while having the first cup of coffee for the day, and …

Well, you know the rest.

Roll on day 10!

#Nanowrimo Update – Day 6 & 7

Finally, I’ve ironed out the wrinkles in the start, and go to move on.

I have a plot line that I’m working on and will run for about three chapters.

That means the next plot line will develop from this writing.

Sorry, only a short report, writing to get on with …

#Nanowrimo Update – Day 5

So you think everything is running smoothly.

Think again!

So, here’s the thing …

I changed the start.  It was bothering me.  Bothering me so much I couldn’t sleep.

Parts of the first chapters were alluding to events which didn’t seem to add up, so I wrote the whole piece so I could draw upon it later on.

Yes, I like the idea of full-on action to start, bullets flying, people dying, and heart racing tension.  I call it the ‘James Bond’ start, like what happens at the start of a James Bond film.

And, yes, you guessed it, I now have to make changes down the line in the first four chapters, now delaying the completion of chapter five for day six.

OK, stop whining and get writing!