Tag: NaNoWriMo

Do you ever feel like you’re teetering on the edge of a precipice?

I am teetering on the edge of a precipice.

Of course, literally, that might mean I’m standing at the top of a craggy cliff looking down at a bed of rocks.

One that would hurt a lot if I landed there.

But there are many ideas of what that precipice might be, metaphorically.

It might mean, in an argument, you’re about to say something you’ll regret or can’t take back.

It might mean you are one action away from turning your parent. or someone else, into a green-eyed monster, and do something you thought you’d never do.

Pushing them to the precipice.

It might mean you are one thought or idea away from solving a problem.

Like the title of your next book.

Or the formula to create a warp drive.

Or perhaps a simpler problem like where the money is coming from to pay next weeks bills.

My precipice?

The next plotline for my current NaNoWriMo project.

And, no, I’m not usually one of these writers who plan the whole novel before writing it.

But ideas like this, they just happen.

I usually write my stories in the same manner it would be for the reader, not knowing what will happen next, but it’s hard not to.

It’s cold and wet at the top of the cliff …

Damn!  Just had an idea.  Got to go.

NANOWRIMO Day Seven

Part two is proceeding.

What can be a bother is that when you’re writing, even to a plan, that ideas come out of left field, and can leave you scratching your head.

So, I’ll be honest, I’m not used to writing to a plan, more that i write by the seat of my pants. But I’m determined to stick to the plan and see how it goes.

On the ‘we’ll look at it later’ pad i write down the latest curve ball, then push it to the side of the desk again. It might get a look in during the first rewrite.

I’m still looking at part three, and while it’s the part where we bring the two together for the first time, that might happen sooner. I was scribbling down a loose outline that was leaning towards a meeting briefly after she was released.

It’s a difficult point and I think I will let the writing go where the storyline leads.

More on this tomorrow

NANOWRIMO Day Six

The first section or part is done. I think.

I had intended it to be longer, but as it pans out what follows belongs to the second part, and I have begun working on this.

There are 8 chapters so far in Part One.

This may change depending on what happens in the second part.

Of course, there are moments while I’m working on this part, and checking the plan, I can see a fork in the road coming up. It feels quirky, but then I just dropped a huge plot twist and will play this out and see what happens.

At the same time, after completing my day’s quota, I have to resist the urge to write more, but that’s just a fear in the back of my mind that I might run out of words and be staring at a blank page tomorrow.

So, looking at the plan, the third section looks like it might need a rework, and I’m playing around with several angles that might be pursued.

I think it’s time to stop overthinking it.

NANOWRIMO Day Five

Remember a few days ago I was looking at a separate first part, and that will be the case. It was not what I originally planned, but it is a work in progress.

Now, having worked on the next part, this is now developing into a section of its own too, and will serve as an introduction to the second main character. I had planned it differently, but this is better.

This section is starting to all but write itself too, which is a good sign, because I’m at over 2,000 words for the day, and the story isn’t done yet.

But, I’m taking a step back, just in case I jinx myself.

Later…

Sitting staring at the ceiling and looking ahead, a few notes for what’s coming vs what I planned, and the work so far will form part 2.

Part three is going to be the main story, where the two main characters come together, more through the circumstances of their first meeting that something that was consciously planned

NANOWRIMO Day Four

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I’m still working on the start and it’s writing itself, so the time I spent on preparation is paying off.

I have a spare hour or two after writing the chapter and start thinking about the start of the next section.   I had some hastily scribbled notes on how I think I wanted it to run, but it’s a bit wordy and needs to follow the start.

I’m going to throw the second main character in the deep end, and break his story slowly, in a series of memories.  Nothing better than to be dodging bullets in the first sentence.  Maybe.  I’m having second thoughts about the bullets.

Maybe not, but there will be something or someone to contend with.

But, back to the start.  It’s not going to be the usual interaction between the two characters, and I’m still a little unsure if the fate of either will be as I originally planned.  There’s a chance something will change, but, as we all know, that might make something else planned for later, change.

Let me sleep on it, and see what I think in the morning.

NANOWRIMO Day Three

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Overnight I had a brainstorm.  You know how it is when you start writing, you get to the end of a chapter, and thoughts turn to the next chapter, or, quite possibly the overall structure of the book.

This part I’m working on now seems to lend itself to a separate section, and I’m tentatively calling this Part One, and it will deal with a specific set of events that will lead into the start of the main story, which, at the moment will seem like we’re in a different world.

But that’s the inevitable situation when you are charting the two major characters, one who comes from the very sort of background the other aspires to get into.  When we pick up his character, it’s in a place he never expected to be and has to try and move on from there.

However, I’m not even ready to write that part of the story, and I have to get my mind back in the current game and come back to that later.

The trouble is my mind is not going to stop fretting about it, and I hope it doesn’t affect what I’m trying to write now.

Ok, Chapter five …

Sport, sport and more sport

I’m supposed to be writing my quota of words for NaNoWriMo, but there’s a problem.

After a late night, the Maple Leafs are playing the Philadelphia Flyers at 9 am our time, Brisbane, so I’ve got to get up and put it on.

And, yes, the usual problem crops up, the internet is running slowly and connecting to the live feed is traumatic. It starts working, just in time for the national anthems, and once again we are able to hear that of our adopted country, Canada.

Then we get to see the first few minutes before the internet dies. What can you expect when the government takes on a huge infrastructure project. Delays, cost overruns, and compromises as it looks to rein in costs. Result, an internet that’s utter crap.

We get to see parts of the first period, none of the second. I call my daughter who’s as invested in ice hockey as we are, and tells us she’s using a different host. We change, and it all comes good, so much so we get to see the last period, the overtime, and then an exemplary bout of goal keeping from Frederick Anderson, to win us the game in the shootout.

By that time it’s after noon.

Time for writing? No. I have to make some meatball pasta with spaghetti for tonight.

That consumes the next couple of hours.

Now the cricket is on, Australia playing Pakistan in a T20, and as we don’t usually have time to watch it, today we do.

Maybe later.

NANOWRIMO Day Two

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Finally, the ship got clear of the wharf, avoided a collision with a barge the strayed a little too close, and had me as captain of the Titanic, worried about people drawing parallels with the barge becoming an iceberg.

But…

I got the first two chapters done, more or less as I wanted them, but, as you would expect, once you start writing, there are minor shifts in the way it plays out.

It’s fine, however, and I’m not going change it.

The story is running according to the script, and it worries me.  You know how it goes, everything’s great until the engines break down.

Perhaps I should be more optimistic rather than pessimistic.

But, sadly, not so much written today as I’d hoped.

Smoother seas tomorrow one hopes!

NANOWRIMO Day One

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I took a deep breath and could feel the tug pulling hard on the tow line, as the ship eased away from the dock.

In other words, we’re underway!

It’s going to run like this, read the outline that refers to the section or chapter I’m about to write, let it mull in my mind and then, after several hours, sit down and write.

The start is always the hardest because you have to keep in mind that it will serve as an introduction, with some explanation, about the character, and a situation, and still hold interest.  It’s a fine balancing act and I’m not sure if I have got it exactly right.

As for the next chapter, the story is improving, and perhaps, if I’m not happy later on, I will go back and fix it, if, of course,  it needs fixing.

Just the same, we have a long way to go.