Monthly Archives: November 2010

Sleep is Important

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Lack of sleep makes for an interesting day writing wise.  I’d say I got maybe an hour of sleep.  While I did get a lot of writing done, as I might as well be productive if I’m just going to sit and wait to be tired, when it comes to writing later in the day, I write even stranger things than normal.  I’m honestly surprised I didn’t fall asleep at the Living Room this morning.  Here’s a few tidbits from sleep-deprived writing:

  • “I am never reading barry potter.”  (who’s barry potter?)
  • “I’m hpping you don’t forget the.”  (forget what?  that you never ended the sentence?)
  • “Do you think he was in on it?” kiora saidked.  (don’t say or ask when you can saidked)
  • ancoient rines (what’s ancoient rines?  is it like ancient runes?)

Note to self: never write when I’ve only gotten an hour’s sleep.

Secret Service Novel: 33,522; I’m rather amazed I stayed awake long enough to write anything for this one.  Things have a taken an interesting, unexpected (and possibly illegal if it keeps up) turn.

Harry Potter Fanfic: 32,373; My attempt to write this one today hasn’t gone well, mostly because I felt like I was going to fall asleep.  Hopefully my nap will give me enough energy to finish today’s quota. 

2006 sequel: 35,674; at least something productive came out of my inability to sleeep.  I also realized that I’ve given up on trying to figure out a plot for the second half, and instead am going to complain about everything.  Chloe’s been complaining most of the last 6,000 words or so, and since complaining is good for my word count, I might as well run with it.  It is fictionalized complaining, as it’s Chloe who’s complaining about everything.  I’ll see where it goes.

Grand total: 101,569; I’m relieved that I’ve passed the 100k mark!  150k is firmly within reach now!

Writing Elsewhere Can Be A Big Help

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Today was certainly different in terms of writing.  After writing a whopping 7689 words, today’s writing was a tad difficult, because I didn’t want to get anything done.  I was also way too distracted at home, so I decided to go to Starbucks in a Barnes and Noble.  Given that there were no power outlets, and given that my battery sucks (and needs to be replaced I might add), I knew I had to work fast.  I didn’t need to write too much today, since I wrote around an extra 1800 words yesterday.  I’ll admit to being distracted by the shiny, new books, but I did manage to find a copy of a book I’ve been looking for and flipped through.  I didn’t expect there to be so many kids, but then again, the mall is down the street from a couple high schools, and it’s friday, so it shouldn’t be that surprising.  I was pretty productive regardless, so the trip was well worth it.

Secret Service Novel: 30,826; I’m still around 847 words short of my goal, but after my trip to B & N, I feel oddly inspired and productive.

Harry Potter fanfic: 31,749; the roughly 667 words I managed to write at home were a struggle, but once I got to B & N, my struggles were gone.  It’s amazing what focus can do.

2006 Sequel: 32,359; I’m thankful I’m all caught up; however, I’m still not sure what direction I should go, so the 1200 words I wrote today were a struggle.

Grand total: 94394; there’s not much to add to what I’ve already said.  there’s no doubt I’ll get to the 150,000 I aspire to write, even though I’m struggling a little right now.

Things Are Moving Along!

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Things are moving along in NaNoland. 

  • Hermione’s researching up a storm, and the professor’s are starting to figure out something’s going on because it’s weird, even for Hermione. 
  • Harry’s having dreams that may or may not be predicting the future. 
  • Chloe came close to committing suicide again, and blames her mother for everything that’s gone wrong in her life. 
  • Dustin wants to get married someday, but his job takes up too much of his time.  There’s potential for him to give it all up but it would depend on the girl, and if she’s the “right girl.” 
  • Kiora’s aunt Audrey is the one behind the threats, and probably the kidnappings too. 
  • Blake has dropped off the face of the earth, and I have no idea where he is or what he’s doing. 

Secret Service Novel: 28,444; Kiora and Dustin are now in Texas.  This changes their relationship forever.  I remembered the title: Turning Point seems appropriate since getting secret service protection changes Kiora’s life forever.

Harry Potter fanfic: 30,285; things are really starting to move along.  Hermione’s considering a teaching career post-Hogwarts, so she’s working with McGonagall, Flitwick and Bill Weasley to help her decide if she wants to teach and in what subject.

2006 Sequel: 29,023; I wrote 2,000 words today for it, which makes me happy, and really helped close the gap that I had.  Being a thousand words behind is very manageable. 

Grand total: 87,752; I’m happy with this number.  It might not be where I want it to be, but I can live with it.  I like the pattern of Harry Potter/2006 sequel/secret service novel.  I’m doing well with the 1st and last novel, so I figure it’s a good day if I can start off with something that’ll boost my confidence, followed by something I’m struggling with, followed by something I’m doing well with to remind me that something is doing well.

I Tried To Take A Break…

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I’m a big advocate of writing every day during NaNo, because catching up the last week can be stressful, especially with more than one novel.  Given the fact that I’ve always had to play catch up the last week, I’d know.  It’s weird knowing that I probably won’t spend thanksgiving weekend catching up.   

Today, or at least this morning anyway, I wasn’t feeling my whole writing…magic…mojo…whatever.  I’m feeling confident in my ability to catch up on my secret service novel and the harry potter fanfic if I actually take a day off from writing this month.  However, I’m at a huge crossroads with my 2006 sequel.  Do I want to do the whole chloe’s-having-trouble-writing-and-her-life-is-an-absolute-mess thing or do I want to focus more on her family troubles and trying to find her dad?  I seriously have no idea what direction to go in.  So I just leave it alone for a day or two and I hope I can catch up.  Or I can just have chloe rant about something, she’s better at it then I give her credit for.

Secret Service Novel: 27,821; this novel is easily my favorite of  the 3.  Then again, it’s the one that I’ve been planning the longest, so it’s no wonder that I’ve become rather attached to it. 

Harry Potter Fanfic: 28,373; I’m glad I got the Week 2 struggles over with during week 1.  This one is probably my second favorite.  Harry Potter does have a special place in my heart, so it’s definitely a sentimental favorite.

2006 Sequel: 27,018; I’m hoping that I can figure out where to go with this one.  A day of writing this one, or at least a day where I do little writing for this one may help out. 

Grand total: 83,212; that’s a lot of words!  I’m slowly getting there.  I can do this.

And The Typos Keep Flooding In

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It really is amazing the misspellings that occur in a month.  I thought I’d share some of the more notable things that I’ve managed to type in the last couple weeks from my harry potter fanfic.  As usual, any comments in parantheses are my thoughts and everything is copyright me:

  • “She ran after fred, screaming arr at him.”  (the image that popped into my head is mrs. weasley dressed up as a pirate, chasing fred with a sword.)
  • “You’re a smart woth” (what’s a woth?)
  • “d.a.a., helping fred and george with he joke ship, and she’s resarcong the giant prehistoric chicken” (1- what’s the D.A.A., and 2- what’s a joke ship?)

there’s a few other ones, but I never marked where they were…so those will wait until I can look through it and see where they were.

Secret Service Novel: 26,592; I had a great title…and promptly forgot it.  I’m slightly off of where I want to be, but I have some interesting ideas to work with.  Today, Kiora took a trip to the future.  She went ahead 3 years, and apparently, somehow, started something (that’s yet to be determined) with dustin when they were in texas escaping her aunt audrey.

Harry Potter Fanfic: 26,860; george has admitted to liking hermione, if only she would admit she has feelings for him. 

2006 sequel: 26,712; chloe found a letter hidden under a rock in her front yard from her dad to her mom, and is now embarking on a scavenger hunt to find him.

Grand total: 80,164; knowing I’m halfway there is such a relief!

Typos!

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Today I thought I’d share some of the funny stuff that I end up writing.  In any given NaNo, there are always grammatical errors and spelling errors.  And in any given NaNo, you leave out words, say things in very bizarre ways, and even type things that you later read and think “WTF?!!” 

I’ve managed to shut out my inner editor (well, for the most part).  A rough draft written in one month is not the time to worry about grammar or spelling.  Not caring about spelling or grammar leads to some pretty interesting typos and stuff.  Last year, I kept spelling ninjas as ninkas.  I’m comtemplating going back through previous NaNo’s and trying to find the funny stuff.

While I haven’t gone back and reread anything, when I do notice stuff, I make a comment in word, so I can find it easily.  that’s very rare for me, but when you plan to write 150,000 words in a month, being able to find this stuff easily is becoming a necessity.  So here’s a few gems from my secret service novel that I’ve managed to catch after writting it.  I’ll post stuff from my other novels later, everything is copyrighted to me.  oh, and my comments are in parantheses. 

  • “It’s not having secret service agents around you all the time is helping things.” 
  •  “She might not be able to kick you clowns out of class, but she most certainly can and will kick me out of class if it means you people being quiet.”  (the image of a relatively petite girl calling a bunch of guys twice her size clowns is hysterical)
  • “hat explains everything,” dustin said” (i had no idea hats could explain stuff)
  • “duiton whispered to kira” (i have no idea who duiton and kira are…maybe dustin and kiora’s doppelgangers?)

Secret Service Novel: 24,035; I’ve just now decided that this novel is the one that I need to write last.  I’ve struggled off and on with the other two, and I figure if I write the one that I’m not having trouble with last, it’ll make me feel better about having something that I have no trouble with.

Harry Potter Fanfic: 23,927; to resurrect the giant prehistoric chicken, there’s a spell that needs to be performed and a potion that needs to be made.  I still haven’t figured out how to get them to the underworld, but I’m sure I can come up with something.  Hermione’s going to ask fred and george to get the ingredients she needs for the potions. 

2006 Sequel: 25,060; I’m halfway there!  chloe’s decided she wants to find her dad, and get some answers from him about what happened between him and her mom.

Grand total:  73,022; just over 2,000 words before I hit the halfway point.  That’ll be in the next few hours (I hope!).  I can do this.

Am I A Planner or a Pantser?

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I had a great idea for today’s post…and then I forgot it!  It must not have been too memorable then, otherwise I would have remembered it, right? 

There are typically two groups of people, the planners and the pantsers.  Planners obviously plan out their novels in varying degrees, while the pantsers are, for the most part, the opposite of planners.  I see it as a continuum, with people being a combination of the two.  It seems, however, that people definitely lean more towards one group than the other. 

I always thought I was a pantser, doing pretty well with just characters and a vague idea.  I coming to the conclusion that while I am most definitely a pantser, character biographies are good, because I have a much better understanding of all my characters.  I’m definitely not the “outlining my novel, and these are the points I need to have” type, because I tried that one year with my quest for pants novel, and failed miserably.  Granted, that’s the type of novel that really shouldn’t be planned, and it would probably work well with a different idea.  I will admit that the level of planning largely depends on what I’m writing.  Harry Potter needs minimal planning, as the world is already there for me to play with.  My secret service novel, on the other hand, definitely needed several pages of notes, and some research about not only the secret service, but I had to look at the cabinet, and a few other things.  I’ll probably talk about research and planning another day.

This month I’m finding that the only novel I haven’t yet struggled with is my secret service novel.  I’ve been moving things along reasonably well, there’s a good amount of conflict, and I have plenty of material to work with.  I did do more research than I’ve ever done, even coming up with an incomplete list of questions and possible conflicts.  I had no outline for it, no plot points, or anything, but I feel like that list I came up with has been a huge help. 

With the other two, I haven’t done anywhere near the planning I’ve done for the other.  No possible conflict/questions lists to work with.  Granted, I’m the not the best at coming up with conflict, and I usually don’t have enough of it, but there isn’t a lot of it this year, and conflict would probably be helpful.  I may have to come up with a conflict list, but we’ll see if I can actually get it done.  I have to say that I at least have a general (read: extremely vague) idea of where I’m taking harry potter and the giant prehistoric chicken- I have the next few chapters outlined.  And by outlined I mean I have a list of things I need to write about.  With the 2006 sequel, I’ve gone back and written chapters that I skipped over, which is introducing some new material to work with, so hopefully that’ll get me unstuck.

Secret Service Novel: 23,411; since I’ve had some trouble with the other two, this is the only one where I have no trouble writing way more than I need to.

Harry Potter Fanfic: 23,474; while I have a plan that’s so vague, it probably can’t be considered a plan, it may be time for harry to start dreaming about the giant prehistoric chicken.

2006 Sequel: 23,343; going back and writing stuff I’ve skipped over really is interesting.  apparently gumbo has decided he is not mike’s dad.  He does have a daughter, and he feels guilty for getting his daughter’s mom pregnant.  It appears that Chloe is his daughter, but they don’t know it yet.

Grand total: 70,288; tomorrow I’ll definitely be hitting the halfway mark, which will be a big exciting thing, and a huge benchmark.

Stupid Rebellious Characters

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During November, characters really do take on a life of their own.  You come up with all of these plans for them, and they decide they want to ignore your plans, and come up with their own.

I wasn’t planning on George and Hermione dating.  They apparently are headed towards a relationship, and I’m sitting here trying to figure out where that came from.  I’m just typing away happily, and all of a sudden george and hermione are on better terms then they’ve ever been in the entire series, chatting away, not admitting they like each other, even though hermione is helping fred and george with their joke shop and with george suggesting that he and fred get hermione a bunch of books about the giant prehistoric chicken.

Or my secret service novel.  Kiora and Dustin were going to get together when she was 18, but out of nowhere, dustin decides part of why he’s hostile towards kiora is because he’s attracted to her.  And once again, I’m sitting here wondering why he can’t wait a couple years until she’s legal. 

The characters in my 2006 sequel have decided that they’re all related to each other.  Avery and Gumbo, who met Chloe while they were all in the same treatment facility, are related to Betsy (who was one of chloe’s best friends) and Mike (who is letting chloe stay with him). 

This, of course, is why I try to avoid planning, because they’re obviously going to do what they want, without regard for what I planned for them.  If they’re not careful, I could just as easily kill one of them off just for the heck of it. 

Secret Service Novel: 23,411; this novel needs a title.  Like now.  It’ll have something to do with secrets, but I don’t have any other ideas.

Harry Potter Fanfiction: 21,627; no title needed for this one, as I already have one.

2006 Sequel: 20,017; I’m seriously considering taking a break from this one today, and getting ahead on the other two.  I do love how this novel has become my rant novel.  Annoy me enough, and you’ll probably end up in this novel.  I do need to rant though…so maybe it can be a flashback or a dream or something?

Grand total: 65,055; I should be halfway there on the 15th!

I Must Not Forget Why I’m Doing This

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I remember when I first heard about NaNo.  It was October 2005, and I thought I wouldn’t have the time to do it.  It turned out, though, that I had plenty of time for NaNo, and I immediately regretted the decision not to participate.  I vowed that I would do it the following year.  And every since 2006, I’ve done NaNo.  I started out doing NaNo as someone who loves to write, and as someone who wanted to finish a story for once.  I’ve started a few stories (mostly in high school) and never finished.  Since starting NaNo, I’ve (mostly) finished everything I’ve started.  While my november drafts are never completely finished (as rough drafts are never are), they are much more finished than anything I’ve ever started.  Since my first NaNo, november has become the one time of the year that I know I can finish what I set out to do. 

It’s also like summer camp in a way.  I’ve never been to summer camp, but it has the feeling of seeing people you haven’t seen all year.  I’ve met some great people through NaNo that I know I’ll talk to for years to come. 

I used to write a lot in high school, and my first couple years in college.  And then, suddenly, I was writing less and less, until the only time I actually write anything is during NaNo.  It’s like my brain knows that writing happens only during November. 

There’s a great sense of achievement and satisfaction on December 1st knowing that I’ve just written a novel.  And even though I know I probably won’t edit it (though I’ve made a couple half-hearted attempts), I still wrote a novel in a month. 

This time around, I’ve been writing everyday, and I’ve been remembering why I started doing NaNo, and how much I love writing.  I have a strong feeling that this year will be the year that I keep writing post-November.

Secret Service: 19,917; none of the secrets have been revealed, but it looks like kiora will be getting a visit from one of her aunts. 

Harry Potter Fanfic: 20,059; things are moving along at a great pace.  I am deviating a bit from Order of the Phoenix, but then again that’s the point of fanfiction, right?

2006 sequel: 19,995; I took a break from moving things foward, and went back to one of my skipped over chapters.  It was a nice break from where things were going, and it definitely provided me with some stuff that’ll be helpful for the rest of the month.

Grand total: 59,971; I’m just under where I want to be, about I’m slowly creeping up on the halfway mark, which means that things will start to get easier.  I should be able to add a few thousand words tonight.

Here’s Some More Fun Facts!

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I thought I would share a select few (and fun!) facts about my characters:

  • chloe has never been on a plane; for that matter, she’s never left Ashton County
  • kiora wants to be a psychologist or a teacher
  • blake always wants to fix things
  • dustin hates apple cider
  • aisling has cancer

I’m really liking this in-depth character biography thing.  And in addition to the things that come up out of nowhere, this novel-writing thing really is fun, no matter how frustrated I get with the writing.

Secret Service: 17,810; this one is going quite well, and I find myself not bored with it at all.  Kiora’s dad has mysteriously vanished, and I have no idea where he is, or why he disappeared.  Things are pretty tense between him and kiora right now; maybe he’ll tell her what’s going on.

Harry Potter Fanfiction: 18,600; nothing else to report on this one.  Hopefully the frustrations that I felt last week means that it’s out of my system. 

2006 Sequel: 18,342; I’m still a little bored with this one, and I’m not quite sure what direction I should take with it.  Maybe it’s the perfect time to go back and write those chapters I skipped over.

Total: 54,752!  I’m starting to go into a word coma, I think, but I’ll come out of it.