Those who follow my Scribbling Saturday blog posts or follow me on Facebook will know that I just finished NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), a challenge to write 50,000 words in one month. I succeeded in writing 39,000 words, which was quite an achievement, and 7,000 up on last year.
The question is whether I am going to take the practice of daily writing and make it a habit in my normal life.
I think of NaNoWriMo as being like a Christian Bible Week or weekend celebration. You suspend some of your normal daily practices and have an intense time of learning and spiritual experiences. The trouble is, when normal life resumes, the great things from the time out get soon forgotten.
How long do the things from the Sunday sermon stay with you once the week starts? Will you put things in place in your life so that you can keep on doing the good things, the inspirational things, the things that change your life?
Showing posts with label NaNoWriMo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NaNoWriMo. Show all posts
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Saturday, 26 November 2011
Scribbling Saturday: NaNo Report
Including today, I have five days of NaNoWriMo left, and seventeen thousand words still to write. I have to make the decision: do I abandon everything and write like crazy to try to reach fifty thousand words, or do I live my life and settle for what I can get?
This year has been a difficult one. My historical novel did not go well - I fear it may be irredeemable drivel - and I am not inspired by my scifi novel. I think my creativity just gave up on the first and won't revive for the second. Oh well, that's life. To be fair, it has also coincided with having the decorator in, with mess and noise making concentration difficult, and I am having driving lessons in an adapted car, which has been nerve wracking.
Memo to self:
1. Clear the decks next year so there is little going on to distract me.
2. Plan the novel in much more detail.
3. Define the main chacters in detail so that you really know who they are and what they feel.
Memo to other NaNoWriMos:
Learn from my mistakes!
This year has been a difficult one. My historical novel did not go well - I fear it may be irredeemable drivel - and I am not inspired by my scifi novel. I think my creativity just gave up on the first and won't revive for the second. Oh well, that's life. To be fair, it has also coincided with having the decorator in, with mess and noise making concentration difficult, and I am having driving lessons in an adapted car, which has been nerve wracking.
Memo to self:
1. Clear the decks next year so there is little going on to distract me.
2. Plan the novel in much more detail.
3. Define the main chacters in detail so that you really know who they are and what they feel.
Memo to other NaNoWriMos:
Learn from my mistakes!
Saturday, 12 November 2011
Scribbling Saturday: NaNo Panic
Twelve days into NaNoWriMo, I have written over sixteen thousand words, which is no mean feat. But it has not been easy. I want to offer some words of encouragement to anyone who may be struggling, or who is afraid to try.
I am trying to turn historical fact into historical fiction, and it is much harder than I expected. I didn't realise how much research I would need, and I keep having to stop and look something up. There is so much I can't make up. So my 1700 words a day is taking several hours, and other important things are getting left out. I have reluctantly decided that I have to limit my writing time, because some other things are important.
Does this mean that NaNoWriMo is too hard? No!
Does this mean that I am a failure? No!
NaNoWriMo is a means to an end: it gets you writing, and writing lots. You always end up with more material than before. Material you can re-work, add to, adapt. Material that is not intended to be fit for publishing, but that you can make something out of that is fit for publishing. Last year I didn't make it to 50,000 words, but I ended up with 32,000 words of a novel which I didn't have before.
So, unless a miracle happens, I will not be making it to 50,000 words this year. But I'm still excited about what I will achieve!
I am trying to turn historical fact into historical fiction, and it is much harder than I expected. I didn't realise how much research I would need, and I keep having to stop and look something up. There is so much I can't make up. So my 1700 words a day is taking several hours, and other important things are getting left out. I have reluctantly decided that I have to limit my writing time, because some other things are important.
Does this mean that NaNoWriMo is too hard? No!
Does this mean that I am a failure? No!
NaNoWriMo is a means to an end: it gets you writing, and writing lots. You always end up with more material than before. Material you can re-work, add to, adapt. Material that is not intended to be fit for publishing, but that you can make something out of that is fit for publishing. Last year I didn't make it to 50,000 words, but I ended up with 32,000 words of a novel which I didn't have before.
So, unless a miracle happens, I will not be making it to 50,000 words this year. But I'm still excited about what I will achieve!
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Scribbling Saturday: NaNo Immersion
It's quarter to eleven on Sunday night, and I see I haven't posted for over a week. I want more followers, but I'm not going to attract them with no posts. The reason is NaNoWriMo. I'm six days in, and a little behind on my word count (900 words behind, actually).
Take my advice: if you're going to take up an intensive writing challenge, you need to clear your diary. This week I have been so busy, by this weekend my writing was like pulling teeth. The week to come is clearer, so I hope I can catch up and get ahead. I have also discovered holes in my plot which have been hard to fill.
Because it is a true story, I have all the facts, but what do you do while you're waiting for the next event to happen? And how do all the characters react to what's going on? I am starting to work it out, but it's hard.
Harder still when you're not concentrating properly. Ever tried writing while watching tv? And the last episode of Downton Abbey. Not recommended. I'll probably look at it tomorrow and find it's a load of rubbish. But this is NaNoWriMo and there's no time to edit!
Take my advice: if you're going to take up an intensive writing challenge, you need to clear your diary. This week I have been so busy, by this weekend my writing was like pulling teeth. The week to come is clearer, so I hope I can catch up and get ahead. I have also discovered holes in my plot which have been hard to fill.
Because it is a true story, I have all the facts, but what do you do while you're waiting for the next event to happen? And how do all the characters react to what's going on? I am starting to work it out, but it's hard.
Harder still when you're not concentrating properly. Ever tried writing while watching tv? And the last episode of Downton Abbey. Not recommended. I'll probably look at it tomorrow and find it's a load of rubbish. But this is NaNoWriMo and there's no time to edit!
Saturday, 8 October 2011
Scribbling Saturday: NaNo Planning
NaNoWriMo time is coming round again. To remind you, that is National Novel Writing Month - participants commit to writing 50,000 words in one month. The month in question is November, and that makes October the month for planning.
The idea is to do all the research and work out each chapter, so that when November comes, you only have to write. The question is, research and plan what? I don't actually have a novel to write. I have a couple of ideas, and I'm working on them both in the hope that something takes off.
I have a science fiction short story that I want to make into a novel, but I'm not sure I have enough plot yet to sustain it. At least, being science fiction, I can make most of it up. The other alternative is to write a historical novel based on my Alina book. But again, the story of her life is not enough to sustain a novel, and although I can make up a lot of it, it does have to be reasonably historically accurate.
So I am doing a lot of reading in the 14th century and desperately looking for some subplots. And in between, I'm looking for subplots in the other novel. I wonder if it counts if you write two 25,000 word novels in a month??? It's still 50,000 words.
The idea is to do all the research and work out each chapter, so that when November comes, you only have to write. The question is, research and plan what? I don't actually have a novel to write. I have a couple of ideas, and I'm working on them both in the hope that something takes off.
I have a science fiction short story that I want to make into a novel, but I'm not sure I have enough plot yet to sustain it. At least, being science fiction, I can make most of it up. The other alternative is to write a historical novel based on my Alina book. But again, the story of her life is not enough to sustain a novel, and although I can make up a lot of it, it does have to be reasonably historically accurate.
So I am doing a lot of reading in the 14th century and desperately looking for some subplots. And in between, I'm looking for subplots in the other novel. I wonder if it counts if you write two 25,000 word novels in a month??? It's still 50,000 words.
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