Its almost November!

Re: life intervenes

I have a question for everyone who participated (for the record, I didn't): Do you think you could write at this pace, keeping the quality of your writing high, for all of December? Then January?

How about every month?

Re: life intervenes

All of December? Probably.

All of January as well? Ah...perhaps

Every month? No.

The problem is not the physical labor (typing is fairly easy work if you arrange your workspace right) nor the time (the 2,000 words I've been doing a day have been taking me about 2 and a bit hours consistently).

The problem I'm having now (I'm up to 67,000 words and I'm guessing the novel will be around 85,000) is that I can feel my creativity drying up. It's becoming harder and harder to begin writing each day, although once I've started there's usually no problem finishing.

But then again, that may be as much from the fact that I'm coming to the end of the novel, and I know exactly what's going to happen for the next 20,000 words or so. This is the second novel I've got this close to completion with (and the fourth I've started), and with the other one I finished, I remeber feeling this way as well. The last quarter of a book seems to me to be the hardest part to complete.

pace

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>How about every month?<hr></blockquote>
Do and can. It's only an average of 1666 words per day.

The 10k-word marathons will be more sporadic, however

One day I'd like to write an entire novel in a weekend. Writers greater and lesser than I have done so.

I'm still a lousy typist despite it all. <img border=0 src="http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/ohwell.gif" />

Re: pace

I couldn't do it every month. Not because I can't, but because other things in life demand my attention. This month has been tense trying to get it all in.

My house is a mess, my two year old cries every time I sit at the computer. I will still write every day(that I can get it in without too much disruption) but not like I did for this.

Yes, every month

BT, I'm very sorry. You've done the right thing. People are a hundred times more important than any book on earth. You're a good friend, and your book will get written, anyway.

How about every month?

Me--yes. I've realised how easy it actually is. I'm thinking in scenes: about 2000 words is a biggish scene or two small ones. So I write a scene or two a day. I keep going, it would be highly stupid now to stop halfway there.

The "quality of writing" is different! At the moment, I'm only busy with getting the conflict and story together. What happens to whom, how they get to certain places I want them to be at, and what exactly they do once they get there. The writing itself is pretty pathetic at the moment. But I know I'm able of editing it into shape once the story is in place, so I'm not worried too much about it.

And yes, when I write off the top of my head (as opposed to planning frist), the scenes end up more active and detailed. But surely once I get the bones down (the first draft), I'll get all the scenes on index cards and then all the planning, shifting and trimming will begin.

Re: puzzled

i do hope what i'm about to ask doesn't strike the wrong tone; i'm chewing it over in my head and i'm concerned that, even politely, it may offend.

With the disclaimer done, here's the question: do those of you who have participated in the "National Novel..." event feel that what you wrote is actually good, by your standards?

i ask because my writing is generally best when unforced. Otherwise, the results tend to be so unpleasant, i can't bear to look at them thereafter. So i'm unable to comprehend or relate with what you all have accomplished.

Re: puzzled

BT,

(((hugs))) Supporting friends and dealing with loss is more important than NaNo. NaNo will come around next year, and we'll be with you then.

I didn't get to 50,000 words. Part of that problem was the project I chose to do — it isn't a single story, but a bunch of stories detailing the history of the world that my finished novel is set in. But it filled me in on some stuff I'm missing, so I'm raring to go on the final draft. That's December's project.

Could I do this every month? Probably — in addition to the 22,359 words on my NaNo project I did write, I also wrote about 10,000 words on a non-fiction book I'm starting, and several essays that amounted to at least another 15k, and I had lots of time off to get my house completely clean. (See my posts near the beginning of this thread )

Would I? Probably not. I'm more of a sprint writer (same with everything else.) I don't write 1666 words per day, but I can sit down and do 5k or more in one morning. But I've learned that I can take my notebook everywhere I go, and jot down reminders, so that when I sit down at the keyboard like I did this morning, there is no time wasted at the beginning getting that first word on the page. Once the first word is down, I'm away to the races...

I might try challenging myself to do 50k in January. It's a slow month both at work and at school, so I should be able to do it, and I had a breakthrough last night on a novel that's been in the drawer for a couple of years.

Crusader,

The whole point of NaNo is to put your "inner editor" in jail for a month and just write. I don't tend to write utter garbage, even when I'm writing fast, because I've got a good grasp of the basics. But if I write slow, I labour over every sentence I write to the point where I write absolutely nothing.

Is it better to write a lot, knowing that most of it could end up on the cutting room floor, so to speak, or to make sure every sentence is perfect before going on? If I were to take the latter approach, my output for the month would have been zero.

Most of what I wrote this month will never make it into the final draft of anything. But I came up with some really amazing gems in my 22,359 words that are the seeds of whole novels in and of themselves. I'm delighted at this point to know my characters better, I know my world better, I know my plot and theme better than I ever did before. And I've been working on this particular project for sixteen years.

In summary: My own feelings about NaNo and forced writing are, if I don't force it out, it won't come out at all, and just because it's forced doesn't mean it has to be crap.

Hope the above made sense...

Anyhow, in closing:

A challenge for all you NaNo writers over on the Writing Prompts, Exercises and Games board. Ally (Kida) was given permission to take yesterday off school by her doting and extremely generous parents so that she could finish her NaNo project. Now she needs a note to take to her teacher, and we need you to help write it. Smiley party for the best note!

Re: puzzled

Crusader,

I used to work like this myself when I just started writing many years ago. Cherishing my gift, you know. Waiting for inspiration. Writing two paragraphs a day and then polishing them to absolute perfection, taking a comma out and putting it back in. Well, obviously I'm not Oscar Wilde because I soon realised this way I'd get to the cemetery sooner than get anything published.

Another thing I've realised since then is that virtually everyone is able of producing a few powerful sentences. You don't need to be a writer to do that--my next door neighbour can probably write better than I do. But once you go beyond these first powerful sentences, the truth (for me) is, the bulk of one's writing isn't going to be anywhere near "good". I was lucky enough once to lay my hands on a few first drafts by world-famous writers, and let me tell you: I was crying with relief because their writing was fantastically poor! But then they rewrote it, on average, over 20 times, until they got all these famous masterpieces. Actually, it was after this experience that I realised I could be a writer, too. I found it tremendously inspiring that in their first drafts, some of my favourite writers had committed all the crimes listed in Turkey City Lexicon, and then some!

Good NaNo

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>here's the question: do those of you who have participated in the "National Novel..." event feel that what you wrote is actually good, by your standards?<hr></blockquote>
Yes.
And by the standards of several readers and writers whose opinions I respect, to whom I read excerpts and discussed the story.

I won't analyze what happened but some of my best writing to date went into NaNo. "Best" = syntax, grammar, style and voice, interesting characters, and downright story.

Re: Good NaNo

@Yeshanu, Fresie, and Gala:

Thank you for the replies. i better understand where you all are coming from now. i'm still surprised, but it's not quite so foreign now... and it's nice to know that some of you relate to where i am coming from as well. The whole "carefully removing, then replacing a comma" phase that Fresie describes, i can certainly see the pitfalls... i just honestly don't want to work any other way. [shrug]

Although, i do admit to some envy as far as Gala's obvious pride in what she has done; it would be nice once in a while to simply write something without obsessive revision.

(...he says, after revising this post five times...)

Re: Good NaNo

YaY! I'm a winner too! I've written 50,245 words!:rollin

Crusader, unless you try it out, you don't really know what you miss on!

Nano really helped me not to judge my writing while I'm writing it. The rough draft is supposed to be rough draft. The gems are in the unexpected plot twists and turns that would not come out if you don't let your unconscious rule the writing.

I reached a day when I've managed to write over 6k and about 3 days when I wrote over 5k. I did not know I'm even capable of that. Before Nano, my usual good day was about 2,500 words.

My hubby got himself persuaded to do it too, and he was in front of me by 11k:lol most of the time. At last he wrote his novel that he had been composting for the past 2 years (well he has not finished it, but he got 50k done: pretty good for a month that could have just passed by)

Congratulation all around to everyone who started Nano and wrote more than they would have written otherwise! Well Done!

Pencilone

Re: Good NaNo

When I first started writing novels I just dumped onto the typer. I slept with a portable on my knees: woke up typing where I left off: Missed dates: lost girlfriends: 10,000 and more words a day were nothing.

However the revision later.

I don't write the first draft nearly as fast now as I did then, but the novel is done a lot sooner.

I'm seriously thinking of joining NaNo next year.

Congratulations to everyone who finished their 50,000 words. It is an accomplishment of which you should be proud.

Re: Good NaNo

And parties all around for everyone who tried!

Ally's brother has a birthday on Friday (his 19th), so I'm going to combine it with our NaNo party and have one whopper of a party!