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Realising what a strange life I've led when words from reality find their way into the story... trying not to get too caught up in being linear but so scared about the amount of editing this will require if I ever plan for it to be anything haha. Having a lot of fun though, some definite good pieces in amongst the sea of words. Oh and still no laptop yet :(
I'm so annoyed - I got a fair amount done yesterday, but then realised I was getting it all wrong, and so need to start again ...
Hard to explain, but much easier to jettison yesterday's now, rather than trying to "fix" it for the next three weeks ...
So my count is back down to zero.
Will get back onto it tonight, after work etc!!
So will need to do 3500 tonight ...
A tip I read is to just put a strikethrough things you don't want anymore so you don't have to lose the time you spent writing it. Never know what you could find coming back to it too.
Tip I've just read - which saved the 800 words from yesterday and has let me hit 2,000 words so far over the last 2 days - yesterday's writing needs a connection to what new story I started today, but at least I've got a chunk of words :)
:
Don’t Start OverIf you're only a day or two into NaNo, you can usually safely scrap the start of your book and start over, at least if you think you can make up the word count. A week into it and you're hitting dodgy ground.But for NaNo -- just keep going!
If you find that you really don't like the story you're writing then have the current characters meet the new characters, and the new characters take over and start a new adventure. Yeah, it's silly -- but there is no reason to drop all that writing, not in the case of NaNo. No, it won't be a coherent book or something you can sell in that format.
But if you are interested in publication later, you can hack off the first part, rework the opening, and make it into a better story.
Sopdet, that is great thanks! I was wondering what i was going to do with some of what i had written but no longer liked...
Jellyfish, what are you writing about?
Peannutter- good luck with your target tonight! I am averaging around 800-1200 words per session at the moment, plus a few hours each day of just thinking about different ideas and planning what i am going to write about :)
AFM, i managed 900 words today, i have been really unwell so have been home from work for the day so i got some extra writing time. I will probably spend some more time tonight when DF goes to his meditation thing and i have some peace and quiet. I hate it when he comes up behind me and starts reading over my shoulder, so so irritating! I really don't want him to read it!
Something i am finding a lot harder than i thought is dialogue. Anyone have any resources about how to write authentic dialogue? Evrything i write just seems really stilted, there is no flow and it is boring...
Appletree, you could invest in some Dragon talk to text software, then it would be natural sounding! LOL
I think the trick with dialogue is to break it up with pauses and include bits of what the character is thinking. Also, let their actions do some of the talking. (eg, character purses her lips instead of saying something). And describe what's happening around them at the time (eg character reaches for sugar, then stops, then pours it into her coffee anyway).
What I've been reading (tips etc) is to not think about it - just write it, editing/refining etc can be done in December :)
I stupidly went back and re-read my stuff at work today, just after I'd melded the two bits together and since I was in editor mode for work, all I wanted to do was edit/refine the storyline, characters etc. Luckily I stopped myself. I've got no dialogue as yet, which I don't know if that is a good or bad thing.
and when you get stuck, I skip chapters, with general desciptions (eg: [Gertrude locates the missing magic pony and the flying wheelchair poops out some silver pumpkin seeds]) and then carry one with another character's narrative.
or I start writing some backstory - it might end up being scrapped, or it might end up being a flashback, or earlier in the book! Or the start of an earlier book altogether :D
Give yourself an exercise to get to know your characters. Give them a box on the doorstep, write what they say and discover. Little exercises like that help to get into their heads and helps give them a natural voice.
Thanks guys, that is really useful :) PRMG i thinki that is half the problem, i don't really know a lot about my characters yet. Hoepfully it will get easier as i know more!
I don't know if i am in the mood to write anything today.
3000 words!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ok I'm 2,000 behind schedule but I've written 3,000 words!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yay, sop!!
:confetti:
Sensational, Sopdet!
appletree - That was a tip we learned in my writing course years ago. When you feel like you're not getting your characters, not in tune, etc, just throw them into a random situation. Or write a quick biography or resume for them. It not only helps, but it's fun too!
I got another 1000 words down today which was good considering I had a family member visit all day. Happy with my progress so far :)
You ladies are awesome. I'm a NaNoWriMoWaNaBe for about the 3rd year running...one day *sigh*
I need a kick up the butt. I'm so far behind and have just dropped DD off at her Dad's for the night so perfect chance to catch up. I'm only at 3000 words so I need to double that and then some tonight.... eeeeeeeek.
appletree -- I'm writing a story that is sort of a self discovery thing and a lot of the inspiration has been in my life, the conclusion will be very different though but that's a mystery ;) To be honest at the moment I'm just chucking diff sub-stories/parts into new 'scenes' and can then order it a bit more later (using scivener). So far no dialogue here >.> mostly just a collection of memories or musings but yeah, bit afraid to tackle that aspect of things! Good thing internal dialogue can make up so much of a story!!
Sopdet -- I'm using the scrivener trial too, will probably buy it at the end as I'm impressed (using the Windows version, due to be released the 7th of Nov I think but the trial is around) and it is a motivation to get to 50k words as you can get it for 50% off if you do!
I'm writing at work during my lunch hour and I seem to be adding more to the start of the story than to the end. I've even done dialogue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Emailed the story home just before I left work and will upload it back into scrivener so I can work on it on my laptop over the weekend, honestly should have taken the laptop to work so I could have stopped off at the park on the way home since it is a glorious spring evening here.
I'm at 4k words now and will see how many I churn through this weekend.
OMG, NO!!!! Just started writing and had about 500 really good words when DS pressed the off button on the computer. Lost everything... :( Such a good reason to A, not write when I should be supervising my children and B, remember to save every few mins!
Gaaah, off to try and re-create it. Fantastic news though that as DS was doing it i had one of those great "where did that come from" moments where a characters story became a whole lot clearer!
That's sucks, appletree! But great that you have your story clearer!
How's everyone going? Much progress over the weekend?
I've written a big fat 0 words over the weekend. Brilliant. Got some catch up to do.