NaNo update
Nov. 23rd, 2012 10:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzMy month of NaNoWriMo hasn't been quite as fortituous as I'd have liked. Of course, two larps (one of which I help organise) in the month means I have missed more than one week's worth of writing time. You could call this an attitude problem: of course, I'm more than happy to write my daily quota of words after finally packing my bags at 11 pm. It's no problem to stay up until two, after all, I only have to drive a car tomorrow...
Fact is, I'm three weeks into the project and I'm at only 18.000 words. I'm literally 20.000 words behind.
Hell week, as they call the second week, didn't help much, never mind the timing that hell week was also the week before Maerquin. After the initial spurt of "hey, I can write", it all seems to fall apart in the second week. Your original plot doesn't seem to work or is not complicated enough to fill 50K words. It is getting more obvious with every word your characters aren't interesting enough or that they're just plain dumb and self-doubt sets in.
I was lucky to have a support group on Unifaction (I play a game called Unicreatures which is a collector's game where you can hoard accomplishments with as much OCD as you want, for those of us who don't play World of Warcraft). The topic on NaNoWriMo has been abuzz all month, and where the success rate on NaNo itself is maybe 10%, the Unifaction participants have a success rate of 50%. Quite a difference. Quite encouraging in a way the NaNo peptalks aren't.
Thanks to one user's pep talk in particular, I was convinced not to quit. Not even now, that I'm three quarters of the way into the project with only a quarter of the words written. I doubt very much I'll make the official deadline, but at this point I wonder if that really mattters?
Granted, my plot isn't all that interesting and my characters seem to have a fondness for one-on-one conversations. I haven't really outlined what happened before they got on board, but somehow, things are working out. As long as I keep at it, keep writing, I suddenly find my characters are saying things I'd never expected them to say, which gives me more information on where they're coming from and what their motivations might be. As long as my fingers are flying over the keyboard, something magical happens that makes the plot suddenly take a turn that is very interesting indeed.
And perhaps that is what makes it worth my while, to keep picking at it. If it's never intended to be published, I might just view this as an elaborate exercise of dedication and meditation.
Maybe it's just a matter of practice to get your mind into the delta wave that is needed for brilliant (or somewhat interesting, as we can only aspire to brilliance and so very few ever reach it) work and this is just the beginning.
I have a kitty wedged up against one thigh, a thermos of coffee on stand-by, and a warm blanket covering my legs. What's that phrase? I are a writer?
Fact is, I'm three weeks into the project and I'm at only 18.000 words. I'm literally 20.000 words behind.
Hell week, as they call the second week, didn't help much, never mind the timing that hell week was also the week before Maerquin. After the initial spurt of "hey, I can write", it all seems to fall apart in the second week. Your original plot doesn't seem to work or is not complicated enough to fill 50K words. It is getting more obvious with every word your characters aren't interesting enough or that they're just plain dumb and self-doubt sets in.
I was lucky to have a support group on Unifaction (I play a game called Unicreatures which is a collector's game where you can hoard accomplishments with as much OCD as you want, for those of us who don't play World of Warcraft). The topic on NaNoWriMo has been abuzz all month, and where the success rate on NaNo itself is maybe 10%, the Unifaction participants have a success rate of 50%. Quite a difference. Quite encouraging in a way the NaNo peptalks aren't.
Thanks to one user's pep talk in particular, I was convinced not to quit. Not even now, that I'm three quarters of the way into the project with only a quarter of the words written. I doubt very much I'll make the official deadline, but at this point I wonder if that really mattters?
Granted, my plot isn't all that interesting and my characters seem to have a fondness for one-on-one conversations. I haven't really outlined what happened before they got on board, but somehow, things are working out. As long as I keep at it, keep writing, I suddenly find my characters are saying things I'd never expected them to say, which gives me more information on where they're coming from and what their motivations might be. As long as my fingers are flying over the keyboard, something magical happens that makes the plot suddenly take a turn that is very interesting indeed.
And perhaps that is what makes it worth my while, to keep picking at it. If it's never intended to be published, I might just view this as an elaborate exercise of dedication and meditation.
Maybe it's just a matter of practice to get your mind into the delta wave that is needed for brilliant (or somewhat interesting, as we can only aspire to brilliance and so very few ever reach it) work and this is just the beginning.
I have a kitty wedged up against one thigh, a thermos of coffee on stand-by, and a warm blanket covering my legs. What's that phrase? I are a writer?
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no subject
Date: 2012-11-23 10:31 am (UTC)Of 6 24 hour comics I made 2 failed. Now 24HCD is not the same as NaNoWriMo (it's more like a 24 hour super sprint VS a month long marathon), but both are challenges. They are uncomfortable. They are huge goals you would normally not do because they look impossible. Only super people make it (or so it seems), yet normal people can start and see where they end up. They may even make it. Sometimes you need "impossible" challenges too. Aim high and you may end up further than you expected.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-23 03:38 pm (UTC)Some times, you have to rewrite a story once or even more times to make it worth publishing. Don't lose all hope, if you want to be a writer, then you can be a writer!
Cuddles!!