I'm very whiny right now because the NaNoWriMo site is so frickin' slow! And now it's just completely gone down. All I want to do is update my word count :( It's amazing how much you actually strive for that word count by the way once you do this. It's fun to see that little blue bar rise a little bit higher :) I've officially gone up to 6,433 words on my third day. I'm happy with that. I've completed the prologue and 3 chapters so far, so tomorrow should see chapter 4.
For anyone who's considering doing this next year, I have to say...DO IT! It's so much more fun than what I thought it would be and I'm so glad that I stuck with it. I had envisioned this super stressful thing that I would end up dreading every day (and that may indeed happen), but as of now I'm loving this and I find myself craving my own story which is such a neat feeling. It's like my characters and story have taken over and I'm along for the ride. Every day, I sit at my computer thinking "ok, now what the hell am I going to write" and the story just goes. I love it! Now it's not great writing by any means, but the process is fascinating. I'm enjoying it.
I'm also finding where my weaknesses are which is great because I know where I can focus my energies on improving. For instance, I'm HORRIBLE at writing action scenes. I can't write suspense. I just can't do it as hard as I try. Now Bookfool can write suspense! She posted an excerpt on her profile which you can find by clicking on my writing buddies and I was blown away! I wish I could write a scene like that! But it's neat to see where you need improvement and now that I know I'll try to put a little more effort into that area.
In other news, there's only about 12 more hours until the drawing for the 3 books I'm giving away! So here's last call. You have until 12:00 noon Central time on 11/4 to get your comment in if you want to be in the draw for any of the books I'm giving away in the sticky post!
14 comments:
One of my favourite things about writing is that moment when you feel that the story comes alive - that the characters have a life of their own, that the events you are retellings are actually happening in some parallel universe, and you're only putting them down on paper. And sometimes you get surprised by how things turn out. It's a wonderful feeling.
You're making me miss writing, you know. I really should consider doing NaNoWriMo next year.
You are doing great! Of course a rough first draft is never as good as it could be, but I very much doubt it's bad writing. And as the month unfolds you'll find yourself getting better and better at writing this story.
I know I couldn't write under pressure.. but I at least do know the feeling when you are "one with your characters".. sigh..have you heard their voices yet?? If not.. you will! And I absolutely loved when the characters take over and you wind up writing something you had no idea where it came from! I think it's all those reasons I can't let go of what I wrote.. my story isn't professional and never will be, but that doesn't mean I didn't feel the characters come alive.. and I know they always will be inside of me.. this will happen to you too! And it's a grand feeling! I'm happy for you that you chose to do this!
It is an amazing feeling, isn't it? Sorta scary, sorta exciting but fun. I'm talking about when the characters take over and you realize you're just along for the ride.
Congrats on your word total! You're doing great! If I can get in to the site, I'll check both your and Bookfool's excerpts out. I haven't written anything yet that deserves to be posted but I will.
cjh
Everyone's bound to have weaknesses. I'd say your strengths will surely more than make up for them!
I can understand you feeling whiny...we never could get on to update Annie's word total last night. Despite trying for over an hour. Arrgh!
Hi again. We still couldn't get you added to Annie's buddy list. I don't know if it's because I'm an idiot, or if maybe it won't work because she's in the young writers program. (Though she should have just signed up on the regular site, since she set her goal at 50,000 words anyway.)
Anyway, here's her profile:
http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/user/201167
Maybe you'll have better luck than I. And happy writing today!
Nymeth, You should most definitely do NaNo next year!! I wish you would've done it this year. You'd be having so much fun. It's not too late ;) It really is an incredible feeling when your writing begins to shape itself. Funny how that happens. It's like you become a medium between this other world and your computer! You said it perfectly "that the events you are retelling are actually happening in some parallel universe." Now I'm sure December will be a lot less fun when I have to go back and start editing this thing and fixing all the mistakes and molding it into a real story!
Deslily, I think you could! I really think you would have a blast with this one...I really do. A scene I was writing last night was the first scene where I could hear a characters voice and it was a rather intense scene where Kurt, the young boy in the human world kind of just lost it and was screaming very passionately...and I had no idea where that scene came from! That's kind of been my experience so far...I start to have a general idea of where I want to go and then the book just fills in it's own gaps of where IT wants to go. I can your attachment to your character. Shit, I'M attached to your character, lol! You really have a gift when it comes to character development. They were all amazing! I really only have two that I really care about so far...maybe I'll care more about the rest as the book progresses.
CJ, It's an incredible feeling and something that I never expected! It's sort of a relief too - a reassurance that I CAN do this. At least for now...I may not be saying that come week 2. Yeah, I'm not totally satisfied with what I posted either as my excerpt but I wanted to give people an idea of what kind of story I was writing. So I'll replace it when something better comes out of my fingertips!
Debi, I sure hope so, but I need action scenes for parts of this book! Like, they're a necessity and they're just not coming. They sort of kill the book when you have this climax and then just fall off the cliff, lol! Can Annie write them? ;) I'll try to add Annie as a friend. I bet you it's not going to let me though because of the YWP. That's my guess. Sort of stupid, if you ask me...It's not like it's myspace, it's a writing website! But then again, you never know these days!
I'm glad you're having fun with it - I'm enjoying reading about your NaNoWriMo journey. I may join you once I finish this graduate degree. It's sucking up all my time! I miss writing fiction, and I'm looking forward to getting back to that, but it won't be for another year or so, sigh. I keep telling myself I'm grateful for the opportunity to extend my education. And I am. I'd just rather sit down and read books and play games with my husband and kids! Keep writing, and keep having fun! :-)
Darla, It's been a blast so far! I hope you do decide to join in next year. You'd love it, I'm sure. Ah, grad school...You know, I actually miss it! I'm sure I'll go back for my PhD eventually...I enjoy school too much. Though I complain when I'm actually in school :p What degree are you going for again? I totally understand not being able to do NaNo while in school...and I'm sure raising a family doesn't make it easy either! At least the combo of both of those won't work!
Well, the Nano site is back up. I know just what you mean; you get obsessive about watching the little bar move. I was really frustrated about not being able to update, last night. But, as it turned out, the husband took over my computer without even asking (grrrr!) and used it as a conduit to load my son's files from his dead hard drive to a portable. It took the whole freaking day! I didn't get to write a word. So, it was nice to be able to punch in last night's final total - at least it was a bigger number than I already had loaded. And, I was sick all day, anyway. Who knows what kind of crap I would have written.
Thanks, you always say such nice things about me. I just read my own excerpt and cringed. :)
I would love to write something one day, but I am not sure the pressure would help me or not. Maybe next year. Good luck with yours and I hope the site starts behaving.
Bookfool, The site is SO much better today. I saw in the little news section that they added a new server, so I'm sure that's helping. Your husband should know better than to go using the computer during NaNo! lol...either that or he should buy you a nice shiny new laptop ;)
Rhinoa, The site is behaving much better today. You should definitely do this next year!!! It's so much fun, I know you'd have a blast. In fact you should add it on that huge 101 things to do list that you right now! :) I didn't think that there was any way in hell I could write a book, and while I wouldn't say that I'm doing it well, I'm finding that I do at least have ideas! You'd surprise yourself!
You are a brave man, Chris. I've given my husband permission to lock me up if I ever declare any desire to go for a PhD. This is my second Master's degree - it's a masters in library & information science with a school library media specialization. Not that I want to leave the public library, but since I have my teaching certification, I figured it would be good to have that as an option as well. Next fall I should be doing my practicum, and I think that will let me know if I want to work in a school or stay with the public library. We'll see!
That's awesome Darla! You know when I was having problems finding a job I was actually thinking of scratching all of my education and going back for a degree in library science. I think if I had to do it all over again and choose a different route I would do that. But I'm happy with what I'm doing now. You librarians have the coolest jobs!! Working with books all day!
You never know, Chris - if you get tired of what you're doing, you can always tie your expertise into a library degree (and there are lots of people even older than I am in the program - people wanting second careers) and work in a special library. They tend to pay more, anyway. There are all kinds of cool libraries that are very specialized. You are young - never say never! :-)
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