Nanowrimo 2009: or 50,000 words is more than I thought. - Page 8

Creole Ned · 11-18-2009, 01:31 AM

I think the easiest way to finish is to just think in terms of quantity and ignore the quality -- you know, like well-established authors do. ;) If what you're writing now doesn't match up with what you wrote last week, don't worry about it, just keep going.

For me, the impulse to go back and fix things is sometimes too strong to ignore. I can't proceed until I at least hammer out some of the problems I see. I've done this about three times in the past week and it's cost me most of the progress of each day I've done it. Today I went back and removed a major new element I'd introduced nearly 4/5ths into the story. With just a little reflection I could see it didn't fit the story at all. I could have just ignored it and changed it later but it became a big block in my mind and I *had* to deal with it.

I still ended up ahead of where I was yesterday, though. If I put in three consecutive strong writing sessions I could be done the first draft by Friday.

I will say at this point the story is not at all like the way I imagined it at the start.

Kid Socrates · 11-18-2009, 07:43 AM

Oh, I'm going to finish. I'm going to kick this story's ass. There's really no other way I can do this -- if I'm serious about being a writer, which I am, 50K words isn't going to be too many in a month. I'm going to try and keep at this pace even after November. I've got a lot more than 50K to write. Hitting 2500 words yesterday and not feeling like I pushed myself hard at all was encouraging, and makes up for the occasional slow days I've fought through. My concern now is Thanksgiving weekend -- with two tabletop gaming sessions and one day of turkey and football planned, I'm hoping I don't get behind. Maybe I'll lock myself in the computer room Saturday and not come out until I've written 20,000 words.

I have two documents I'm doing right now. The first is my Nano document, which has everything I've written. The other is the Edits document, where I jot down all the crap I know I need to fix later. This seems to satiate my inner editor.

A friend of mine who's doing this emailed me today to mention that he has more writing to do after this month if he wants to finish. "I'm halfway through my word count, but not halfway through my plot."

My reply: "I've written three and a half chapters of 24. I'll be doing this FOREVER."

Oh, and while I don't have a demon mages living in an active volcano, I do have a church built out of a colossal harp, where instead of bells chiming the hour, beautiful music is played that reverberates throughout the city. That's not as cool, though -- I dig the volcano mages.

I find that I love writing fantasy novels. It's much easier to come up with something and just work it in. I don't have to figure out the science about it. I make sure it makes sense in the fiction I've created here, and there's an internal ruleset to make sense of first, but if I really want to use something and I can't figure out how it works -- it's magic! I'll probably figure out why it works and what the magic's deal is later. I need to also keep track of random plot threads I've devised since I started.

Rimbo · 11-18-2009, 01:02 PM

A church built out of a harp? That's pretty fucking awesome, actually.

Yeah, I'm finding that I have a lot of trouble not thinking about how things work. I probably have more of a hard SF nature than a true fantasy nature. There's a big ol' massive "That's just not possible" element to my story, and I know it's there, and I'm not going to be able to let it rest. So the answer I come up with that is gonna be reaaaaaaaaaaaaal tricky.

Although honestly, if I were to end my day job, I suspect I'd have the most success with horror.

russellmz00 · 11-18-2009, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rimbo

42,400. In tonight's episode: Barack Obama dooms us all to a fiery death. And he seemed like such a nice guy...

boycott!

Rimbo · 11-19-2009, 12:16 AM

Odd. Went from 42,400 to 44,200. I swear, I didn't plan that or anything.

Slowing down somewhat because I need to think through the next bit a little.

Creole Ned · 11-19-2009, 02:19 AM

42,175. A pretty good day, in all. I am very close to writing the final scene.

Rimbo · 11-20-2009, 12:14 AM

sooooooo close. I'm actually worried that I might end the novel before I hit 50k. Well, I can always go back and expand on things, I guess!

Probably going to need to, anyway.

Equis · 11-20-2009, 12:43 AM

I'm not participating in NanoWrimo this year, but any chance you folks are going to post all your stories online to read?

Rimbo · 11-20-2009, 01:24 AM

Yep! Although I already know I need to edit what I wrote tonight.

Rimbo · 11-21-2009, 01:05 AM

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

50,670 BITCHES!!! And totally confirmed.

And, even better, I got to the end of the story. Although I could probably write a bit more. In fact, I could probably write a whole book more.

Whew! Wow.

Good luck everyone else! I hope you all finish, too! Well, all of you who are able to. Which at this point is basically Jeff Green, KidSocrates and Creole Ned. I'm cheering for all of you!

Tracy Baker · 11-21-2009, 01:22 AM

Grats, Rimbo!

Creole Ned · 11-21-2009, 02:16 AM

I'll finish. I am 45,000+ right now and am working on the final "big" scene, which will be followed by a smaller one to wrap it all up. I should come out to 50,000 at least and once I take care of some of the issues with consistency earlier in the story I'm sure I'll pass 50,000 easily.

If it wasn't already late I'd push to finish it tonight.

Congrats, Rimbo!

EDIT: 45,133 before packing it in tonight. Last night I only put a 1,000 or so in as I ironed out the details (re: went back and edited yet again) for the final stretch.

11-21-2009, 02:16 AM	#222
Creole Ned Social Worker Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Vancouver Posts: 2,933	I'll finish. I am 45,000+ right now and am working on the final "big" scene, which will be followed by a smaller one to wrap it all up. I should come out to 50,000 at least and once I take care of some of the issues with consistency earlier in the story I'm sure I'll pass 50,000 easily. If it wasn't already late I'd push to finish it tonight. Congrats, Rimbo! EDIT: 45,133 before packing it in tonight. Last night I only put a 1,000 or so in as I ironed out the details (re: went back and edited yet again) for the final stretch. Last edited by Creole Ned; 11-21-2009 at 02:43 AM..

11-18-2009, 01:31 AM	#211
Creole Ned Social Worker Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Vancouver Posts: 2,933	I think the easiest way to finish is to just think in terms of quantity and ignore the quality -- you know, like well-established authors do. ;) If what you're writing now doesn't match up with what you wrote last week, don't worry about it, just keep going. For me, the impulse to go back and fix things is sometimes too strong to ignore. I can't proceed until I at least hammer out some of the problems I see. I've done this about three times in the past week and it's cost me most of the progress of each day I've done it. Today I went back and removed a major new element I'd introduced nearly 4/5ths into the story. With just a little reflection I could see it didn't fit the story at all. I could have just ignored it and changed it later but it became a big block in my mind and I had to deal with it. I still ended up ahead of where I was yesterday, though. If I put in three consecutive strong writing sessions I could be done the first draft by Friday. I will say at this point the story is not at all like the way I imagined it at the start.

11-18-2009, 07:43 AM	#212
Kid Socrates Mad Chester Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Overland Park, KS PSN: Kid Socrates Posts: 1,459	Oh, I'm going to finish. I'm going to kick this story's ass. There's really no other way I can do this -- if I'm serious about being a writer, which I am, 50K words isn't going to be too many in a month. I'm going to try and keep at this pace even after November. I've got a lot more than 50K to write. Hitting 2500 words yesterday and not feeling like I pushed myself hard at all was encouraging, and makes up for the occasional slow days I've fought through. My concern now is Thanksgiving weekend -- with two tabletop gaming sessions and one day of turkey and football planned, I'm hoping I don't get behind. Maybe I'll lock myself in the computer room Saturday and not come out until I've written 20,000 words. I have two documents I'm doing right now. The first is my Nano document, which has everything I've written. The other is the Edits document, where I jot down all the crap I know I need to fix later. This seems to satiate my inner editor. A friend of mine who's doing this emailed me today to mention that he has more writing to do after this month if he wants to finish. "I'm halfway through my word count, but not halfway through my plot." My reply: "I've written three and a half chapters of 24. I'll be doing this FOREVER." Oh, and while I don't have a demon mages living in an active volcano, I do have a church built out of a colossal harp, where instead of bells chiming the hour, beautiful music is played that reverberates throughout the city. That's not as cool, though -- I dig the volcano mages. I find that I love writing fantasy novels. It's much easier to come up with something and just work it in. I don't have to figure out the science about it. I make sure it makes sense in the fiction I've created here, and there's an internal ruleset to make sense of first, but if I really want to use something and I can't figure out how it works -- it's magic! I'll probably figure out why it works and what the magic's deal is later. I need to also keep track of random plot threads I've devised since I started.

11-18-2009, 01:02 PM	#213
Rimbo 6th Grade Spelling Bee Loser World's End Supernova Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Xbox Gamertag: Rimbosity Posts: 15,607	A church built out of a harp? That's pretty fucking awesome, actually. Yeah, I'm finding that I have a lot of trouble not thinking about how things work. I probably have more of a hard SF nature than a true fantasy nature. There's a big ol' massive "That's just not possible" element to my story, and I know it's there, and I'm not going to be able to let it rest. So the answer I come up with that is gonna be reaaaaaaaaaaaaal tricky. Although honestly, if I were to end my day job, I suspect I'd have the most success with horror.

11-19-2009, 12:16 AM	#215
Rimbo 6th Grade Spelling Bee Loser World's End Supernova Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Xbox Gamertag: Rimbosity Posts: 15,607	Odd. Went from 42,400 to 44,200. I swear, I didn't plan that or anything. Slowing down somewhat because I need to think through the next bit a little.

11-19-2009, 02:19 AM	#216
Creole Ned Social Worker Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Vancouver Posts: 2,933	42,175. A pretty good day, in all. I am very close to writing the final scene.

11-20-2009, 12:14 AM	#217
Rimbo 6th Grade Spelling Bee Loser World's End Supernova Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Xbox Gamertag: Rimbosity Posts: 15,607	sooooooo close. I'm actually worried that I might end the novel before I hit 50k. Well, I can always go back and expand on things, I guess! Probably going to need to, anyway.

11-20-2009, 12:43 AM	#218
Equis Social Worker Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Asia, with the giant robots, big eyed girls and magical swords Posts: 3,555	I'm not participating in NanoWrimo this year, but any chance you folks are going to post all your stories online to read?

11-20-2009, 01:24 AM	#219
Rimbo 6th Grade Spelling Bee Loser World's End Supernova Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Xbox Gamertag: Rimbosity Posts: 15,607	Yep! Although I already know I need to edit what I wrote tonight.

11-21-2009, 01:05 AM	#220
Rimbo 6th Grade Spelling Bee Loser World's End Supernova Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Xbox Gamertag: Rimbosity Posts: 15,607	eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! 50,670 BITCHES!!! And totally confirmed. And, even better, I got to the end of the story. Although I could probably write a bit more. In fact, I could probably write a whole book more. Whew! Wow. Good luck everyone else! I hope you all finish, too! Well, all of you who are able to. Which at this point is basically Jeff Green, KidSocrates and Creole Ned. I'm cheering for all of you!

11-21-2009, 01:22 AM	#221
Tracy Baker Spinning Toe Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 999	Grats, Rimbo!

		Quarter To Three Forums > Quarter to Three Boards > Books, comics, TV, music
Nanowrimo 2009: or 50,000 words is more than I thought.