So today was one of the days that has been fatal to my writing in recent months. I knew what came next, I figured how the scene would start, but the words just didn't want to flow. It was like fighting through goop, and it starts with getting motivated to write. Most of the time, when this has come up, I've given up, closed Word and gone to play video games. Today, I swung back and forth between games and writing and actually managed to break 2000 words despite feeling like I was wading ... Read more »
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National Novel Writing Month, continued
So today is 1,920 words, with a total of 13,677 out of 50,000 - 27% done the goal for the month. And, after eight days, I have some comments on the whole issue to make :D 1) 50,000 words is NOT a novel. Anyone doing NaNoWriMo should remember that. 50,000 words is a long novella or a really short YA or Harlequin. My goal is to write 50,000 words in november, which is a good solid start to a book. Most genre fiction should be at least 100,000 words. 2) 50,000 words is a good solid ... Read more »
NaNoWriMo Update
After four days of the National Novel Writing Month, I'm at 7,516 words on the story, tentatively titled 'Changeling's Fealty.' A weak changeling leaves the Fae-controlled Deep South for the city of Calgary, but mortal politics have their reflections in immortal politics. There's something in Alberta's oilsands - and EVERYONE is willing to kill for it. ... Read more »
National Novel Writing Month
So I decided to take up the National Novel Writing Month gauntlet for the first time. Also deciding to experiment with a first person perspective. We'll see how it goes. Watch this space for updates. 1882/50000 so far. ... Read more »
More thoughts on outlines
From jimbutcher.livejournal.com: "Page Two--Story Arc(h) or PLOT I'm never sure how to spell that. Get a BIG piece of paper. Draw a big curving arch on it. At the LEFT side of the arch, write a brief phrase about the opening scene. At the RIGHT side, write a brief phrase describing the climax of the book. That's your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. At the TOP of the arch, write down your BIG MIDDLE, or whatever event it is that starts the dominoes to falling. Then ... Read more »
Outlines
I have, in the past, hated outlines. They seemed like such an unnecessary part of story-writing - after all, if the story is going to flow, its going to flow. What do you mean only the first 20%, the middle 15% and the last 10% flow? The latter is my usual experience with writing. There are significant stretches of story that aren't the sequences that play out in glittering HD in your mind. They're the parts that link things together, the parts that help explain why the selfish ass the ... Read more »