Wednesday, May 10, 2017
MayNoWriMo Day 10
I'm up to 20,211 words and have passed over from Act I to Act II. This is awesome, but still a little under what I was hoping for. It's really tricky striking this balance between writing as fast as I can but not just vomiting out words to make a word count. I do think that what I have so far is a pretty solid first draft. We'll see how the first half of Act II unfolds.
Sunday, May 7, 2017
MayNoWriMo, Days 6 and 7
I wrote 1.5K yesterday, but felt blah about a big chunk of it and ended the day feeling like I was on the wrong track, and dreading having to work on it today. This is NOT what I want, word count goal or no, so I did some thinking and note-taking, and spent most of my writing time today rewriting the scene I wrote yesterday. So I've only made 100 words of progress, but I feel loads better about the book.
My goal is break 15K on the book this evening, then do some planning for the next few scenes.
My goal is break 15K on the book this evening, then do some planning for the next few scenes.
Friday, May 5, 2017
MayNoWriMo, Days 4 and 5
I couldn't post last night because The Husband was doing some overdue maintenance work on my laptop.
Thurs. I wrote 2K words and today I wrote 3K. The book is just a hair over 13K at this point. I think I'm going to have to slow down for a few days to work out some plot points, but I'm still aiming to finish the draft this month-- or at the very least, break my old NaNo record, which is 62,000 words of garbage. If I can write more than that, and have it be a clean first draft, I'll be happy.
Just not as happy as I'll be if I finish the draft!
Thurs. I wrote 2K words and today I wrote 3K. The book is just a hair over 13K at this point. I think I'm going to have to slow down for a few days to work out some plot points, but I'm still aiming to finish the draft this month-- or at the very least, break my old NaNo record, which is 62,000 words of garbage. If I can write more than that, and have it be a clean first draft, I'll be happy.
Just not as happy as I'll be if I finish the draft!
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
MayNoWriMo Day 3
2,381 words today. I was determined to hit 8,000 words/~10% of the story today, and I got there, but it was a struggle toward the end. Today's writing was all about the backstory wound. Tomorrow should be more fun and Romance-y.
I forgot to mention I did a Tarot reading for my female MC yesterday. I've owned the same Tarot deck for 32 years (now THAT'S scary-- how did I get this old??) and never done a reading for a character before. But I'm writing about second-generation hippies, and the character gets her cards read, so what the hey. I'd only planned to choose one card from the reading that seemed most apropos to the plot and write about it, but the whole reading was incredibly apropos, so I wound up including all of it.
And I may have found a title. Not ready to post it yet, since I'm still looking for other options (for probably dumb reasons I am pulling the title from an existing body of song lyrics), but for now I'll be calling this novel ST instead of M&C.
I forgot to mention I did a Tarot reading for my female MC yesterday. I've owned the same Tarot deck for 32 years (now THAT'S scary-- how did I get this old??) and never done a reading for a character before. But I'm writing about second-generation hippies, and the character gets her cards read, so what the hey. I'd only planned to choose one card from the reading that seemed most apropos to the plot and write about it, but the whole reading was incredibly apropos, so I wound up including all of it.
And I may have found a title. Not ready to post it yet, since I'm still looking for other options (for probably dumb reasons I am pulling the title from an existing body of song lyrics), but for now I'll be calling this novel ST instead of M&C.
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
MayNoWriMo Day 2
Word count for the day: 3,496!
I have two chapters completed!
I am having fun. So, sooooo much fun.
I have two chapters completed!
I am having fun. So, sooooo much fun.
Monday, May 1, 2017
MayNoWriMo, Day 1
That's basically what I'm doing, right? A NaNo?
2,157 words today. Finished scene 1. Kept faithful stats on where and when and what and how much, and need a few more days' worth of data before I can draw any meaningful conclusions.
2,157 words today. Finished scene 1. Kept faithful stats on where and when and what and how much, and need a few more days' worth of data before I can draw any meaningful conclusions.
Going Rogue
So, I'm setting FAaLA aside for a bit and writing a contemporary Romance this month. M'kay bye!
...
What, you want more explanation that that?
Okay. Here's the sequence of events that led to this impulsive and probably ill-conceived decision:
1) After a few days of flying high on enthusiasm for FAaLA, I crashed into meh-ness. I have the set-up all clear in my mind but can't seem to get a handle on the overall plot arc. Maybe it just needs to marinate a little longer? I dunno. Also, I've been reading a TON of Sci-Fi lately to psych myself up for returning to the genre, but maybe I overdid it.
2) I've also been watching a ton of the Avatar: The Last Airbender TV show with The Son (holy crap, it's SO MUCH better than it needs to be), and following the main "bad guy's" arc from villain to antagonist to protagonist/ally has made me re-think Leopold's arc in Mender. I'm still waiting on some agent replies-- including on a partial request-- but if I don't get an offer of representation from this first batch of queries I may go in and do another 1-2 weeks of edits on Mender to sharpen that aspect of the story. I don't want to interrupt the forward momentum of another book to do that.
3) For years, I've been building a modern-day New England town in my mind and wishing I had a story to put there. For a while, I thought it would make a great TV show. Then I came up with a low fantasy premise, but it felt like I was shoe-horning the fantasy elements in there to make it fit with the rest of my "brand". And then I read the Raven Cycle and realized that my idea was a pale shadow of that series. So I have this whole town-- maps drawn, history thought through, minor characters put in place-- and nothing to do with it.
4) Ever since I read Rachel Aaron/Bach's book 2,000 to 10,000, I've been itching to push myself and see just how fast I can write a decent first draft. What holds me back is the fear of fucking it up and writing something that winds up needing tons of revision drafts. Therefore, I think the best way to experiment with this is on a project that meets the following criteria: 1) shorter than my usual novels, with a simpler plot, and 2) something I'm excited to write, yet won't be devastated to just trunk if the first draft turns out to be a hilarious mess.
5) Thursday night I had a dream, and when I woke up Friday morning I had one of those writing moments when several ideas that have been simmering in your story-pot come together on a plate, complete with sprig of parsley for garnish. The town + the story and MC from the upmarket contemporary novel I tried to write in grad school + a romantic hero I love as a character but who would never fit into a Fantasy or Sci-Fi world = 70-80K contemporary Romance, aiming more for Rainbow Rowell territory than Harlequin.
I gave myself three days to plan it-- I know-- and no more than 31 to write the first draft, starting today. I'm going to be keeping track of writing hours and word counts, and probably making a series of very boring posts reporting them all. This month is as much about data-gathering as it is about writing a book.
So that's me this month! I'm a loose cannon, baby!
(Oh, and this book has no title yet. I'm calling it M&C now, for the heroine and hero's first names.)
...
What, you want more explanation that that?
Okay. Here's the sequence of events that led to this impulsive and probably ill-conceived decision:
1) After a few days of flying high on enthusiasm for FAaLA, I crashed into meh-ness. I have the set-up all clear in my mind but can't seem to get a handle on the overall plot arc. Maybe it just needs to marinate a little longer? I dunno. Also, I've been reading a TON of Sci-Fi lately to psych myself up for returning to the genre, but maybe I overdid it.
2) I've also been watching a ton of the Avatar: The Last Airbender TV show with The Son (holy crap, it's SO MUCH better than it needs to be), and following the main "bad guy's" arc from villain to antagonist to protagonist/ally has made me re-think Leopold's arc in Mender. I'm still waiting on some agent replies-- including on a partial request-- but if I don't get an offer of representation from this first batch of queries I may go in and do another 1-2 weeks of edits on Mender to sharpen that aspect of the story. I don't want to interrupt the forward momentum of another book to do that.
3) For years, I've been building a modern-day New England town in my mind and wishing I had a story to put there. For a while, I thought it would make a great TV show. Then I came up with a low fantasy premise, but it felt like I was shoe-horning the fantasy elements in there to make it fit with the rest of my "brand". And then I read the Raven Cycle and realized that my idea was a pale shadow of that series. So I have this whole town-- maps drawn, history thought through, minor characters put in place-- and nothing to do with it.
4) Ever since I read Rachel Aaron/Bach's book 2,000 to 10,000, I've been itching to push myself and see just how fast I can write a decent first draft. What holds me back is the fear of fucking it up and writing something that winds up needing tons of revision drafts. Therefore, I think the best way to experiment with this is on a project that meets the following criteria: 1) shorter than my usual novels, with a simpler plot, and 2) something I'm excited to write, yet won't be devastated to just trunk if the first draft turns out to be a hilarious mess.
5) Thursday night I had a dream, and when I woke up Friday morning I had one of those writing moments when several ideas that have been simmering in your story-pot come together on a plate, complete with sprig of parsley for garnish. The town + the story and MC from the upmarket contemporary novel I tried to write in grad school + a romantic hero I love as a character but who would never fit into a Fantasy or Sci-Fi world = 70-80K contemporary Romance, aiming more for Rainbow Rowell territory than Harlequin.
I gave myself three days to plan it-- I know-- and no more than 31 to write the first draft, starting today. I'm going to be keeping track of writing hours and word counts, and probably making a series of very boring posts reporting them all. This month is as much about data-gathering as it is about writing a book.
So that's me this month! I'm a loose cannon, baby!
(Oh, and this book has no title yet. I'm calling it M&C now, for the heroine and hero's first names.)
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