Okay, it's time to rock this while I am still feeling temporarily insane.
I am going to ensconce myself (ensconce is a seriously cool word) to write my YA Urban Fantasy Thingy. I got it all in my head and I stocked up on food and beverages. I also discovered that I am a better discovery writer than outliner and that I can average 1.5 k words an hour (1.5 GOOD words). Break. Rinse. Repeat.
The only thing I have are a few turning points which are zingy and cool and I'll write towards those.
The weekend is before me and Wednesday is a Holiday so no college. I'll shirk classes on Thursday and Friday because I can (literature classes and I forewarned my professor. Surprisingly she's kinda cool with it. Or she might pity my stupidity).
Feel free to drop by and post a line of encouragement/advice in this thread. Or a lengthy diatribe telling me that I am a delusional idiot who is bound to fail.
So, in the words of Darkwing Duck,
LET'S GET DANGEROUS!
(Yeah, I know, writing a novel isn't that dangerous. But let me feel cool for a nanosecond, okay?)
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Some people like to write by isolating themselves from normal contact and just turning it out hour after hour till it's done...if it works for you, go for it, by all means. Or at least give it a try.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Good luck. Sort of a National Novel Writing Week. NNWW
You can do it.
Posted by MAP (Member # 8631) on :
Good luck. Sounds like fun. Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :
For some of us writing a novel is the most dangerous thing there is.
Good luck buddy.
Posted by Osiris (Member # 9196) on :
Beware the paper cuts! Or, I guess in this day and age, carpal-tunnel syndrome!
Good luck my friend.
Posted by aspirit (Member # 7974) on :
Sounds dangerous to me. What if you forget to eat that food you've saved up? What if your friends or classmates try to kidnap you for an evening of fun or studying, and you must fight them off? What if by the end of the week, you're a mumbling lunatic who's forgotten how to converse with real people?
Oh, well. Best of luck!
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
When you start wandering around the room you've locked yourself into, thinking of weird things you have to do or want to do, rather than thinking of writing, it'll be time to rethink the experiment...
Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :
Back in November, I was able to sit for 10 hours, working on my thesis. If I could only do that when writing fiction, I would be unstopable...
Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
Thanks, gang. I managed a lil' more than 10k yesterday. Sitting down for another round.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
You've already been distracted. You posted here.
Posted by extrinsic (Member # 8019) on :
Slam writing does have advantages (slam: an improvisational performance). One major one: subconscious influences. How the subconscious influences creativity is nonquantifiable but qualifiable. The difficulty and tedium and frustration I have with slam writing is filtering out the ephemera from the chaff and putting the ephemera to influential use. But that's what rewriting and revision is for. Raw draft writing, that's for slam writing. Before and after: planning, evaluating, and adjustment.
My biggest drawback from slam writing arises when I recognize summary and explanatory recitals--tells--plague my raw drafts, and content and organization issues. However, with effort taken to identify tells that aren't working I can locate areas for revision. Outlining allows me to adjust content and organization. Expression, now, there's the friction rub. (Expression or voice: idiosyncracy and idiom features, and attitude toward a topic.) ---- My master's thesis due in nine months for defense is a work of fiction, 60-ish pages, 15,000 to 21,000 words. This past semester's grades posted today: 4.0. It was the toughest semester I've had to date. A tough semester of reading, writing, and responding coursework, and research and documentation coursework, the latter about busted my chaps.
However, I'm now fully accredited for teaching writing curricula at the college level.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Congratulations, Foste, on your 10k yesterday. Keep up the good work!
And congrats to you, too, extrinsic. When you get college work teaching writing (if you don't already have it), please let us know what college (so when people ask for suggestions on a good place to go to study writing, I can add yours to the list).
Posted by extrinsic (Member # 8019) on :
Thanks, Ms. Dalton Woodbury. I'm coaching, mentoring, and tutoring writers now. Teaching is a few years down the road yet. Maybe an online course sooner, if I can figure out the logistical details to my satisfaction. One must-do: publish an anthology of student work, so that students experience the full process from inspiration to submission to editorial screening and copyediting to publication and have a product in hand to show for their efforts.
Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
Got up early. Hit another 10k today. Day 3 looms ahead...
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Foste, you are doing it! Go, go, go! Great job!
And, extrinsic, sounds like a great plan. Hope the anthology works out.
Posted by History (Member # 9213) on :
Best of luck, Foste. I'm envious. I'm lucky if I can get 1500 "good" words a day when I have a day off. If you need help staying put, like with an intavenous or oral-gastric tube for continuous fluids and nutrition, let me know. I can also set you up with a urinary catheter and a commode. The battleaxe nurse to keep everything going and clean costs extra.
Respectfully, Dr. Bob
Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
Thanks KDW! Doctor, I'll take you up on that offer around day 6 or 7 (can you get me some zoloft, by any chance?)
7...k...left...today's...quota...must...stay...strong.
Posted by babygears81 (Member # 9745) on :
Go Foste! And writing a novel can be absolutely dangerous, just ask Tom Spanbauer. Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
Almost there. 20k or so left.
Aiming for Friday, possibly Saturday if I need to ram another 10k in.
Posted by GreatNovus (Member # 9671) on :
This topic made me think of The Dark Half or whatever that one S King novel was.
Also Foste is a cool guy best of luck and don't forget to shine shoes. Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
Thanks GreatNovus! I still need to shine your shoes for that... you know... coupon.
Wrote for more than 12 hours yesterday.
I swear one more day of this and I'll... wait. waiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.
I AM DONE! *manic laugh* Fairy dust laced high fives for everyone!
Now I'll go and sleep and sleep of revising and editing.
Posted by GreatNovus (Member # 9671) on :
I thinkit would crush me to do get that much writing done and then try to edit it or get critques from someone. So much work only to be followed by so much work. Gives me a headache just thinking about it. Either way congrats on getting done your work ethic is inspiring to me. Looking forward to reading the finished product when it comes out.
Posted by Tiergan (Member # 7852) on :
Congrats Foste!
Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :
You be crazy, dude! But in a good way.
Posted by Ben Brooks (Member # 9727) on :
Well done! I'm inspired to try something similar one day just to see if I can.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Hey...good one. Never got to saying anything encouraging but You Did It. Niiice. And Good Job.
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