posted
I suggest that it would also help if your buddy is familiar with your genre. I'll be someone's buddy if they'll be mine! I'd prefer a buddy who enjoys the type of scifi written by people like OSC, Anne McCaffrey, or Sheri Tepper. (Hopefully I'm not copying these people, but they've all influenced me.) My milieu is probably closest to Anne McCaffrey's Pern, in that it involves a couple alien species who communicate telepathically and bond with humans, thousands of years after the planet is settled by colonists from Earth.
Posts: 818 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
I checked in with the Hatrackers forum over there at NaNoWriMo. I shelved the old stuff I was playing around with and pulled out another idea altogether to run with for November. This could go down badly, but it's gonna go down.
Posts: 151 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
I think those numbers were rather comforting. That means that all you have to do is write about 3300 novels, and you have a statistical chance of having atleast one published.
So, if you treated every month like NaNo... you'd have 12 a year. Thus, it should only take about 3000 years to get a novel published. And, if it sells well, you should have a decently stocked junk drawer that you could then resubmit.
posted
:tents fingers: Excellent. Anyone at the Utah kickoff yesterday? I was there, and one of the vets mentioned an "enemy" support system. I'll have to look around and see if I can find that. I don't know if it's a "pray for your enemies" kind of thing.
Posts: 366 | Registered: Sep 2006
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posted
12:52 a.m. in Iceland. I started typing at 12:02 and have 901 words to show for it. I'm excited by this. With a 2500 word a day goal, I should be able to meet that during the rest of today without a problem.
posted
Well, I'm an Anne McCaffrey and Sheri Tepper type of guy, so if Autumnmuse needs a buddy, just give me a call. I'm not sure about the beneifts of NaNoWriMo. Sounds like an ideal way of burning out, but whatever cooks your oyster. I prefer slow and steady...
Posts: 575 | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
Once upon a time I posted that your chances of dying climbing everest (20%)are greater than your chances of finishing nanowrimo (10%).
The nano site is down- I wonder why. I can't imagine people are posting to it rather than writing. Though I guess if 90% of the people are following a losing strategy, that could explain it because there's a projected 50,000 involved this year.
P.S. I've been trying slow and steady for fourtten years and have squat to show for it. I'll let you know if I get anywhere with this.
[This message has been edited by franc li (edited November 01, 2004).]
posted
Whew! I got started. Total word count so far: 2,209. This is going to be both harder and easier than I thought. Harder, because of outside distractions and my baby being in the same room with the computer. Easier, because once I was a few pages into it, it became easier to not worry about quality so much. As a consequence, I am sure I am producing drivel but I'm still determined to do it, and maybe when I'm done my first draft will at least be a jumping off point for the rewrite into . . . dum dum dum . . . the next great novel to appear on the scifi shelves in every bookstore, everywhere!
Posts: 818 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
I was sailing along (okay, as sailingly along as possible when quantity trumps quality) when it struck me that I had come to despise my main character. Almost 3K words into the process and I hated the guy. I mean really could not stand much at all that I was discovering about him that I thought I knew differently. He was supposed to be cold and hard and he turned out to just be hateful.
I decided that his story is either not ready to tell or not mine to tell in the first place. I bagged it and rifled my filing cabinet for anything that would coalesce into a workable story, and I think I've found it. I had another 1K words in short order, then piddled about and got a few hundred more down after babysitting my granddaughter for a couple hours after work. I can already see some problems with some of the characters as I hastily outlined the basics, but I think I can work it out. I kinda have to now. I somehow dragged someone from work into the NaNoWriMo fold and she's the type who, though basically a nice person overall, will make sure I'm aware of her disappointment in any lack of progress.
Anyway, all that aside, good to hear some of us are off to good starts already!
posted
I've got a daily word count goal of 3k words...even with my week off, that will exactly make it to 50k by the end of the month and so far so good!
Posts: 3567 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
Well, hopefully. Last time it took more than a day to figure it out.
However it turns out, the results won't really start coming in until later this evening, so you have alllllllllllllll day to reach your quota. Even if you only get 1500 or so down today, at least you'll only have to make up a little bit tomorrow.
posted
Day 2 - up to 5637 words, would have been more but for this whole election thing...
Gotta get some sleep, since Ohio won't hurry up and make up its mind! (Uh, I won't mind, as long as it does what I want it to do...)
I'm almost done with my third chapter - got an mc I like, a potential hunky love interest (who will still be hunky when revealed for his true self), but realized I need an antagonist.
posted
Well, I just finished Chapter 1, at 4,529 words. I like the way it ends, but I think the whole chapter has far too much exposition. I'm just having a hard time avoiding that because my world is so different from Earth. Oh well, I'll leave it all in for now, and probably hack at it quite viciously come January. (I've already decided once November is over I'm not even going to look at it for a whole month, then hopefully finish my second draft by Feb.)
Overall I am quite proud. I have started this novel several times in the past, once writing 27 pages of it. This time, although only on page 22, I feel that I am already on the way to victory!!
posted
You guys are all doing terrific!! Keep up the enthusiam! One day at a time, though. Can you match or beat your word total again today? I bet you can!!
Autumnmuse: January is a good time to think about that. For now... JUST WRITE! *g*
punahougirl84: Want some help in coming up with your antagonist? I and others would be happy to offer suggestions, if you like! Just email or post either what you have so far, or a short synopsis of the characters and the plot you have in mind.
Christine: No excuses now, election day is over. WRITE! *G*
Jules, GZ: Keep up the good work!
Warbric: Still going strong? Did you make up the first day's word count after you changed novels?
posted
Don't worry about exposition, don't worry about wording, just punch it out there!
I am pleased to say that despite getting highly distracted by politics yesterday, I managed to write 2866 words, only 134 less than my daily goal. I think I can make those up today...hope so....off to tackle that challenge now!
posted
Yes, shadowynd, I am back on track. The election coverage kept my attention divided pretty much last night, but I still got some work done. Having huge difficulties with Chapter One, but Chapter Two is pretty straight and Chapter Three is poised to take flight, but I'm feeling strong reservations about going too far ahead without nailing down Chapter One. On the other hand, if I let that slow me down and lose the momentum on chapters that are being more cooperative and letting themselves be written, then I'll likely regret it. I may let sleeping dogs lie for a bit and charge on with what's working and fix that which isn't later.
If none of that rambling makes any sense to you at all, then you obviously do not make it a habit of mixing waffles and syrup, a couple cups of coffee, M&Ms and other chocolate candy and Red Bull into your diet all in the same morning.
Edit: Ack! So hyper I forgot to say that my word count (including the sparse and reluctant Chapter One) is now at 6,332.
[This message has been edited by Warbric (edited November 03, 2004).]
posted
Has anyone else found the NaNoWriMo report card? I'm finding it a great tool for keeping track and a useful procrastination device. When I need to turn away from the page, I go input my current word count and the red numbers that pop up telling me I'm nowhere near my word count really spur me to go back to writing.
I'm at 5131 words, but I got distracted today and wrote very little. Still have an hour before midnight and only, um, 1500 words to write to stay on target. Yikes!
posted
I love the report card, though I had made one of my own before NaNo started (I love Excel), so I just added some of the fun stuff off the the other one to that. Putting in the word count every 10-15 mintues this afternoon really pulled me through today's session.
posted
Warbric, I am a strong advocate of writing chapters out of order if Chapter 19 is more exciting to you (or more ready to be written) than Chapter 10 (or whatever).
The important thing is to get the stuff down on paper. You can go back and sort it out and line it up and transition from one to another later.
Writing what wants to be written when it wants to be written makes what you write more interesting and fresh than it might be if you forced it to wait until you got around to it in a more linear fashion (that is, making Chapter 19 wait until you have written the eighteen chapters that come before it).
Movie scenes are not always filmed in the order in which they are edited together, and story scenes don't need to be either.
Skip over things--put in a note about what needs to go there, so you can write it later--and go on to the stuff you are excited about.
By the way, I don't
quote:make it a habit of mixing waffles and syrup, a couple cups of coffee, M&Ms and other chocolate candy and Red Bull
, but I think I understood what you were talking about with your chapters. If I didn't, then my whole post here is off-base.
Here are some virtual chocolates, though, in case they help.
posted
I made my goal again today, barely. I am trying to write 2000 a day.
The problem I am having is because my antagonist has to seem like a really good guy to my protagonist, but the reader needs to figure out he's a slimeball. Problem is, my POV is pretty tightly on the protagonist, so I can't show anything he doesn't know. Right now I'm just going to let the reader discover right along with him that all is not well in this green Eden. But it is pretty hard.
Uncle Orson sure seems to make it look effortless, all his mental descriptions and characterization. I am fighting and fighting to make mine coherent. I fear that I am spending too much time explaining some things, and not enough time explaining others. Aaargh!
Morale a bit lower today. But I at least have 6600 words, so it is not a lost cause, even though it was like pulling teeth to get them.
posted
The key to this Autumn is to stop worrying. Things can be changed after, but first you need get your story down. Now buck up and flow...
Posts: 575 | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
Keep in mind that the reader will likely start suspecting all sorts of characters, because they know that there must be an antagonist whereas your protagonist doesn't know he's in a novel, so may believe that the things going wrong in his life are coincidence, or something.
Just keeping the focus on the antagonist slightly more than he would deserve from his visible participation in the story so far can drop a pretty big hint.
posted
Show don't tell! Show don't tell! Show don't tell!
<Christine runs around pulling all her hair out.>
It's a shame, too, I have pretty nice hair...
Sigh, but for some reason I feel as if the first threee chapters of my novel have been almost entirely told instead of shown. I think it's because at the last minute I decided to start the story quite a while before I had intended to in the first place and it's not matching my outline and so I don't know what to show. So, I know the problem, but why can't I get it out of my mind and say, "Ok,then do better in the rewrite and keep writing this one!" Yesterday I ran out of steam and only wrote 2k words. Grrrrrrr
posted
Christine, perhaps you should, as kdw suggests above, start writing at a different point? Latch onto a comfortable place in your outline and start afresh there. Don't worry about the gap; You can fill that in later. Just get those words out now!
posted
Autumnmuse: Are you putting your protagonist in every scene? If you insert a scene without your protag, then you have to use someone elses POV. It could be an opportunity to drop hints about the true nature of your antagonist.
Christine: Don't worry about "show don't tell" too much. One thing about "tell" is that it is faster than "show"; it takes fewer words to write and gets the jist of everything down on paper (or up on the screen ). As you work through the month, if you find yourself getting stuck while moving forward, you can always go back to a more "telly" section and re-write it so that it is "showy" instead. It will keep you writing, increase your word count and possibly inspire you for what can happen in future chapters.
And don't worry too much about your word count being down. Some days you'll write more some less. You only have to shoot for an average.
Everyone: Keep up the good work and keep us posted! Now stop lurking, reading or whatever and go write another chapter .
posted
I hit 8179 yesterday, and gave up since I was so tired staying up with the election coverage... then spent 1 1/2 hours reading Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul, a gift from a friend who can't wait to read my first published work... she'd better not be holding her breath!
Thanks Susan! The basic idea is there is this woman (27) who maintains a travel web site. Trouble is, she doesn't travel - ever since her best friend got killed when they went on their "post-graduation-travel-Europe" trip. Her site is great - she relies on tons of research, world-wide web cams, and sending her parents on trips instead.
Stuff happens, and she ends up trying out Hawaii's new virtual travel agency. Kind of a stepping stone to get back traveling. It will turn out to NOT be virutal, but a way to travel to other planets... The owner is a scientist/inventor on the run from the government (doesn't want to be the next Einstein/atom bomb guy), and the only travel agent is a guy from another planet (my mc figures out he's holographically enhanced to look like god's gift to women - see a pic of the guy who plays Horation Hornblower in the A&E series if you want to know the looks I'm basing him off of). He's actually more feline in nature, but she finds out later.
So troubles will happen as she travels, finds out what is going on, gets stranded, etc. The agent will end up with her (romance eventually). I plan to have her visit 3 different places.
I don't know if I should limit myself to antagonists at each stop or if there should be a main one, who might also be traveling the way my mc is.
I'm headed into Chapter Four, where she takes her first trip. Any thoughts on an antagonist for what is apparently an adventure tale (and I will go back and review some, like Indiana Jones)?
EDIT - now that I've written this, I just realized (duh) that I could have a government agent as an antagonist - maybe stumbles on the travel agency and somehow ends up following (having to follow?) my mc... Wow! Just doing this little thing makes that so obvious... though maybe some other less cliche ideas would be better.
[This message has been edited by punahougirl84 (edited November 04, 2004).]
First thoughts: It immediately struck me that your antagonist might be an alien who has a vested interest in keeping such a travel device from being used, or conversely, one that wishes to use it to travel to Earth for nefarious purposes. Of course that's an "off the cuff" thought that hasn't gone through any expansions or revisions, but in this case it's probably more important to throw something out to you than to sit and mull it over myself.
Perhaps someone here will have a better idea, or can take the thread of my idea and muchly improve it-- which shouldn't be too difficult!
Your antagonist could be a government agent sent to either supress the invention or to abscond with it for the government's own use. Either way that could allow you to strand your traveling pair for a bit.
posted
Well Punahougirl84, it sounds like you already have an antagonist. If the scientist is running from the government, then they are the obvious choice. You also have your mc struggling against her personal demons. I don't know if you want to try bringing the two ideas together and even have the antagonist responsible for the friend's death all those years ago.
Or the antagonist is the "dead" friend (of course she didn't really die...). I'm thinking a bit of the movie Sneakers with Danny Glover and Robert Redford.
posted
I'm loving this! I thought I was thrashing about unproductively when I came here and see that I'm not alone... we're all gripped firmly in the throes of creation.
kdw: Yes, I see your point. I think that is what I'm going to have to do. I'm wrapping up Chapter Three, though I'm certain that Chapter One -- when it wants to be born -- may impact upon it, or maybe vice versa. Then I'll take a long look at my (sketchy) outline and see what jumps out and begs to be written right now. The remark about the syrup, coffee, chocolate and Red Bull consumption was a comment on my currently very high intake of simple sugars and caffeine which is probably wreaking havoc on my health and nerves, if not my communication skills.
Christine: I keep wrestling with that same monster. I feel the telling is taking over and the showing is lost in the shuffle, but I keep trying to stay in the mind of "just put it on paper" now and stress out about polishing it later. Not that easy to do, is it? I'm one of those guys with long hair and I find myself tugging on it some in my distraction... when the frustration begins to mount the temptation to start tearing at it and ripping it out is overwhelming sometimes, so I feel for you.
Robyn_Hood, shadowynd, and yanos: Nice coaching and great advice. I've been making it my habit to stop by here first each time I sit down to resume working on my project. I love the advice and encouragement.
Fellow NaNos: I'm motivated to keep at it by checking your word counts and reading your accounts of the process and your progress. Keep it going!
[This message has been edited by Warbric (edited November 04, 2004).]
posted
Remember the three conflicts they taught in English class in school?
Man against man
Man against nature
Man against himself
Lee, your antagonist doesn't have to be a character, it can be the problems your mc encounters in this not-so-virtual travel she's doing.
An antagonistic character can complicate things in a story, but stories don't need such characters in order to work. Stories just need obstacles and things going wrong that the mc has to deal with. The story is about the mc and what s/he does in response to what happens. It's not about the antagonist.
posted
What I'm really loving most about NaNo is the total feeling of freedom I'm having. Just write it. Don't try to make it pretty. Just those words on paper, and as long as the plot keeps moving forward (more or less) all is good.
That and a certian psyco competive streak coming out that is really begin egged on by min word counts, quotas, and all those other bars on peoples names over and NaNo central (the 27000 guy excluded. Those people are just really crazy and I can't compete with that and go to work too (probably couldn't compete with that and not go to work, come to think of it)).
Spelling, grammer, typos, plot holes... Those are problems that are meant for sometime after Nov. 30th.
posted
I'm really liking this NaNo deal. 4 days in and I'm at 7,000 words, it really is crazy. Thanks for posting that reporty card Robyn_Hood, thats really cool and like the contest itself surprisingly motivating. My story is total crap, I don't know where the next paragraphi is going let alone the chapter or the book. But it's cruising along anyways.
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