29 November, 2008
Phew! Made It!
I set a deadline for myself to type the words "The" and "End" by midnight last night (and, um, actually be AT the end of my story, heh!). I hit 50,000 words around 7:30 p.m. but still had to bring the story to a close. I typed "The End" at 11:49 p.m. and (thank goodness the servers weren't too loaded) uploaded and verified my NaNoWriMo victory.
This year's novel was some pretty tough slogging and there were a few days when I was fairly sure I wasn't going to see this one through. But it surprised me, as it always does, that once I started writing, the pieces would just sort of fall into place.
I had to laugh last weekend when, after I had sent my main characters to Victoria, British Columbia in search of a relative, I realized I had spent so little time there that I knew next to nothing about the city. I needed a rather exclusive neighbourhood that the relative might have been relocated to when she was a child. I looked through a couple of real estate sites and picked one that sounded swanky enough and explored it on Google Maps. As it turned out, there was an apparently large children's hospital just a stone's throw away (and this character would have been in need of care throughout her childhood). Sometimes, you can pull part of your plot out of your ass and it'll actually work! Haha!
So, anyway, I'm now 4-for-4 in NaNoWriMo and I'm in the planning stages for next November. I think I want to set aside some funds and have someone come in and help me keep the apartment clean and to find some good healthy take-away restaurants. Maybe that'll hold off at least a couple of my meltdowns. If nothing else, my hovel won't be as stinky and dusty! And I think I don't want to type anything at all between now and November 1, 2009!
~~ victoria on 10:57 AM ~~ 3 comments
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25 November, 2008
For Those Who Keep Asking To Read It
Here's an excerpt from my NaNoWriMo novel:
Labels: NaNoWriMo
~~ victoria on 7:36 PM ~~ 0 comments
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16 November, 2008
NaNoWriMo Update
That's my NaNoWriMo Author Page reflected in my cup of tea...
I'm a little more than half way through to my 50,000 word count, which is great because we're a smidge more than half way through the month! My goal for this weekend was to hit 30,000 words and after my last writing session I'm at 29,371, so I think I'll revise my goal upward to 32,000 words by the end of this weekend (for most of this month, I've been revising my goals downward so this makes a nice change).
To be honest, last weekend I wasn't sure I'd be able to continue with my novel. I spent a glorious day Saturday with friends down in the South Bay and had gone to a friend's photography show opening Friday night, which meant that I hadn't added to my word count for about 60 hours. That, while being confronted with a very messy apartment pushed me over the edge into meltdown mode last Sunday. And yet, as I was trying to work through the meltdown, I peeled back the layers and realized that I had set myself down this dark path a week before, at the first write-in I attended. I made a terrible rookie mistake: I discussed the plot of my novel with other people. Dumb, dumb and DUMB! I had no more than gone through my synopsis when the woman next to me said, "Oh, well don't go see The Secret Life of Bees, then." Oooooookay. You know, it's not as though I thought I had the Most! Original! Story! Ever! Told! (and really, aren't there but 25 plots in the universe? Doesn't every story kind of toe the line of one of those 25 or so plots?), but it really took the piss out of me to have someone sit there and tell me she'd heard (or seen) it before. It was one thing I just did not need to hear when I had just started writing my story. It took me a good ten days to regain any sense of enthusiasm I had for writing it.
So, at the approximately 180,000 word mark of my NaNoWriMo experience (including my first three novels), I think I'm finally beginning to hit my stride as a writer. Mind you, it's still bloody awful, but for the last 15,000 words or so, I've done a lot more "set decorating" and character developing and a lot less dictation. And, although I try to keep my early drafts away from kitty eyes, Simon seems to approve of how I'm writing the cat parts this time (well, mostly).
It's kind of a relief to have built up a 2-3 day word cushion. I think it lines me up well to hit the 50k mark by Thanksgiving when I can use that time to relax and spend time with friends (and think about the prize I'm awarding myself this year for going 4-4!). But more than that, for the first time since I've started participating in NaNoWriMo, I feel like I can tap into the wealth of writing resources and inspiration (thanks to my friends for lending me books and sending handouts!) without the paralyzing fear of Oh no! I don't have TIME to get into those exercises! It's quite liberating and I actually am starting to feel like a writer.
But, no, you can't read any of my novel right now. Sorry! ;-)
Labels: NaNoWriMo
~~ victoria on 4:29 PM ~~ 0 comments
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02 November, 2008
NaNoWriMo Update
My little counter graphic at the top of the right nav bar seems to be having difficulty. I'm guessing it's due to the annual NaNoWriMo.org server slowness and it should start showing up, once we get through the first four or five days.
I put in a late-night surge last night and broke the 5,000-word mark. My goal for the weekend is to hit 10k, since I'll need a cushion because I'm going to lose a lot of writing time this week between the election, a friend's photography show opening and a housewarming party.
I just need to get a few more of my weekend chores out of the way and then I can get back to writing.
Labels: NaNoWriMo
~~ victoria on 8:20 AM ~~ 0 comments
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31 October, 2008
The Madness Begins (Again)
In a little under two hours, I'll begin Year Four of my participation in National Novel Writing Month. The plan, right now, is that I'll get a couple of hours of novel writing in before collapsing in bed for a few hours, then get back to work tomorrow. The other part of the plan for this weekend is to get out as far ahead as I can, since my social calendar is starting to fill out (why does everyone plan these great parties and show openings during NaNoWriMo???).
A couple of weeks ago I read through last year's novel, trying to figure out where I was going to go with this year's. As usual, I'd read a few pages and think, "It's not as bad as I thought it was!" and then I'd read further and think, "Oh my GAWD! It's even worse than I thought!" Good or bad, I did discover that I wrote myself a good jumping-off point for this year's novel, so I have some idea of what Jade Oolong's adventure is going to be.
So, I have 1:45 left to take care of a few other things before I get stuck in on my 50,000-word brick novel. And, just to make it more challenging, Simon has volunteered to drape himself over my right shoulder while I try to type. Oy vey.
Labels: NaNoWriMo
~~ victoria on 10:31 PM ~~ 0 comments
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28 November, 2007
NaNo Update (For Anyone Who Cares)
I'll leave this at the top until the end of November, so you can watch me triumph and then crash and burn and then triumph again before crawling across the finish line.
11/25/2007 edit: It's unofficial, but, as you may have noticed, I hit the 50,000-word goal this evening. I'll take the next couple of days to make some edits here and there (adding, NOT DELETING words!) and will upload it for the official word count Tuesday night or Wednesday.
Labels: NaNoWriMo
~~ victoria on 11:59 PM ~~ 0 comments
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25 November, 2007
Simon Sunday: Worth 1000 Words
I would have finished my novel so much faster if I had just plunked in 50 photographs!
I'm down to the last 2,000 words to make the 50,000 NaNoWriMo finish line, so a photo of Simon, taken this morning when he was in an especially reflective mood, will have to suffice for this week.
Labels: cats, furkids, NaNoWriMo, Simon, Simon Sunday
~~ victoria on 5:08 PM ~~ 0 comments
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18 November, 2007
Simon Sunday: "Aren't You Finished With That #@%! Novel Yet???
Simon only remembers the parts of Chris Baty's NaNoWriMo Bible "No Plot? No Problem!" that refer to snacking. Therefore, he's rather disappointed that not only is snacking NOT happening as often as he thinks it should be, but, in my push to hit 35,000 words this afternoon, his "tea" was a couple of minutes late. He's retaliating by leaping on to the back of my desk chair and draping himself over my shoulder, digging his back claws into my neck while I'm trying to type.
And, to top it all off, he thinks I'm writing the cat parts ALL WRONG. I'll be tappity-tapping away writing an amusing scene with one of the characters' cats (two characters have cats...so far), only to have him leap onto my desk and add such colourful scene description and back story like:
"lkopihdljkfdghewr0000000000000000000" and
"\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\098fgh"
Which wouldn't be so bad except that the first bit only counts as one word and the second one doesn't count at all!
Labels: cats, furkids, NaNoWriMo, Simon, Simon Sunday
~~ victoria on 8:06 PM ~~ 0 comments
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11 November, 2007
Confidential To My Neighbour
Since you won't get a cell phone that gets decent reception in your own apartment and, therefore, insist on conducting all of your personal calls either outside my front door or outside my window, talking loud enough that I had to PAUSE my iTunes (I'm catching up on my This American Life podcasts) because your voice was too distracting, then I'm just going to take down your entire conversation, WORD-FOR-WORD, and put it in my NaNoWriMo novel!
Just so you know.
Sincerely,
Vicster
~~ victoria on 8:01 PM ~~ 0 comments
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01 November, 2007
NaNoWriMo Day One: 2051 Words
Considering that, as of 7:20 p.m., PDT, when I started this thing, all I had was a main character (two if we count her cat) and a few scribbles here and there, 2,000 words is pretty dang good. I was really scratching for a beginning to my novel, to the point where I asked one of the deck hands on the ferry if I could read the first paragraph of the novel she was reading, just to kick my imagination into gear. It helped (though my first paragraph is nothing at all like the one I read).
So I can go to bed, relieved to not be behind in the word count right from the get-go.
Anyway, the shorter of it is this: Posting here may be light-ish this month while I pound out Yet Another Crappy Novel. I will try to keep up with the Simon Sundays, though, because it's important to keep his fans happy. ;-)
Labels: eeek, NaNoWriMo, Why it is
~~ victoria on 10:09 PM ~~ 0 comments
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30 November, 2006
NaNoWriMo: Fin.
I actually made it to 50,000 words last Saturday night, but I wasn't quite finished with the story, so I worked on that Sunday and finally got to write "The End" some time around 6pm on Sunday.
Obviously, the novel needs a hell of a lot of work (OMG, when I was telling my friends about it over Thanksgiving I found so many places where my plot will disintegrate), but at least this is a draft of a novel that I can edit into something that I may possibly let someone else read. Aside from the swiss-cheesey plot, I have entirely too much dialog going on. So those are my starting points.
So, I'm two-for-two on NaNoWriMo and am looking forward to next year. I've even got an idea for the next novel. But tonight...I needs me some sleepies!
Labels: NaNoWriMo
~~ victoria on 9:15 PM ~~ 0 comments
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22 November, 2006
NaNoWriMo Update: End of Week Three
I'm down to my last 5,000 words, which is good news, except I had hoped to hit 50k by tonight. An unfortunate bout of writer's block completely derailed my effort on Monday, when I only managed to tap out 60 words or so.
Still, I'm on pace to make the goal Very Soon Now, though I will keep working on the novel all the way through November 30.
But tomorrow, it's all about good friends and good food! I wish everyone Stateside a Happy Thanksgiving. May it be a day where the hardships dissipate enough that we can clearly see what we do have to be thankful for.
Labels: NaNoWriMo
~~ victoria on 10:39 PM ~~ 0 comments
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