I am becoming more focused on my writing than I’ve ever been before. It’s a strange, yet good feeling. Even when sitting with my lap top in front of the T.V. I keep adding a sentence or two at a time, slow but steady progress.
When I get to the bottom of a page I check my word count and I always think “I’ll just keep going to the next thousand and then I’ll take a break” and by the time I reach that thousand I’m in the middle of a scene and then I don’t want to take a break until I finish that scene.
Yesterday’s words came in dribs and drabs, but I kept at it despite the fact I’m back to feeling sick again. There’s nothing more distracting than your intestinal tract writhing inside you when you’re trying to write. However, I persevered and ended my day about 2,000 words ahead.
Today my goal is to break the 40K mark. Already I’m further into this book than I’ve been ever been with any of my other attempts at novels. It’s a good feeling.
Nov 21, 2008
Nov 19, 2008
Seriously? It’s Wednesday? or Nano, Day 19
I thought yesterday was Wednesday. Of course I thought Monday was Friday. It’s easy to lose track of the days when you’re a practicing hermit. I see I also forgot to post yesterday.
Nothing much to report, other than the steady increase of words. My main characters have reached his planet, which still doesn’t have a name. I suck at naming planets. The last planet they were on was Sigma Alpha IV, which I think I stole from Star Trek.
My female main character is in a real skanky prison, my male main character is else where, kept prisoner with kindness. I am in the process of getting them back together.
The writing has been going so well lately that I actually got to bed early a couple of nights in a row, however, I still ended up sleeping in. Yeah, I know, poor pitiful me. The thing is, if I get more than seven hours of sleep I end up more tired and head-achy than if I don’t get enough sleep. So, I give up. Until the end of Nano I will bow to my body’s desire and stay up that extra hour to watch Star Trek (original series). I mean, to write.
I’m back to the whole - am I going to run out of story before I run out of words thing. I think it’ll be close. It’s taking them a while to find my female MC in the jail she’s in. There’s something a little underhanded going on and the man in charge of the jail is going to have to get his comeuppance. I think he might end up being the father of the woman who’s been pursuing the male MC romantically. Oooo! That would work out great! That’s how she knew Aleksandar was back at the palace . . .
*wanders off to include this new plot development*
Nothing much to report, other than the steady increase of words. My main characters have reached his planet, which still doesn’t have a name. I suck at naming planets. The last planet they were on was Sigma Alpha IV, which I think I stole from Star Trek.
My female main character is in a real skanky prison, my male main character is else where, kept prisoner with kindness. I am in the process of getting them back together.
The writing has been going so well lately that I actually got to bed early a couple of nights in a row, however, I still ended up sleeping in. Yeah, I know, poor pitiful me. The thing is, if I get more than seven hours of sleep I end up more tired and head-achy than if I don’t get enough sleep. So, I give up. Until the end of Nano I will bow to my body’s desire and stay up that extra hour to watch Star Trek (original series). I mean, to write.
I’m back to the whole - am I going to run out of story before I run out of words thing. I think it’ll be close. It’s taking them a while to find my female MC in the jail she’s in. There’s something a little underhanded going on and the man in charge of the jail is going to have to get his comeuppance. I think he might end up being the father of the woman who’s been pursuing the male MC romantically. Oooo! That would work out great! That’s how she knew Aleksandar was back at the palace . . .
*wanders off to include this new plot development*
Nov 17, 2008
Nano, Day 17
Am I driving everyone batty with incoherent, repetitive Nano posts?
Good. Insanity love company.
Yesterday I was taking a break from my procrastinating for lunch and I happened upon another Star Trek marathon. This one with different movies from last weekend. There’s something about Star Trek that’s conducive to writing because I made pretty good progress while I was watching.
At one point, early in the evening, I was conscious of being close to my daily word count but I wanted to “just finish this scene” before I stopped. Before I knew it, I’d not only reached yesterday’s word count, I finished today’s as well. Go me!
Slowly I’m learning to ignore distractions, like the television (I’ve been using the lap top in the living room a lot), games, blogs . . . I’ll open up spider solitaire, but then close it up again because I want to type just another few words first.
Dare I hope this will last?
Good. Insanity love company.
Yesterday I was taking a break from my procrastinating for lunch and I happened upon another Star Trek marathon. This one with different movies from last weekend. There’s something about Star Trek that’s conducive to writing because I made pretty good progress while I was watching.
At one point, early in the evening, I was conscious of being close to my daily word count but I wanted to “just finish this scene” before I stopped. Before I knew it, I’d not only reached yesterday’s word count, I finished today’s as well. Go me!
Slowly I’m learning to ignore distractions, like the television (I’ve been using the lap top in the living room a lot), games, blogs . . . I’ll open up spider solitaire, but then close it up again because I want to type just another few words first.
Dare I hope this will last?
Nov 16, 2008
Nano, Day 16
Well, I’m over the hump. I’ve passed the 25K mark. To celebrate, I bought myself a tub of Nestle French Vanilla ice cream.
I have stopped obsessing over the fact that my prime writing time seems to be after 1 a.m. I spend all day writing a word here, a sentence there, but come 1 a.m. I start to get serious and I probably write a thousand words between 2 and 3.
Why is that I can focus so well at that time and not any other? Yeah, I know I just said I’m going to stop obsessing over it (it’s not like I have any pressing need to get up early in the morning so it’s not the staying up so much, it’s the writing itself) but it would be nice to be able to generate that kind of focus at other times during the day. Just think of the kind of output I could have! It would make the difference between staying home to write and having to go out to work for a living.
The story itself is progressing well. In the beginning I tended to skip ahead just to get the word counts in, now I’m slowly filling in the gaps. The first 30 pages are more or less seamless now, and I’m hoping by the end of the day this will be the first 35 pages (I’ve got my document set for single, not double spacing) and they haven’t even got to his planet yet.
Hmm. Maybe I’ve just answered my own question. I’ve been skipping ahead to get the word counts in, and when I start my writing for the day I start to fill in the gaps. This could be why I get off to such a slow start. Gap filling can be hard work - it strains the brain. While it’s important to fill in those gaps, it’s more fun to skip ahead.
Today’s mission, should I choose to accept it, is to pay attention to what changes that allows me to focus when the writing is going quickly.
I have stopped obsessing over the fact that my prime writing time seems to be after 1 a.m. I spend all day writing a word here, a sentence there, but come 1 a.m. I start to get serious and I probably write a thousand words between 2 and 3.
Why is that I can focus so well at that time and not any other? Yeah, I know I just said I’m going to stop obsessing over it (it’s not like I have any pressing need to get up early in the morning so it’s not the staying up so much, it’s the writing itself) but it would be nice to be able to generate that kind of focus at other times during the day. Just think of the kind of output I could have! It would make the difference between staying home to write and having to go out to work for a living.
The story itself is progressing well. In the beginning I tended to skip ahead just to get the word counts in, now I’m slowly filling in the gaps. The first 30 pages are more or less seamless now, and I’m hoping by the end of the day this will be the first 35 pages (I’ve got my document set for single, not double spacing) and they haven’t even got to his planet yet.
Hmm. Maybe I’ve just answered my own question. I’ve been skipping ahead to get the word counts in, and when I start my writing for the day I start to fill in the gaps. This could be why I get off to such a slow start. Gap filling can be hard work - it strains the brain. While it’s important to fill in those gaps, it’s more fun to skip ahead.
Today’s mission, should I choose to accept it, is to pay attention to what changes that allows me to focus when the writing is going quickly.
Nov 13, 2008
One Wave Short of a Shipwreck or Nano, Day 13
I’m having one of those days where I feel like everything I’m writing is crap. Even the sex scenes (which I’ve actually been really enjoying writing) sound boring and repetitive. According to my Nano Newsletter, this is called the second week slump. Apparently, I’m in it.
I’m feeling jusifiably proud of myself that I keep writing anyway. Trust me it’s not easy. As you well know, my normal reaction would be to go find a Fantasy Island marathon on television and forget all about writing. The trick is, to avoid going back to re-read what I’ve written. Yeah, maybe a lot of what I’m doing is crap. But there might be some good stuff in there too and I don’t want it to end up guilty by associating with crap and get cut.
See what I mean? Did that last sentence even make sense?
Of course it doesn’t help that my stomach is doing more back flips than a dying fish on a beach. ‘Tis the season to get flu bugs. Sorry, I don’t have time to be sick right now. I just passed the 20k mark for Nano, only 30k more to go.
I’ll make myself a deal. Five hundred more words (which will put me at 21k) and then I can go curl up in the living room for awhile.
Sounds fair to me.
I’m feeling jusifiably proud of myself that I keep writing anyway. Trust me it’s not easy. As you well know, my normal reaction would be to go find a Fantasy Island marathon on television and forget all about writing. The trick is, to avoid going back to re-read what I’ve written. Yeah, maybe a lot of what I’m doing is crap. But there might be some good stuff in there too and I don’t want it to end up guilty by associating with crap and get cut.
See what I mean? Did that last sentence even make sense?
Of course it doesn’t help that my stomach is doing more back flips than a dying fish on a beach. ‘Tis the season to get flu bugs. Sorry, I don’t have time to be sick right now. I just passed the 20k mark for Nano, only 30k more to go.
I’ll make myself a deal. Five hundred more words (which will put me at 21k) and then I can go curl up in the living room for awhile.
Sounds fair to me.
Nov 12, 2008
It’s A Kind of Magic or Nano, Day 12
Despite my misgivings about the story lasting as long as the word count, I’m finding a magical thing occurring. I start what I think is just a minor scene, but it starts to stretch out. And it’s not just filler to boost my word count either. It’s important stuff that moves the story forward.
Be still my heart.
I’m also seeing places where I’ll be adding wordage when December rolls around and it’s time to start the dreaded editing.
The best part of all is, I’m still enjoying the story. I want to know “what happens next”. I haven’t included this minor conspiracy thread that I had originally envisioned, but it’s still there if I want it. The brother is turning into not as bad a guy as I’d figured; if I use the conspiracy thread at all he’ll have been coerced into it.
I used to think it was a dangerous thing, keeping a story in my head. My memory’s not what it used to be (not that it was ever great) and I was always afraid of forgetting the story before I could get it down on paper. But now I’m beginning to realize, for me at least, if I can work out the entire story in my head and it’s still in there when I start to type, then it’s a story worth remembering.
Which in my books makes it a story worth writing.
Be still my heart.
I’m also seeing places where I’ll be adding wordage when December rolls around and it’s time to start the dreaded editing.
The best part of all is, I’m still enjoying the story. I want to know “what happens next”. I haven’t included this minor conspiracy thread that I had originally envisioned, but it’s still there if I want it. The brother is turning into not as bad a guy as I’d figured; if I use the conspiracy thread at all he’ll have been coerced into it.
I used to think it was a dangerous thing, keeping a story in my head. My memory’s not what it used to be (not that it was ever great) and I was always afraid of forgetting the story before I could get it down on paper. But now I’m beginning to realize, for me at least, if I can work out the entire story in my head and it’s still in there when I start to type, then it’s a story worth remembering.
Which in my books makes it a story worth writing.
Nov 11, 2008
B12 or Nano, Day 11
I have a serious lack of B12 in my system. Most people do and don’t realize it, and in most people that’s fine. But one of the first things they check for (or should check for) with depression, is your B12 level. Mine was non-existent, hence the need for supplements.
You’re wondering what this has to do with writing. Well have patience, I’m getting to that.
One of the benefits of B12 is it's an energy boost. However, I have found that before I get the energy boost I get tired. Sort of like the water pulling back before the wave rolls in. If I take the B12 with breakfast, I get the energy sink just after lunch, but I’m fine late in the afternoon and the evening, which is when I’ve been getting my writing done. However, because I get such a late start to the writing, I end up staying up later to get what I’m working on finished.
I wanted to change this. I’d like to get my writing done during the day like a normal person, and then relax in the evening and go to bed at a normal time.
So the last few days I’ve been taking my B12 at supper time (you have to take it with food or it won’t be absorbed into your system). The energy sink hits around 11 p.m., but by the time I’m ready to go to bed, say 12:30 or 1, the energy boost has kicked in. Last night I was up until after 3, at which point I went to bed, but it was still a good hour before I fell asleep. There has got to be a happy medium.
I just have to find it.
Meanwhile, I’ll just keep plugging away between naps.
You’re wondering what this has to do with writing. Well have patience, I’m getting to that.
One of the benefits of B12 is it's an energy boost. However, I have found that before I get the energy boost I get tired. Sort of like the water pulling back before the wave rolls in. If I take the B12 with breakfast, I get the energy sink just after lunch, but I’m fine late in the afternoon and the evening, which is when I’ve been getting my writing done. However, because I get such a late start to the writing, I end up staying up later to get what I’m working on finished.
I wanted to change this. I’d like to get my writing done during the day like a normal person, and then relax in the evening and go to bed at a normal time.
So the last few days I’ve been taking my B12 at supper time (you have to take it with food or it won’t be absorbed into your system). The energy sink hits around 11 p.m., but by the time I’m ready to go to bed, say 12:30 or 1, the energy boost has kicked in. Last night I was up until after 3, at which point I went to bed, but it was still a good hour before I fell asleep. There has got to be a happy medium.
I just have to find it.
Meanwhile, I’ll just keep plugging away between naps.
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