CornerScribe

Archive for November, 2007

Ah, the dreaded NaNo update.

With five days to go (including today!), I’m sitting at just about the half-way point. Will I finish? Even I have to be realistic and say that it’s going to be tough, but I’m still plugging along. I spent about two days reworking a big change in the novel, and that cost me time and word count. Yes, I know I’ve said a zillion times that’s a bad idea, but I just couldn’t resist this time.

The good news is, the novel is coming along very well. It’s roughly plotted, so I have a notion of where I’m going with it. While I think that’s made it tighter, I have to wonder if that’s slowed me down a bit as well. Still, I’m going to try to hit 50,000 by Friday night. This is my fourth year doing NaNo, and I don’t want it to be the first one I didn’t finish.

How are your novels going? Anyone hit 50,000 yet?

Here in the middle of NaNo, I thought it would be fun to link to some other interesting sites.

Punctuation fun on flickr. Think about how you’d punctuate it, or simply read it aloud.

Design Your Life

What would you do if you could do whatever you want each day. Although this article isn’t specifically directed at writers, it certainly is something to think about. What would your writing day be like? Think about what you want your days to be like, and what do you need to do to make it so.

SEO Tips for Bloggers

This article gives some great tips, and some great advice for optimizing your blog.

How to Write Faster, Better, and Easier

That’s a great title, and a great post. ‘Nuff said.

I’m still plugging away on my NaNo novel. Something has happened that, frankly, I halfway expected. Although I had a scene outline coming in the NaNo, the novel has strayed quite a bit off track.

What do you do when the novel (or the characters) have a mind of their own? For me, the answer is to allow them to “have their head” so to speak. So, I’m making progress on the novel, but I have no outline to speak of. Although I’m concerned about making my word count, I’m more concerned with writing another novel that needs a complete rewrite (like last year!).

So… I’m going to take tomorrow night of from writing and spend the night re-plotting instead. Yes, that will put me behind, and I’m already a bit behind where I really wanted to be. However, I think it will be worth it.

Anyone else facing something similar?

Also, just to let everyone know that my short story, The Betrayed, will be appearing in a few months in Bewildering Stories. I’ll put up a link as soon as I have it.

For me, week two is a little less fun than week one. By this time, the novel starts feeling like real work, but it’s still going well. I’m usually a bit ahead on my word count, and things are coming along smoothly.

All the tips for week one still apply, of course, but I have a few extra as well.

1. It’s easy to start losing momentum during week two. Maybe you decide to take a night off, or you don’t make your count a couple days in a row. Remember that week three is usually tougher, so do everything you can now to keep the words coming.
2. Getting to know some of the people on the NaNo forums can be helpful, but it’s very tempting to spend too much time there. Limit your forum time to only AFTER you’ve gotten your word count for the day.
3. Week two is when I start to have plot problems. Maybe a character goes her own way or disappears entirely. I’ve written someone into a corner and have no idea what to do. If you’re stuck on a plot issue, then feel free to skip it and work it out later.
4. Here’s another trick I use for finding out what happens next. Step one, list your character’s three major personality traits. Next, list the traits OPPOSITE those. Finally, have your character react as if he possesses those opposite traits. Often real people do things that are out of character, so why not?

How is it going? Post a note below to let everyone know how you’re progressing.

As you know, I’m busy NaNo-ing this month. For those of you who may have missed these, here are five of the most popular blog posts on the site. Take a minute and check them out, and then get back to your novel!

Get Ready for NaNo

Two Great Market Resources

Short Story Markets

Writing Tools

What’s Holding You Back?

First off, the poll results I promised

1. Everyone plans to continue blogging during NaNo
2. About half of you plan to stick to your posting frequency, about half plan to reduce frequency or length
3. Only 2/5 have stockpiled posts for November.
4. For those who have written ahead, about five posts seems to be the common answer.
5. Finally, everyone plans on blogging about NaNo to some extent.

Thanks to the participants!

Here to Create

Write Stuff

Adding Chaos to the World

Diary of a Network Geek 

Independent Stitch

LJ Maggie 

My NaNo update:

My word count is 7043, and I wanted it to be 10,000-12,000 by now.

I’m not where I want to be in terms of word count, but a lot of personal things (good things!) have been going on lately, so I’ve been distracted. I’m hoping to catch up in the next few days. My knitting is suffering horribly, and I’ve been thinking that I can’t even remember my last knitting post. I promise some pics soon! I have several cool things on the needles… if I can just get time to knit.

Okay, you’ve started the novel. Maybe you’re already making great headway. Your word count may even be ahead of schedule. Kudos!

This is my fourth year of NaNo, so I feel a little bit qualified to give some tips on how to make it through the month.

Week one is exciting, even exhilarating. You’re writing a NOVEL, and it feels fantastic.

1. Take advantage of that excitement, and do all the writing you can. Exceed your word count every day if you can. When you get a great idea for later, jot it down.
2. Don’t start thinking the entire month will be this easy. Believe me, it won’t be.
3. The whole month won’t be as fun as week one either, but don’t let that bother you. You’ll have days when you hate NaNo and wonder why you ever had such a phenomenally stupid idea. That’ll pass too. Keep writing.
4. If you’re floundering in week one, all is not lost. Everyone hits their stride at a different point; you’re just a “late bloomer.” Keep writing.
5. Resist the urge to edit! You’re ahead on your word count, things are looking great, so you’ll just rewrite that one scene…. Don’t do it! Before you know it, you’ll be caught in rewrite hell and your word count will be stuck.

Succeeding at NaNo is as much about hard work and perseverance as it is creativity, but then again, so is writing in general! Stick with it, and post your tips for making it below.

Read the first entry in this series, blog posts for November.

As promised, here are five more ideas for blog posts that will help you get through NaNo unscathed.

1. Look to your archives.  Choose one of your older posts and revamp it somehow. Don’t forget to link to it!

2. Head over to the NaNo Forums.  There are plenty of topics under discussion. Answer something, add to the discussion, etc. Don’t forget to post a link to your post. However, do this sparingly or you’ll come off as trying to milk their site for traffic!

3. Respond to others’ posts. Take just a few minutes (really, a few!!) and browse through some posts in your RSS feed. Write a note about those and link to them.

4. Post some photos. Everyone enjoys looking at pictures, and most of us have quite a few stashed away somewhere. Post a few on your blog.

5. Ask your readers a question. Ask for input on the blog, what they’re doing, etc. Since Thanksgiving is coming up, ask them to talk about their holiday plans or tell a favorite family story.

The blog seems to be having some issues today. It’s available sporadically, and I’ve turned in a ticket, but I’m not sure what’s up. Please be patient (I’m trying to be, and failing miserably!)

Looks like I may be moving the blog after all, but we’ll see.

I’m working on my Nano goal of 2000 words today, so no more posting until later. I can’t keep a reliable connection anyway. Sorry everyone!