Although I was strangely absent, I assure you I was writing - sort of. And when the clock hit midnight, I conceded to defeat with only 4, 555 words to go. That's right, I not only lost, but fell incredibly short of my 10k goal.
So what happened?
Life. And writer's block. And more life.
I know I can't entirely blame my shortcomings on life - although spending nearly two weeks on costumes for Steamcon put a really hard to repair dent on the affair - because nearly the whole 15 days I wasn't writing, I had a terrible case of writer's block.
I should have seen it coming. After all, I had already switched my novel plans once. And all these plot bunnies started cropping up - from old novels half written to new ideas I'd avoided. Steamcon's wonderful panels on Hoodou and Western Prostitution definitely added to it (don't ask, I'm not going to go into it). So I jumped from idea to idea, carefully avoiding the looming issue - I didn't believe or trust my plot.
When I returned, I had to face it. And spent nearly three days trying to figure out a solution without any luck. So I thought about new options - after all I had at least 10 days (3 of which were during my holiday) why not start fresh one last time? Too bad it took another 3 days for me to decide, plot and figure out the characters. So that when I finally began writing I was left with a meager 5 days to catch up from 14k to 50k.
And that's how I ended up writing for my life with 30 minutes to midnight - tired, desperate and with an incredibly sore set of hands. I'd pulled out every trick I could think of (some I'm not even proud of) and despite all that I lost. Actually, I stopped at 45,555 with 5 minutes to spare because it was a nice number and I simply couldn't write any more.
Anywho...I'm not done with my story (far from done in fact), but I hope to continue with NaNoFiMo. And although I didn't win, I can say with pride that I wrote 15k in one day.
Showing posts with label ending. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ending. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The End.
I did it. I finished a novel for the first time in my life.
It took two months, six days and eleven hours, but the first rough draft of my novel is done. I say first rough draft because although I've written "the end" there are plenty of missing parts in the story itself. The biggest one being Olivia's memory of her Icarus like fall.
And the novel, if one read it now, could easily cause your eyes to bleed. Not all of it is that bad--in fact I really like some of the scenes. But there are a lot of sections that suffer from lack of description, crappy dialogue and scenes so cut/mashed together that they are the literary versions of Frankenstein's monster.
My final stats
Word count: 146,270
Pages: 448(at 11pt Tahoma, double spaced)
Characters dead: 0 [crazy, huh?]
So what's next?
1. A Break
I promised myself a long time ago that I would take a month off before reading my novel again. So I'm going to back up the files, print it out and then put it away until February 6th.
2. Reading
The deal is that I need to read at least three books before I can edit my story. I haven't read anything while I was writing--mostly to keep my inner editor in check--and now I don't remember what a good novel looks like. I plan to read from three categories:
a. Comedic novels/Novels with good narration (especially if it's of the omniscient, third person, all knowing type with a personality ala The Hitchhiker's Guide or A Series of Unfortunate Events).
b. Period/Victorian/Steampunk novels (as I really need a strong idea of the genre I'm trying to invoke and I haven't read any Steampunk novels yet).
c. Novel-writing/Reference/Historical novels (for research reasons as it will only make my world and characters more believeable and interesting).
3. Brainstorming/What ifs
Even before I finished my novel, I started thinking about alternate plot lines and options--even new characters. I figure that it will make it easier when I rework the plot for the second draft.
4. World/Character building
This is everything from character profiles and memories, world histories and maps to sketches and photographic references. My first draft is severely lacking in visual descriptions and I really want to fix that. Likewise, the more I delved into character histories the more real and three dimensional they became.
5. Editing
This won't happen until March, although I might start a little in February after I've done the first read though.
I have a lot of work ahead of me.
It took two months, six days and eleven hours, but the first rough draft of my novel is done. I say first rough draft because although I've written "the end" there are plenty of missing parts in the story itself. The biggest one being Olivia's memory of her Icarus like fall.
And the novel, if one read it now, could easily cause your eyes to bleed. Not all of it is that bad--in fact I really like some of the scenes. But there are a lot of sections that suffer from lack of description, crappy dialogue and scenes so cut/mashed together that they are the literary versions of Frankenstein's monster.
My final stats
Word count: 146,270
Pages: 448(at 11pt Tahoma, double spaced)
Characters dead: 0 [crazy, huh?]
So what's next?
1. A Break
I promised myself a long time ago that I would take a month off before reading my novel again. So I'm going to back up the files, print it out and then put it away until February 6th.
2. Reading
The deal is that I need to read at least three books before I can edit my story. I haven't read anything while I was writing--mostly to keep my inner editor in check--and now I don't remember what a good novel looks like. I plan to read from three categories:
a. Comedic novels/Novels with good narration (especially if it's of the omniscient, third person, all knowing type with a personality ala The Hitchhiker's Guide or A Series of Unfortunate Events).
b. Period/Victorian/Steampunk novels (as I really need a strong idea of the genre I'm trying to invoke and I haven't read any Steampunk novels yet).
c. Novel-writing/Reference/Historical novels (for research reasons as it will only make my world and characters more believeable and interesting).
3. Brainstorming/What ifs
Even before I finished my novel, I started thinking about alternate plot lines and options--even new characters. I figure that it will make it easier when I rework the plot for the second draft.
4. World/Character building
This is everything from character profiles and memories, world histories and maps to sketches and photographic references. My first draft is severely lacking in visual descriptions and I really want to fix that. Likewise, the more I delved into character histories the more real and three dimensional they became.
5. Editing
This won't happen until March, although I might start a little in February after I've done the first read though.
I have a lot of work ahead of me.
Rocks fall. Everyone dies. The end
I was fighting the urge to write that all night and then:
“But you heard what Cromwell said. Others will come.”
“And he was right, you know.” Thomas said softly as he put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “They won’t let you go without a fight, Vincent. Sooner or later the agency will send someone else for you. And in the end, you’ll never be at peace.”
“I know.” Vincent said bitterly. “But what can we do?”
The solution to the problem was this. Rocks fall. Everyone dies.
The End.
Yeah...not really the ending of my story. I actually have one last scene to write, which is the actual ending. And I have two options for my ending:
A. Olivia, Artemus and her father leave the city, hoping to hide from the others for as long as they can. Perhaps taking them to interesting new locations.
B. Olivia and her father decide to stay and enjoy what tiny bit of a normal life they can have until the others come.
In both cases, being found is inevitable. I had always planned it to be option A and then I was like..."Why not stay? That's pretty ballsy."
But when it all comes down to it--it doesn't matter because my story will probably not even end with that option. Who knows.
Disregard the options. Hell disregard the excerpt--cuz it's horrible. But that's what you get when you are writing at 4am in the morning instead of sleeping. Blah why can't I stop writing this blog entry.
I know!
ROCKS FALL. EVERYONE DIES. THE END!
“But you heard what Cromwell said. Others will come.”
“And he was right, you know.” Thomas said softly as he put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “They won’t let you go without a fight, Vincent. Sooner or later the agency will send someone else for you. And in the end, you’ll never be at peace.”
“I know.” Vincent said bitterly. “But what can we do?”
The solution to the problem was this. Rocks fall. Everyone dies.
The End.
Yeah...not really the ending of my story. I actually have one last scene to write, which is the actual ending. And I have two options for my ending:
A. Olivia, Artemus and her father leave the city, hoping to hide from the others for as long as they can. Perhaps taking them to interesting new locations.
B. Olivia and her father decide to stay and enjoy what tiny bit of a normal life they can have until the others come.
In both cases, being found is inevitable. I had always planned it to be option A and then I was like..."Why not stay? That's pretty ballsy."
But when it all comes down to it--it doesn't matter because my story will probably not even end with that option. Who knows.
Disregard the options. Hell disregard the excerpt--cuz it's horrible. But that's what you get when you are writing at 4am in the morning instead of sleeping. Blah why can't I stop writing this blog entry.
I know!
ROCKS FALL. EVERYONE DIES. THE END!
Monday, January 5, 2009
What ifs rearing their ugly head as I near the end
So I'm making progress, in fact the final scene is just around the corner. Olivia has reunited with her father and all seems well [for now].
But despite my currently planned ending, part of me is coming up with different ending options [some which may be better than what I'm currently writing].
I know that part of this is my mind trying to stop me from finishing, but it's also rather useful suggestions that might be great to try out once I'm editing.
Nevertheless, I've been good. I just write the ideas down and keep focused on the ending I have. If I deviate now, I'll never finish before the end of Monday.
And I will.
Word count: 137,702
Scenes left: 6
Days left: 1
But despite my currently planned ending, part of me is coming up with different ending options [some which may be better than what I'm currently writing].
I know that part of this is my mind trying to stop me from finishing, but it's also rather useful suggestions that might be great to try out once I'm editing.
Nevertheless, I've been good. I just write the ideas down and keep focused on the ending I have. If I deviate now, I'll never finish before the end of Monday.
And I will.
Word count: 137,702
Scenes left: 6
Days left: 1
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Slow and steady
So I have about twelve more scenes to write, which means I'm getting closer to my ending.
Woo!
Current word count: 128,632
Things are coming along. Tomorrow is the big showdown scene, which will be difficult as it will involve quite a few people. It will probably suck writing wise, but hey that's what editing is for!
Wish me luck.
Woo!
Current word count: 128,632
Things are coming along. Tomorrow is the big showdown scene, which will be difficult as it will involve quite a few people. It will probably suck writing wise, but hey that's what editing is for!
Wish me luck.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Write with a vengeance!
I've figured out the ending to my story--thanks to my darling boyfriend and his lovely dose of reality. So all that is left to do is finish my novel. All the characters have been waiting--suspended in time until I write another word or another scene. And I owe it to them to finish their story.
Unfortunately I have been procrastinating--partly due to fear [fie on you inner editor] and distractions. And have made little progress over the past two days. This is unacceptable. But now that I am currently snowed in--I think I should take advantage of the situation and buckle down.
This also means that I'm revising my NaNoFiMo goal as follows:
Finish my novel on or before December 25th [which may or may not be more than 150k.
So the belt is being tightened and I plan to impose these rules:
1. Write first thing in the morning. [And the night as well...but I do better in the morning.]
2. No editing. No revising. No thinking about editing or revising.
3. Focus on getting the story out. If don't know things, just leave a blank or a note and then fix it in editing.
4. Use Write Or Die like I've never used it before.
As a minor consolation to my inner critic, I will allow myself to get the first sentence of each chapter to my liking before I start. Hopefully that shall appease Miss Edit-it-all's constant nagging.
Tomorrow I start fresh. That's all for tonight.
Unfortunately I have been procrastinating--partly due to fear [fie on you inner editor] and distractions. And have made little progress over the past two days. This is unacceptable. But now that I am currently snowed in--I think I should take advantage of the situation and buckle down.
This also means that I'm revising my NaNoFiMo goal as follows:
Finish my novel on or before December 25th [which may or may not be more than 150k.
So the belt is being tightened and I plan to impose these rules:
1. Write first thing in the morning. [And the night as well...but I do better in the morning.]
2. No editing. No revising. No thinking about editing or revising.
3. Focus on getting the story out. If don't know things, just leave a blank or a note and then fix it in editing.
4. Use Write Or Die like I've never used it before.
As a minor consolation to my inner critic, I will allow myself to get the first sentence of each chapter to my liking before I start. Hopefully that shall appease Miss Edit-it-all's constant nagging.
Tomorrow I start fresh. That's all for tonight.
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