Nanowrimo Week Two Update
Novel Writing Month is in full swing, and I am still where I need to be.
I’m currently up to just over 20,000 words. The Nano site’s projection have me reaching 50,000 by November 25. I only pay casual attention to that projection, though. One, because things can fluctuate greatly any given day. And two, because I’m going for novel completion, not just 50,000 words written.
But the plot is moving along better than I thought it might so far. I have a long way to go, and I’m sure there are many knots left to untangle. I have, however, been able to reveal some main plot points in less time than I thought I could. For example, at 20,000 words I have introduced everyone, set the scene, left several clues and allowed the dead body to be discovered.
As I write any given scene, new chances to present clues to the crime reveal themselves. That has happened so often in fact that I’ve set aside a notebook to write them down in as they come. It’s almost like a reverse outlining process; major points come up as I write, to be referred to later. I don’t have all the answers yet, but I can tell you a rough shape of the crime and its eventual solving is starting to form. It’s still back in the shadows, but I can see it, and I didn’t think I’d be able to this early on. Here’e hoping that success continues.
The big update for today is about my first ever Nanowrimo write-in! Last Tuesday, I and about 13 other writers gathered at the local library with our laptops and began working on our projects. I’ve never done that before, but I’m glad I did. It was a great time.
At first I thought I’d be too uneasy writing in front of others. (I’d never done that before, either.) But as the group got under way, and the staccato clicking of a dozen people typing on keyboards filled the cozy conference room, I came to realize how useful such a setting could be.
For while I didn’t write as fast, or as consistently as I do at home, I did manage to get just about as many words down during the session as I do during a session at home. I think the main reason is that I was there to write, as was everyone else. So there were no distractions, like there are at home sometimes. I could either sit there and do nothing at all, (pointless), I could get up and leave, (impossible, as I was the substitute moderator that day), or I could embrace the time and the mood and just write. I took some breaks here and there and just listened to everyone else typing, but I quickly got back to what I was doing, and before I knew it had the lion’s share of a chapter done.
I didn’t do well in the two word wars we had. I didn’t think I would, though, I am a bit more like an active marathoner than a sprinter when it comes to such things as this anyway. But the key is to write, and I did.
I also met several new people, which is nice. It’s not often one can meet other people with similar interests just by showing up at a conference room and writing. I mean writing isn’t like hiking, where there is a group and you meet people on your way. It’s generally a pretty solitary endeavor. But in the few minutes before we go started, we all chatted a bit, and that was a nice way to get started. I look forward to the next write in, which is tomorrow evening in the same place. (So quiet, with nice chairs. I wish I could have my regular writer’s meeting in there instead of the noisy, crowded coffee shop, but the library isn’t open late enough.)
That’s where I am with Nano for now. I’m trying not to think too much about the complications lying in wait for me in the next few chapters in my novel. But perhaps by the time I get to them, they won’t be as complicated as I fear now.
How’s your novel going?
Potpourri
General thoughts and recent adventures.
-I am sore for a second straight day, for multiple reasons. The first and main reason is that a few days ago, I engaged in some aerobics. Actually I engaged in exactly one half of the first, baby steps training lesson on a DVD of aerobic exercises. My attempt to lose some weight continues, and as per suggestions from various people, I’m trying to mix it up a bit, instead of just walking.
I will keep mixing, but I don’t know if I will keep doing this tape. If I was wheezing and exhausted only halfway through the first lesson, and sore to the point of not being able to walk much after two days, I don’t think I’ve found the answer to my exercise situation. The whole thing made me feel as though I was not in any way shape or form in shape. This, in stark contrast to, (when I’ve been going a few days) being able to walk 3-5 miles at a brisk pace without a lot of trouble.
Yes I know aerobics are faster, but I didn’t think there were going to present such a huge difference in how I felt. No pain no gain, I know, but if it’s so much pain you can’t do anything else with your day, there’s a problem, right? (And why, of all things, does my mouth and jaw hurt when I overexert??)
So I hobble around a bit lately.
-I didn’t hobble too much to go to town and get a flu shot at my mother’s work yesterday, however. Last year was the first time I ever got one. I don’t get flu every year, but I decided last year it was worth the pain to up my stakes against said flu. Last year it didn’t hurt. This year it sting a bit, and my arm is a little sorer a day later than it was last year.
One good thing about all the soreness lately is that by force I have to slow down. And when I slow down, sometimes I feel better, mentally. One of the few good things about non-stomach related short-term sickness is that I don’t have the energy to devoted to being restless or worried as much. So I sometimes, in a twisted way, find the slightest relief when I am bedridden a few days. But, in the end I’d rather be well, so I got the shot.
-Went to a Nanowrimo write-in earlier this week. I will talk in detail about that on Monday, during my normal Nano update post.
-I have began to assume responsibilities as a facilities manager, (as well as publicity person) for the Black Box Arts Center in Shepherdstown, West, Virginia. This building is the former home of the now defunct Full Circle Theater Company, of which I was a part for several years as an actor. I look forward to my new responsibilities as a more disciplined, focused regime takes control of the space, and welcomes the community to make use of same.
I will probably talk more about that specifically over on my other blog, Always Off Book. That blog celebrated eight years in October, though sadly, this is the least active year for it thus far. Mainly that is because I’ve not been in a play for over a year and a half, which is sickening and makes me somewhat depressed. So I’ve reposted some of my actor’s advice columns from a previous writing gig, but I hope to start posting more theater related content soon. My new responsibilities may provide a good chance to open up my old blog a bit, and discuss more theatre-oriented topics, not merely my experiences in any given show. I could also post a few more links there, and respond to others articles. Stay tuned there, if you haven’t already. I want to give it some new life.
-I’m also almost done reading a pretty old and, as far as I know, obscure book about teaching an acting class. Kind of. Sometimes it reads like a textbook, and sometimes it reads like a teacher’s course guide. It looks to be from the early 1980’s. Frankly I think it leans towards flaky Stanislavsky fetishism at times, but it’s got some good ideas for both actors and those teaching/directing actors. Part of the used book blowout I went to a few weeks ago. I may write more about that over on Always Off Book as well.
-The TV music station on my cable plan switched to Christmas music the other day. I confess I’ve left it on here and there for either a pick-me-up or a relaxation thing. But I still, in the deepest part of my mind, don’t truly feel Christmas has started until after Thanksgiving. But to each his own.
-I’ve been thinking about having a regular feature here on the blog for a a while. “Open Letters”, wherein once or twice a month I write an open letter to someone I encountered or knew or loved at some point in the past. Both for closure, (they say writing letters that never get sent can help), but also it will allow me to work on some creative non-fiction writing. I haven’t has as much of a chance to do that lately.
-Take a look at this post, The 11 Differences Between Dating a Girl vs. Dating a Woman. I know, not usually my bag here on my blog, but I’m unpredictable. I was going to write a post about this, actually, but I opted to just provide a link to it, mention that I think it’s a pretty well written piece, and that there is much about it with which I agree.
– I recently read Then Everything Changed: Stunning Alternate Histories of American Politics. I’d been meaning to for a while, but found it disappointing. The link is to my Goodreads review of it. If you’ve read it, let me know what you thought, I’d like to know.
-I’ll need to get a haircut again soon, which I hate.
Nanowrimo Update 1
I’ll only be doing these on Mondays unless something major happens, so don’t worry about being flooded with Nano thoughts all month.
Of course, Nano only just started on Friday. I’m happy to report that I have kept pace with my word count each day, and am in fact a bit ahead of the game. That, however, is not unusual for the first week or so. introductory chapters tend to go quickly, and allow for more word usage per session. Meet up with me again a week from now, and see how my pace is then.
Perhaps the main victory of the first few days of this attempt is that all of my main characters have been introduced already. I managed that in less than 5000 words. From the beginning I knew I’d have to be more efficient about such things in order to get a mystery off the ground, and I’ve stuck to that. I won’t say I introduced all of them in a unique way. I used a tried a true method in most cases. But baby steps. Everybody is present and accounted for early. I’m pleased with that.
I’ve also, if I may say so myself, established some degree of the relationships between several of the characters. The scene I am currently working on should allow for more such things, but I’m at least off to the races in that regard. I’ve also foreshadowed the location of the murder. Perhaps too clearly, and perhaps not, but Nano is no time to worry about such things as they happen.
Also, my plan to have the murder take place at roughly the ten thousand word mark seems for the moment, feasible. I’m not there yet, but I think I can get there in a few more thousand words. So far so good.
I must admit,however, the speed with which I’m establishing everything so far is making me a bit nervous. Two reasons for that, and they are in a sense opposing reasons. First, I am nervous about getting to the meat of something so quickly without exploring certain things first. In my long fiction I tend to linger in certain places near the opening of a piece, but I don’t have the luxury to do as much of that here. So I’m hitting some important notes early, but I wonder if I’m cutting things too quick sometimes.
The second reason I’m nervous is, like I said, somewhat the opposite; I fear by moving so fast, I’m adding extraneous words in places just to make sure I am not leaving out anything in my speed. Sounds like a paradox, I know. But trust me, I can be both concerned about not giving enough, and yet using too many words. For words have an economy all on their own, and one can spend a million of them saying nothing at all. I don’t think I’m doing that, but I wonder.
Yet I cannot stop and wonder. I must move on. Already I can tell that this new take on Nano that I’ve adopted this year is making the experience feel different. Nano has never really stressed me per se, but I am with this one a bit. Can I work out such a detail-oriented story as a mystery in the time and space I have? Was it an error to go with this genre for this exercise? Can I just plow through and finish because that is the whole point of Nano? Can I ever get over the fact that this is not one of my official novels, and just have fun with the thing?
So many questions after just a few days of Nano. Few answers.
Another big question is about tomorrow night. For the first time in my Nano history, I will be participating in a write-in. A group of local writers is getting together at the local library for a few hours to work on our Nano novels. Writing under “pressure” as it were. Not only have I never done Nano in public, in front of people before, I have never written anything in public in front of people before. Everything I write, fiction or non-fiction has been written at home, or at family homes. So another question will be, can I accomplish any kind of serious writing in front of other people, in a public setting, on a lap top I only use once in a while?
I wanted Nano this year to be a different kind of challenge for me, and so far it has been, on multiple fronts. Some mental resistance is inevitable, but I’m not quitting. I just sometimes wonder if I made too many new things too soon.
But I guess that’s how we learn. Sometimes, anyway.
Halloween Night and Nano Eve
Two year ago today, I posted my thoughts on how introverts could actually gain a great deal from a full-on Halloween celebration. Though I did end up using that face paint the other day, (it wasn’t great quality), I still have not done much on Halloween over the years, and certainly not much since posting that entry. Last year I don’t think I did anything at all, other than carve the pumpkin.
Still, I remain fascinated by it. It is not my favorite holiday, as it is for several of my friends. I can, however, understand why it might be. You’d think as a child I’d agree with them. A night dedicated to putting on costumes and getting a bunch of candy. And it was fun, but even then, when I heard people say it was their favorite holiday I remember thinking, “it’s just candy and dressing up.”
Which of course, it is, in a way. But ironically, as I have gotten older, I see more promise and potential depth to All Hallow’s Eve than I did even as a child. As I mentioned in that post two years ago, it’s a time to allow some people to explore something they are not with their costumes. It allows others to be perhaps more genuine to what they really are on the inside. The whole gamut of human personality, (and indeed, personality other than humanity) is explored on Halloween. It’s an exercise in both imagination and in a sense, empathy.
Even if kids don’t know it, that’s what they are doing. They are firing up their imaginations by being the pirate, but they are also putting themselves in a position to think like a pirate. Or they at least ask themselves how a pirate would act in this situation when walking up to this house for candy. They are, for all intents and purposes, showing a degree of affinity for a character. Even one that they would not really want to be like themselves. New perspectives for a young mind. And for older folks too.
That’s one reason I think it’s particularly fun that Nanowrimo always starts the day right after Halloween. Many people even begin their Nano book at the stroke of midnight, as October 31 expires. I often wonder how many people over the years have sat at their computer just after midnight, still adorned with remnants of their Halloween costume, and start creating the world and people of their November novel.
Makes sense, right? A day like Halloween, dedicated to exploring, imagining, and relating to some aspect of those we dress up to resemble, leading directly into the first day of basically doing the very same thing, except from the other side of the table. A writer imagines, visualizes, creates and presents in some fashion a scenario. A life form. An adventure with whom they, (and hopefully future readers) can relate.
I’ve done more Nanowrimo than I have Halloween over the last few years, but hopefully tomorrow I can still make use of the power of modern Halloween to give life to something that is lifeless without my creative participation. I don’t often get to do that by way of costume on October 31, but come November 1, I’m going to try to make up for it by writing another novel. Even if it is an “unofficial” one that few people will be reading.
I still hope to one day wear an expensive and complicated Halloween costume to a party, though. One of these years it has to happen, right?
Calm Before the “Storm”
I will be doing Nanowrimo this year, as I’ve said already. What i haven’t said is that I won’t be working on any other fiction between now and then, and probably not any other fiction during November either.
Not working on anything else during Nanowrimo is a personal preference, and one whose benefits I assume you can determine on your own; it’s a lot of writing to do in a month, and the more you can concentrate in it, the better. Even if it is just for fun.
Not writing anything for the final week or so before Nanowrimo however, is a decision I wanted to go into with a bit more detail here.
Granted, that’s not a lot of time. A week to ten days, as I said, to not be working on any fiction at all. But I felt I needed the break. Fiction writing, at least for me, benefits from breaks and taking a hiatus here and there. This seemed like a good time to do so.
As I have said here on the blog before, I agree that a writer, particularly of fiction, must have discipline. Stories and novels don’t write themselves. If a writer isn’t careful, it’s easy to slip totally into the “contemplation” or “percolation” stage of an idea(s), and never getting around to the work of writing things down. That momentum can be difficult to overcome once it sets in. That’s why I took this ten day or so break from writing new fiction so close to Nanowrimo. I know there is a definitive deadline in the near future that will require me to get back into the habit in short order.
But after working on fixing a highly flawed partial draft, as well as completing about 15 short stories on the year so far, (not to mention a draft of a one man stage show), I was feeling a little numb. Discipline is one thing, but being mechanical is something else, and I’ve been approaching that lately. A week or so off will hopefully freshen things up in the fiction part of my brain for a while.
I advise all fiction writers to take these breaks. Pick a few days to a week or so when you are not working on something under a deadline, and do know writing. It may sound like a heresy, but I truly believe that most dedicated writers, in an effort to be productive and to avoid the inertia of doing nothing actually go too far the other way sometimes. The take off so fast for so long, so constantly that it’s more inhibiting than liberating.
Like trying to wiggle your chin after you’ve been out in the winter’s cold for a while; it’s stubborn and taught from the chill. Come inside and half some soup of some tea for a few hours, and try wiggling you chin again. (Or whatever metaphor works best for you.)
The point is, take a few days off sometimes. You fiction on the other end of it will probably be fresher.
Ty Unglebower 