Well, another month has come and gone. I thought that as I start a new month, I would give an update on my progress as of late.
Life - I moved to St. Louis, quite successfully I may add. So far it seems I have only forgotten my birth certificate (thanks for moving that, Mom) and a pair of shoes (which I hadn't actually missed) and I've only had to deal with one dent in the furniture from the move. All in all, the move itself went smoothly and I am loving my new apartment. We're still lacking a couch, but hopefully we will have that in the next few weeks.
Publishing - I had three separate people contact me from Openings, a literary magazine I have contributed to in the past, to submit a fiction piece for publication...after their announced deadline. I had very little notice for this, but I sent them a few options and should hear back on them shortly. I'm also hunting around for somewhere to submit my poetry and flash fiction, at least until I have a more sizable piece available.
Novel - Slow moving as of late, but still around. Mostly what I've been working on is planning and working with the timeline, since that tends to get a bit tricky with a time travel novel.
Short stories - I'm currently working on a piece regarding the day before the end of the world, which will be published in an anthology later this year. Once this project ends, a second one is beginning, which will likely be a straight-to-ebook free release, regarding travel between other worlds.
Writing groups - While I'm sad to have moved away from such an amazing writing group, I've been able to stay a part of Journey through the magic of the internet. In fact, I am currently heading a small group as part of Journey for those interested in working on finishing their novels, as opposed to writing or publishing them. Additionally, I'm on the hunt for a local group that I can meet in-person with, to have a more immediate support system.
Showing posts with label novels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label novels. Show all posts
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
NaNoWriMo 2012: A Summary
It has come to my attention that I never actually blogged here about NaNoWriMo this year, though I did participate and blog elsewhere. I thought I'd give a quick summary of the experience this year, as it is my best to date.
My novel this year is called Inevitable, though you've likely seen my refer to it as "The Time WIP" here. I scrapped what I had originally written and revamped the whole project and was rewarded with a fairly good starting point.
My success with reaching 50,000 words, and even more so with reaching 60,000 words, is in no small part due to the wonderful writing community of the Naperville NaNoWriMo chapter (or NaperWrimos). I attended two write-ins this year and was able to write 5k and 9k on those days respectively, thanks to the friendly and competitive nature of the meetings. Tim was a great help by encouraging me with additional challenges, promising me plot critters as prizes. At the end, I was rewarded with a great time at the TGIO Party, as well as a 60k start on a novel.
Afterwards, the NaperWrimo community proved to be even more helpful, by encouraging me to keep writing and work towards finishing my first draft. The forums are still alive, as is the community. Last week I met David, Katherine, and Carly at Caribou and had some fun with some editing and reading exercises. David has set me a goal of writing 2 more chapters (or 8,000 words) by our next meeting on the 26th. I'm already benefitting from having a deadline and accountability, but I also enjoy having writing friends to talk to, learn from, and share stories with, especially in person.
I'm still writing and, unfortunately, this means a lot more research. But I shall persevere!
P.S., if anyone knows of any good documentaries on the Battle of Gettysburg, drop me a line.
My novel this year is called Inevitable, though you've likely seen my refer to it as "The Time WIP" here. I scrapped what I had originally written and revamped the whole project and was rewarded with a fairly good starting point.
The main reason I was so successful with NaNoWriMo this year (I won with 60,013 words) is that I love the characters and even more than that, I love the world I created. I had fun with the idea of the Collective—a future version of our world where many superpowers have joined to create one massive empire—and the way I portrayed time travel in this novel. Time travel alone provided me a lot of room for experimentation and imagination. If all goes well, I will continue the themes in this book and write a three-book series of novels surrounding Jonah, Kevin, and the Historians. Additionally, I also want to write a fourth spin-off novel about Rosie Davis, my 1920s correspondent.Jonah McCameron has known since he was twelve years old that he would become a Historian someday, because he was told so. Ten years later, Jonah meets the stern, yet slightly mad Dr. Miles, a professor and Historian, who soon becomes Jonah's mentor. With the help of Dr. Miles, Jonah learns the truth about the Collective Historical Society: that the men and women who make up its body do not simply research history, but experience it first-hand, with the aid of time travel. As an Apprentice Historian, Jonah learns the tricks of the trade, but is soon plagued by questions regarding fate and free will, with no thanks to the mysterious Kevin Doyle. In this novel, Jonah will relive the past, work to change the future, and learn why foreknowledge is so dangerous.
My success with reaching 50,000 words, and even more so with reaching 60,000 words, is in no small part due to the wonderful writing community of the Naperville NaNoWriMo chapter (or NaperWrimos). I attended two write-ins this year and was able to write 5k and 9k on those days respectively, thanks to the friendly and competitive nature of the meetings. Tim was a great help by encouraging me with additional challenges, promising me plot critters as prizes. At the end, I was rewarded with a great time at the TGIO Party, as well as a 60k start on a novel.
Afterwards, the NaperWrimo community proved to be even more helpful, by encouraging me to keep writing and work towards finishing my first draft. The forums are still alive, as is the community. Last week I met David, Katherine, and Carly at Caribou and had some fun with some editing and reading exercises. David has set me a goal of writing 2 more chapters (or 8,000 words) by our next meeting on the 26th. I'm already benefitting from having a deadline and accountability, but I also enjoy having writing friends to talk to, learn from, and share stories with, especially in person.
I'm still writing and, unfortunately, this means a lot more research. But I shall persevere!
P.S., if anyone knows of any good documentaries on the Battle of Gettysburg, drop me a line.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Updates (Six Month Hiatus Explained)
Well, it's been six months since I was last here. Sorry about that. Here's a few quick updates, then I'll make a second update about what I actually came here to write.
Health: I learned recently that I do not have carpal tunnel, but that I actually have cubital tunnel, which is somewhat similar, but uses the ulnar nerve and runs through the elbow instead. I'm on anti-inflammatories and some light therapy, but I think the thing that really helped it was just knowing the cause and the things to avoid. But more importantly, the pain I've been feeling is not a result of cubital tunnel syndrome, but is in fact a "more serious issue" we're currently trying to determine. I go in on Wednesday for blood tests to determine whether or not I have RA, which is the most likely result.
Zenith: Has a new intro that I rather like, but other than that, has been sitting ignored for a few months. I really need to go through and do final edits, but I just can't seem to find the motivation lately (we'll get to that in a minute).
Inevitable aka the TimeWIP: If you only follow me here, you don't know about the TimeWIP yet. It is my current project, which involves time traveling Historians. Yep, I gave time travel to one of the most boring professions and denied it to everyone else. Basically, the Collective Historical Society has unlocked the key to time travel and they've found a way to limit access to it. Historians are sent back in time to witness important events and collect facts (and occasionally artifacts) on these events. The MC, James, is told when he's 12 that he'll become a Historian, because in the future he's already one and the CHS needs to make sure this happens. There's more to it after that, but that's where I am at the moment. I really enjoy writing about time travel.
NaNoWriMo '11: I will be participating again this year, partially because I want to get back into the habit of writing everyday, partially because I want to challenge myself with something I'm not very good at (realistic fiction), and partially because Casye needs a writing buddy. Originally I thought about using the TimeWIP, but I had already written pieces of it, so that would be cheating. Instead I'm going to write about a bunch of friends from college who get split up after graduation, which will highlight different kinds of LDRs and LDFs.
Health: I learned recently that I do not have carpal tunnel, but that I actually have cubital tunnel, which is somewhat similar, but uses the ulnar nerve and runs through the elbow instead. I'm on anti-inflammatories and some light therapy, but I think the thing that really helped it was just knowing the cause and the things to avoid. But more importantly, the pain I've been feeling is not a result of cubital tunnel syndrome, but is in fact a "more serious issue" we're currently trying to determine. I go in on Wednesday for blood tests to determine whether or not I have RA, which is the most likely result.
Zenith: Has a new intro that I rather like, but other than that, has been sitting ignored for a few months. I really need to go through and do final edits, but I just can't seem to find the motivation lately (we'll get to that in a minute).
Inevitable aka the TimeWIP: If you only follow me here, you don't know about the TimeWIP yet. It is my current project, which involves time traveling Historians. Yep, I gave time travel to one of the most boring professions and denied it to everyone else. Basically, the Collective Historical Society has unlocked the key to time travel and they've found a way to limit access to it. Historians are sent back in time to witness important events and collect facts (and occasionally artifacts) on these events. The MC, James, is told when he's 12 that he'll become a Historian, because in the future he's already one and the CHS needs to make sure this happens. There's more to it after that, but that's where I am at the moment. I really enjoy writing about time travel.
NaNoWriMo '11: I will be participating again this year, partially because I want to get back into the habit of writing everyday, partially because I want to challenge myself with something I'm not very good at (realistic fiction), and partially because Casye needs a writing buddy. Originally I thought about using the TimeWIP, but I had already written pieces of it, so that would be cheating. Instead I'm going to write about a bunch of friends from college who get split up after graduation, which will highlight different kinds of LDRs and LDFs.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Draft 3, here I come!
November 2009, I sat down at my computer thinking "Okay, I can do this: I can write a novel." As the months wore on, I started to question the validity of that statement. Could I really write a full novel? I knew I could start one, I'd done that dozens of times before, but could I actually finish one? Most days, I wasn't so sure, but I kept at it anyway. Then in February 2010, I did it: I finished...the first draft.
Then a few months later, the second. In July, I sent out copies of my manuscript to a few willing participants who had promised me feedback. One of them responded with notes on the entire novel, another on the first twelve chapters, still another on the first chapter (though, to be fair, this was all she had received).
And now, in November of 2010, a little over a year after I first began this project, I am beginning work on the third draft of Zenith.
I once compared rewriting to surgery:
Then a few months later, the second. In July, I sent out copies of my manuscript to a few willing participants who had promised me feedback. One of them responded with notes on the entire novel, another on the first twelve chapters, still another on the first chapter (though, to be fair, this was all she had received).
And now, in November of 2010, a little over a year after I first began this project, I am beginning work on the third draft of Zenith.
I once compared rewriting to surgery:
For years I have heard authors toss around this phrase, that all writing is rewriting. I want to tell them they've got it backwards, that all rewriting is writing. You have a fully formed first draft and suddenly, you are starting from scratch. There is no such thing as a minor edit at this point, this is not plastic surgery. This is orthopedics, the breaking and reforming and placement of bones, the bare skeleton of what you wish to create. This is heart surgery and brain surgery, this is fixing the insides of a story so that it can live and breathe and speak on its own someday. You recreate the story, instead of making it look better. You rewrite it. Re-write. Write again. You essentially write a second novel, by fixing up that first draft.I stand by everything I said then and I am happy to say that my patient is out of the woods and stable these days. No more trauma surgery, no more heart or brain surgery. I now get to move on to the less threatening issues. I can focus on the lacerations and bruises, make sure everything is okay and stable. I get to comb my novel for inconsistencies, make sure my characters and my story get across well enough, and destroy all evidence of typos and grammar faux-pas. This is plastic surgery, the surface reformations and beautification stage. I hope it comes out pretty enough, in the end.
Friday, July 2, 2010
There are No Vacations from Being a Writer
On Wednesday night I completed my edits/rewrite of Zenith, packaged it up pretty & sent it off to be printed. What I didn't know is that CreateSpace, the website I had a free code for, requires 1-2 days processing, so it looks like I'll be paying for my copy after all. It only costs about $5, so I don't mind, I suppose. After all that work, I plan on rewarding myself with a copy.
Additionally, because I finished my edits, I also sent off a PDF of my novel to seven willing volunteers for beta-reading. I haven't received anything definite from anyone yet––it's only been two days––but so far the feedback has been good. However, none of them have reached the completely sucky last few chapters, so I'm not holding my breath.
Yesterday I could have relaxed from writing (and probably should have, considering I work a 12 hour split shift), but I couldn't. I've mentioned it before, but writing is not a job you drive to, clock in, do your work, clock out, go home, & forget about until the next morning; writing is a whole life process. Even as I drove to work yesterday, my mind was already trying to choose which project to begin on next. I wanted to do something with time travel that reflects my personal beliefs about the way time travel should be; I wanted a character with a particularly nice moustache; I wanted to try romance, since I've never successfully pulled that off. Before bed I ended up writing a 500 word drabble about two characters for a friend, just so I could write something (a need I rarely have when a deadline approaches, sadly). There are just no vacation time available for a writer.
This morning I woke up from a strange dream that ended up being the inspiration for my next project and immediately I began brainstorming and researching, picking out names. I need an androgynous name that can be mistaken as a male name, but is also not uncommon for females, but cannot be a diminutive of a different name. Currently I am leaning towards Sky with Cameron as my backup. This idea differs entirely from anything I've ever written and I am so excited about it.
Which brings me to my last topic of the day: all writers are lunatics. I've told you all this before and it's the title of my blog, so this really shouldn't be much of a surprise. After I created my list of possible character names I asked twitter & some friends which androgynous names they could think of, to gauge the connotations of each name. I received a lot of responses, for which I am thankful, but no one asked what the names were for. Even after I started hinting that I had a new story, no one asked what it was about. Like the lunatic writer I am, I went into this whiny state of Nobody Loves Me before finally texting Secret Agent Casye my idea. I could have just told everybody, I know, but I'm a lunatic, remember?
[Next up, research! I'm heading to the library later today to pick up some books, including Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness
.]
Additionally, because I finished my edits, I also sent off a PDF of my novel to seven willing volunteers for beta-reading. I haven't received anything definite from anyone yet––it's only been two days––but so far the feedback has been good. However, none of them have reached the completely sucky last few chapters, so I'm not holding my breath.
Yesterday I could have relaxed from writing (and probably should have, considering I work a 12 hour split shift), but I couldn't. I've mentioned it before, but writing is not a job you drive to, clock in, do your work, clock out, go home, & forget about until the next morning; writing is a whole life process. Even as I drove to work yesterday, my mind was already trying to choose which project to begin on next. I wanted to do something with time travel that reflects my personal beliefs about the way time travel should be; I wanted a character with a particularly nice moustache; I wanted to try romance, since I've never successfully pulled that off. Before bed I ended up writing a 500 word drabble about two characters for a friend, just so I could write something (a need I rarely have when a deadline approaches, sadly). There are just no vacation time available for a writer.
This morning I woke up from a strange dream that ended up being the inspiration for my next project and immediately I began brainstorming and researching, picking out names. I need an androgynous name that can be mistaken as a male name, but is also not uncommon for females, but cannot be a diminutive of a different name. Currently I am leaning towards Sky with Cameron as my backup. This idea differs entirely from anything I've ever written and I am so excited about it.
Which brings me to my last topic of the day: all writers are lunatics. I've told you all this before and it's the title of my blog, so this really shouldn't be much of a surprise. After I created my list of possible character names I asked twitter & some friends which androgynous names they could think of, to gauge the connotations of each name. I received a lot of responses, for which I am thankful, but no one asked what the names were for. Even after I started hinting that I had a new story, no one asked what it was about. Like the lunatic writer I am, I went into this whiny state of Nobody Loves Me before finally texting Secret Agent Casye my idea. I could have just told everybody, I know, but I'm a lunatic, remember?
[Next up, research! I'm heading to the library later today to pick up some books, including Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness
.]
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Second Chances as a Science
It's summer for me now and honestly I have no idea what to do with myself. I don't miss classes or a hundred papers a week (well, maybe just ten), but I do need the structure and schedule that came along with school. My sleep schedule is screwed up--which is really bad, considering I'm an insomniac (I'm on hour 30 of no sleep right now!)--and so is my writing. I have 18 days left and I'm really not much further than I was a week ago, it's sad and scary. This whole writing thing was a lot easier in November.
The thing with edits is that you have a chance to make things better than they first were before anyone else sees them. It's your chance to polish up your novel and get rid of all the things you wouldn't want to get out into the world. At this point, if you're like me, you might discover that your story doesn't make as much sense as it should in the order it was written in, so you'll start moving things around. This can be good, this can be great! Or this could be a bad idea.
Sometimes, after you've rearranged things in all these new ways you look back at it and realize you only made it worse. Maybe what needed to be moved wasn't a chapter, but a scene, a paragraph, a sentence. Chapters can be broken down into smaller units and exchanged, they don't always have to move in giant blocks. I thought I had done so well with my new order of chapters, til I realized that Rob could talk with his mother about Risty, but it would make sense to wait until he knew Risty better. The part I had pushed behind this section hinged on a paragraph, not a chapter, and I shouldn't have moved everything to accommodate that small section.
Edits are for second chances, but also for experimentation. Edits are chemistry, essentially. You take different elements of the novel and combine them in new or unexpected ways, just to see what will happen. Sometimes you'll be granted with something fantastically superior to your original, sometimes it will blow up in your face. Your second chance experiments can make your novel better, but every now and again, you realize that what you started with is what was best, after all. My beginning outranks what I currently have, but I'm going to continue experimenting and hopefully find something that works. (Before my friend Casye throws me in a black hole like she's threatened if I don't meet my deadline).
EDIT: I lied, it really was better the new way. Or is it? I don't really know!
The thing with edits is that you have a chance to make things better than they first were before anyone else sees them. It's your chance to polish up your novel and get rid of all the things you wouldn't want to get out into the world. At this point, if you're like me, you might discover that your story doesn't make as much sense as it should in the order it was written in, so you'll start moving things around. This can be good, this can be great! Or this could be a bad idea.
Sometimes, after you've rearranged things in all these new ways you look back at it and realize you only made it worse. Maybe what needed to be moved wasn't a chapter, but a scene, a paragraph, a sentence. Chapters can be broken down into smaller units and exchanged, they don't always have to move in giant blocks. I thought I had done so well with my new order of chapters, til I realized that Rob could talk with his mother about Risty, but it would make sense to wait until he knew Risty better. The part I had pushed behind this section hinged on a paragraph, not a chapter, and I shouldn't have moved everything to accommodate that small section.
Edits are for second chances, but also for experimentation. Edits are chemistry, essentially. You take different elements of the novel and combine them in new or unexpected ways, just to see what will happen. Sometimes you'll be granted with something fantastically superior to your original, sometimes it will blow up in your face. Your second chance experiments can make your novel better, but every now and again, you realize that what you started with is what was best, after all. My beginning outranks what I currently have, but I'm going to continue experimenting and hopefully find something that works. (Before my friend Casye throws me in a black hole like she's threatened if I don't meet my deadline).
EDIT: I lied, it really was better the new way. Or is it? I don't really know!
Friday, June 4, 2010
The New Order
This morning I emailed off my last paper for my summer course, which means I am now free to spend any time outside of work editing my novel. That's...a little scary, honestly, but it's okay. I had a migraine earlier, but once the excedrin kicked in I thought I might go read and I decided "No, I'm going to try to do some edits. If it doesn't work, I'll go read some Fitzgerald, but I at least need to try." Because that's my thing, I don't always try, I put it off, because "don't feel like it," or some other crap excuse. Today I tried--and turns out, I actually was able to do something with this MS.
When I am writing and especially when I am editing, I sometimes look at what I've written and think "Wow. I wrote this? Seriously, I did? This is actually really good." I might even realize deeper meanings in the prose that I hadn't consciously placed there originally, but is just so gosh-darned good. I amaze myself, sometimes.
Other times I look at the page and wonder how I even managed to get this far. I should have stopped ages ago, because obviously, I suck. I really suck. And I make really stupid mistakes, like using the wrong name for a character or have a seriously huge error in continuity or something like that.
But, it's edits, these moments are supposed to happen, right? (Oh God, I hope that's right.) I'm supposed to realize that I actually can make something out of what I've got so far and see the potential in my own work; realize that I have talent and build up my self-esteem to get me through to the end. I'm also supposed to find all those really stupid mistakes so that I can fix them—that's what editing is all about, really. I'm supposed to take something that pretty much sucks, but has potential, and turn that piece of coal into a shiny new diamond, ready to be cut and placed on a ring that I can later use to propose a marriage between myself and an agent.
So, bad news: The entire first half of my novel needs some serious work and the second half has a lot of errors with names and places.
Good news: I think I figured out how to fix it all, by rearranging some of the chapters in the first half. What was once chapter 1 is now chapter 4, and the prologue is gone completely (for now?). What was once chapter 15 is now chapter 5, and the end of chapter 4 will have to be rewritten to reflect the changes. Well, a lot of things will have to be rewritten to reflect these changes. All writing is rewriting, after all.
When I am writing and especially when I am editing, I sometimes look at what I've written and think "Wow. I wrote this? Seriously, I did? This is actually really good." I might even realize deeper meanings in the prose that I hadn't consciously placed there originally, but is just so gosh-darned good. I amaze myself, sometimes.
Other times I look at the page and wonder how I even managed to get this far. I should have stopped ages ago, because obviously, I suck. I really suck. And I make really stupid mistakes, like using the wrong name for a character or have a seriously huge error in continuity or something like that.
But, it's edits, these moments are supposed to happen, right? (Oh God, I hope that's right.) I'm supposed to realize that I actually can make something out of what I've got so far and see the potential in my own work; realize that I have talent and build up my self-esteem to get me through to the end. I'm also supposed to find all those really stupid mistakes so that I can fix them—that's what editing is all about, really. I'm supposed to take something that pretty much sucks, but has potential, and turn that piece of coal into a shiny new diamond, ready to be cut and placed on a ring that I can later use to propose a marriage between myself and an agent.
So, bad news: The entire first half of my novel needs some serious work and the second half has a lot of errors with names and places.
Good news: I think I figured out how to fix it all, by rearranging some of the chapters in the first half. What was once chapter 1 is now chapter 4, and the prologue is gone completely (for now?). What was once chapter 15 is now chapter 5, and the end of chapter 4 will have to be rewritten to reflect the changes. Well, a lot of things will have to be rewritten to reflect these changes. All writing is rewriting, after all.
Friday, May 28, 2010
"All Writing is Rewriting"
For years I have heard authors toss around this phrase, that all writing is rewriting. I want to tell them they've got it backwards, that all rewriting is writing. You have a fully formed first draft and suddenly, you are starting from scratch. There is no such thing as a minor edit at this point, this is not plastic surgery. This is orthopedics, the breaking and reforming and placement of bones, the bare skeleton of what you wish to create. This is heart surgery and brain surgery, this is fixing the insides of a story so that it can live and breathe and speak on its own someday. You recreate the story, instead of making it look better. You rewrite it. Re-write. Write again. You essentially write a second novel, by fixing up that first draft.
So how can they say that all writing is rewriting? That first draft wasn't rewriting, there was nothing to repeat. But here's the thing, only the first draft is ever truly written, without being rewritten, and the first draft never makes it to publication. First drafts are monsters, hidden deep in our closets, that we hope will never be viewed by any eyes other than our own. True writing, the stuff that fills the pages of a book, that's rewriting. All real writing, all commendable writing, is rewriting. So all rewriting is writing and, to a point, all writing is rewriting, no matter how impossible that sounds. It's almost a paradox, yet we authors achieve it. Or we try to, in my case, at least.
So today I truly begin the process of writing something that I hope someday one other than myself will read. Or maybe two, or two hundred, or two thousand, who can be sure? Today I begin setting bones and sewing up hearts and stopping bleeds so that my creation can stand up straight and walk out of my door, to no longer have to hide in the shadows. Today I begin--officially--rewrites. I've got 33 days before my finished second draft is due if I want the hard copy that I won from NaNoWriMo. 33 days, 4 of which will be spent in the classroom, and 15 of which will be spent at work. But I wrote a novel, a full first draft, in 30, while going to school 5 days a week, working 3-4 days a week. So I can do this, I believe I can. I work best under a deadline.
And I'm going to try to post everyday again, to help me stay on track. I don't have to submit my daily word count to the NaNo site anymore, so I'm going to do it here. If I don't post, I know I didn't write, and then all of you know I didn't write. Hold me accountable, while I try to discover what Richard North Patterson meant when he first said that all writing is rewriting.
So how can they say that all writing is rewriting? That first draft wasn't rewriting, there was nothing to repeat. But here's the thing, only the first draft is ever truly written, without being rewritten, and the first draft never makes it to publication. First drafts are monsters, hidden deep in our closets, that we hope will never be viewed by any eyes other than our own. True writing, the stuff that fills the pages of a book, that's rewriting. All real writing, all commendable writing, is rewriting. So all rewriting is writing and, to a point, all writing is rewriting, no matter how impossible that sounds. It's almost a paradox, yet we authors achieve it. Or we try to, in my case, at least.
So today I truly begin the process of writing something that I hope someday one other than myself will read. Or maybe two, or two hundred, or two thousand, who can be sure? Today I begin setting bones and sewing up hearts and stopping bleeds so that my creation can stand up straight and walk out of my door, to no longer have to hide in the shadows. Today I begin--officially--rewrites. I've got 33 days before my finished second draft is due if I want the hard copy that I won from NaNoWriMo. 33 days, 4 of which will be spent in the classroom, and 15 of which will be spent at work. But I wrote a novel, a full first draft, in 30, while going to school 5 days a week, working 3-4 days a week. So I can do this, I believe I can. I work best under a deadline.
And I'm going to try to post everyday again, to help me stay on track. I don't have to submit my daily word count to the NaNo site anymore, so I'm going to do it here. If I don't post, I know I didn't write, and then all of you know I didn't write. Hold me accountable, while I try to discover what Richard North Patterson meant when he first said that all writing is rewriting.
"Writing is rewriting. A writer must learn to deepen characters, trim writing, intensify scenes. To fall in love with the first draft to the point where one cannot change it is to greatly enhance the prospects of never publishing." Richard North Patterson
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
The Conqueror; Creating Good Characters
Total word count: 15,079
Words written today: 1,005
Chapter(s): 12 & 13 (written in reverse order)
Last night I went to an event with John Green & David Leviathan for the release of their new book Will Grayson, Will Grayson and it was a great experience. I got to hang out with a lot of great people, discuss books and writing, and I got plenty of advice and got to hear from two experienced professional writers. One question that a fan asked was "how do you come up with such great characters, are they people you know or people you wished you knew?" John's answer was that it was a little of both, that when he was younger he would imagine conversations with people in real life that he never had the courage or opportunity to speak to. Sitting there in the audience I had this moment of connection, because I do that too.
I imagine every day "what would have happened if I said this?" or "If they were still here, what would we talk about?" I spend a large portion of my life imagining conversations and not actually having them. That's what I do with my writing, it's a very good way to do the same thing without sounding like a crazy person. And in addition to reimagining people in new ways, we authors put a little of ourselves in each of our characters.
Matt, one of my characters in The Conqueror isn't much like me, he's a detective and thinks everything through and I'm a lunatic writer who does things on impulse, but there is this one little part of me that became a part of him. Matt, like myself, is the farthest thing from a morning person. There is a section in chapter 13 where I bring this up and I think it's a part that makes him more real for the reader. Being bleary-eyed in the morning is not a tragic flaw, but it is a flaw, and it makes him more believable and relatable and I like that.
Words written today: 1,005
Chapter(s): 12 & 13 (written in reverse order)
Last night I went to an event with John Green & David Leviathan for the release of their new book Will Grayson, Will Grayson and it was a great experience. I got to hang out with a lot of great people, discuss books and writing, and I got plenty of advice and got to hear from two experienced professional writers. One question that a fan asked was "how do you come up with such great characters, are they people you know or people you wished you knew?" John's answer was that it was a little of both, that when he was younger he would imagine conversations with people in real life that he never had the courage or opportunity to speak to. Sitting there in the audience I had this moment of connection, because I do that too.
I imagine every day "what would have happened if I said this?" or "If they were still here, what would we talk about?" I spend a large portion of my life imagining conversations and not actually having them. That's what I do with my writing, it's a very good way to do the same thing without sounding like a crazy person. And in addition to reimagining people in new ways, we authors put a little of ourselves in each of our characters.
Matt, one of my characters in The Conqueror isn't much like me, he's a detective and thinks everything through and I'm a lunatic writer who does things on impulse, but there is this one little part of me that became a part of him. Matt, like myself, is the farthest thing from a morning person. There is a section in chapter 13 where I bring this up and I think it's a part that makes him more real for the reader. Being bleary-eyed in the morning is not a tragic flaw, but it is a flaw, and it makes him more believable and relatable and I like that.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
The Conqueror, Chapter 11; My Novels are Ambitious
Total word count: 13,231
Words written today: 2,005 (almost makes up for yesterday!)
Talking with my best friends today, it has been pointed out to me that my novels are big, ambitious, and have a broad scope. I both agree and disagree with those. I don't necessarily think that my novels are big, but they certainly have a large cast, with multiple narrators (or at least The Conqueror does). There is no definite hero or main character, there is a cast of primary and secondary characters. And yes, it has a broad scope, but these aren't worlds hanging in the balance. The issues would still be there, whether or not my characters were involved in them. In Zenith, Rob was merely a catalyst for something bigger than himself, but the situation predated him. In The Conqueror the characters are involved in the resistance effort, but the narrators, for the most part, are not the ones doing the fighting. They are related to the people who are, or in love with them, or tied to them in ways they can't quite explain. These are the people who are hurt outside the field, not by bullets, but by worry and loss, the people whose lives change and can't do anything about it. It's about them and it's about more than them. So, yes, I have a broader scope than other YA novels.
But are they ambitious? I'm not so sure. I'm not saying that I don't hope to accomplish something with my novels, because that would be me lying to you. I do want to do something. I don't think for a second that I could stop a war or end racism or keep the world turning, but I do hope that maybe, just for a second, you'll think about these things. Think about what you're doing and how you're doing it and what message that sends. I write about wars and diversity and friends and family and love and loss because these are a part of our lives. That's not grandiose, as one person said, and I don't think it's ambitious, either. These are things we live through every day, and maybe it's on a bigger scale, but that doesn't make it any different. I just want you to look at the bigger picture, see yourself as something far more infinite than you could imagine. Maybe that's ambitious, but it's possible. That's what I write about.
I won't always leave quotes, but I just found this one via sheismargo's tumblr:
Words written today: 2,005 (almost makes up for yesterday!)
Talking with my best friends today, it has been pointed out to me that my novels are big, ambitious, and have a broad scope. I both agree and disagree with those. I don't necessarily think that my novels are big, but they certainly have a large cast, with multiple narrators (or at least The Conqueror does). There is no definite hero or main character, there is a cast of primary and secondary characters. And yes, it has a broad scope, but these aren't worlds hanging in the balance. The issues would still be there, whether or not my characters were involved in them. In Zenith, Rob was merely a catalyst for something bigger than himself, but the situation predated him. In The Conqueror the characters are involved in the resistance effort, but the narrators, for the most part, are not the ones doing the fighting. They are related to the people who are, or in love with them, or tied to them in ways they can't quite explain. These are the people who are hurt outside the field, not by bullets, but by worry and loss, the people whose lives change and can't do anything about it. It's about them and it's about more than them. So, yes, I have a broader scope than other YA novels.
But are they ambitious? I'm not so sure. I'm not saying that I don't hope to accomplish something with my novels, because that would be me lying to you. I do want to do something. I don't think for a second that I could stop a war or end racism or keep the world turning, but I do hope that maybe, just for a second, you'll think about these things. Think about what you're doing and how you're doing it and what message that sends. I write about wars and diversity and friends and family and love and loss because these are a part of our lives. That's not grandiose, as one person said, and I don't think it's ambitious, either. These are things we live through every day, and maybe it's on a bigger scale, but that doesn't make it any different. I just want you to look at the bigger picture, see yourself as something far more infinite than you could imagine. Maybe that's ambitious, but it's possible. That's what I write about.
I won't always leave quotes, but I just found this one via sheismargo's tumblr:
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates
Friday, March 26, 2010
The Conqueror, Chapter 9
Overall word count: 11162
Words written today: 625
Fridays are always hit or miss writing days for me, generally because I tend to write more late at night and I don't have that option on Fridays. I work at 6:30 on Saturday mornings, so a reasonable bedtime the night before is a must. Today I managed 625 words which is not fantastic, but far better than anything else this week. I went three days without writing a word, partially because of the crazy amount of schoolwork I had to complete (6 pages of papers just last night) and partially because I've been having a really rotten week. And by really rotten I mean "exceptionally exhausting" and "terribly trying" and other such alliterations. Getting back to writing, accomplishing something, felt good, like visiting and old friend or watching a favourite movie. (Which I also did tonight by introducing my best friend to Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, but that's beside the point)
In those 625 words I finished the 9th chapter of The Conqueror and introduced one of my favourite characters, William. He's a bit crazy, usually drinking, and generally hilarious. He used to work in the palace, before the Overthrow, and now he works for the resistance. If you've read my novel Zenith, or heard me talk about it, you might be thinking that he's very similar to Fagan/Gramps, and in some ways he is, but in many others he's very different. Still, I think those two would get along rather well, especially over a good meal.
Words written today: 625
Fridays are always hit or miss writing days for me, generally because I tend to write more late at night and I don't have that option on Fridays. I work at 6:30 on Saturday mornings, so a reasonable bedtime the night before is a must. Today I managed 625 words which is not fantastic, but far better than anything else this week. I went three days without writing a word, partially because of the crazy amount of schoolwork I had to complete (6 pages of papers just last night) and partially because I've been having a really rotten week. And by really rotten I mean "exceptionally exhausting" and "terribly trying" and other such alliterations. Getting back to writing, accomplishing something, felt good, like visiting and old friend or watching a favourite movie. (Which I also did tonight by introducing my best friend to Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, but that's beside the point)
In those 625 words I finished the 9th chapter of The Conqueror and introduced one of my favourite characters, William. He's a bit crazy, usually drinking, and generally hilarious. He used to work in the palace, before the Overthrow, and now he works for the resistance. If you've read my novel Zenith, or heard me talk about it, you might be thinking that he's very similar to Fagan/Gramps, and in some ways he is, but in many others he's very different. Still, I think those two would get along rather well, especially over a good meal.
Meet the Lunatic
Hello everyone, chances are if you're here, you already know me, but if you don't, here's the basics. My name is Jez, I'm 20 years old, and I'm an as of yet unpublished writer. I've written all sorts of stories in different genres and lengths and I'm working on getting some of them published. On 19 February 2010, I finished my first complete novel, Zenith, clocking in at 55,940 words. It's a science fiction story set in the future when aspiring film director Rob needs to help his grandfather keep one of the last farms and hide an airplane in a time when air travel is illegal, all with the help of a young cyborg named Risty. This is also the novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo in 2009, which I finished!
This blog is to replace my vastly outdated one and to keep track of my writing with updates on word counts, troubles, and celebrations. Hopefully there will be more celebrations than hardships.
And since you're probably wondering, the name of this blog comes from a quote in Cornelia Funke's Inkspell.
This blog is to replace my vastly outdated one and to keep track of my writing with updates on word counts, troubles, and celebrations. Hopefully there will be more celebrations than hardships.
And since you're probably wondering, the name of this blog comes from a quote in Cornelia Funke's Inkspell.
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