NaNoWriMo Day 6

I've managed to eek my way up to 13,729 words today. Huzzah! 

So far, I haven't hit that dreaded slump but I'm just waiting. It usually decides to lurk around a corner just when I don't expect it and then WHAM! The story either drops dead in its tracks or decides it needs to suddenly turn in another direction. I've already had modifications to the plot that I wasn't expecting to have. But I suppose that's how writing is supposed to be: learning along the way and adapting to whatever the characters suddenly reveal to you. 

I originally started this year's NaNo using just Microsoft Word. But I have found the mother of all inventions when it comes to my writing style. If you haven't checked it out do so! 

Right now, I'm using FocusWriter on both my laptops, as well as my main tower at home and boy is it a lifesaver! This little wonder is free (though you can donate to the creators of the program if you're feeling generous- and I have because they are awesome and I want them to keep developing it!) It's really easy to use and I like that I can customize the background so that I'm not just staring at a screen. I put up a nice HD picture of a galaxy on the background to remind myself that I'm writing sci-fi and to consider the galaxy as a whole and not just the section of the galaxy I'm focusing on. Check out this awesome program here!

FocusWriter! Makes writing so much more interesting!

My other saving grace right now is focus@will which is a browser based application that allows me to set an amount of time and then choose a type and pace of music. Usually, I'm listening to classical or cinematic. This application is free for the very basic version but I went ahead and upgraded for a fee. I now get a year worth of use and I can modify the length of my session, as well as track my productivity. I read that this application is being used in studies for individuals that have ADHD (like me) and that it's actually being studied to help improve concentration and focus for individuals who aren't being treated. So far, it helps me when I am taking my meds and late at night when those have worn off. So it's a win-win! Check out this nifty little track here!


I hope everyone else who is out there doing NaNo is having a fun time and that their stories are progressing as nicely (and neatly) as mine is. For now, it's time for me to get some reading in and do one last journal session before I try to sleep.

NaNoWriMo Day 5

Word count for the day is: 11,382.

So far, I've kept up with my goal of writing at least 2k words a day. I'm pretty proud of that considering everything else that I've got going on. As per my other goals, I've also kept up with my morning pages, though the term 'morning pages' is used loosely in this context. I very rarely write those morning pages first thing in the morning which, I suppose, defeats the purpose of writing them at all.

The whole point of morning pages is to get all that junk out of your mind first thing in the morning. For me, the last few entries have been in mid-afternoon to late-afternoon, sometimes as late as into the evening. In the grand scheme of things, however, writing is writing and I can't help but feel that this is a very good practice. I will be interested to see if I can keep it up and whether re-reading some of the entries will be able to bring up ideas or at least jog my memory, maybe get some of my negative self-talk out of my brain before it rots everything else away!

The other nice thing about my morning pages is I write it by hand. It's a relatively wonderful thing to see: words appearing on the page. There's something very calming and fantastic about ink on paper and the crinkle that the paper makes as more words appear. I have this strange obsession with the way paper curls when covered with enough ink. I think it's a beautiful thing and my morning pages are the one thing I can do by hand.

If I tried to write my NaNoWrimo by hand, I'm pretty sure I'd die. There's only so much by hand writing you can do before your arm just doesn't want to work anymore.

NaNoWriMo Day 4

Today's word count ended at 8699 so I am so far on track. My goal is to write around 2000 words a day, give or take. I've outlined my book down to a prologue, epilogue, and nineteen chapters. I usually do very little outlining and this is a very basic outline. I just wanted to get my basic points down for each chapter so that if I felt the urge to jump around and write different chapters at different times, I could. I almost never write linearly mostly because I get bored at some point and move around all over the place.

That's what I ended up doing today. Chapter 10 is mostly complete and then, this evening, I went back and did some work in Chapter 2 and 3. It's nice to have the freedom to move around freely and write whatever chapters seem the most interesting to me that day. So far, this story is getting interesting to me. It has already morphed a few times and I can already feel a change coming on again. I knew I was going to place the main character in a family but I did not realize that the  main character's older brother is a bit of a prick. That kind of came out of left field but I'm glad it did. It makes things much more interesting.

And for those of you with any interest, a short section:

Behind him, he left only a family: a mother who no longer cared, a father who was never home, and a brother who worried very little about anything beyond his own needs. His friends were few and far between and all of them would move on quickly enough. He’d always been the loner, the one who seemed a little strange to the rest of his species. He had been known as a thinker, a philosopher when all they needed were pilots or soldiers or leaders. But he didn’t want to lead anyone. He wanted, more than anything, to discover, to work alongside those that might otherwise be an unknown.

This would be his biggest adventure. Would he die out there, among the stars? Would his ship be attacked before he even reached his first destination? He wouldn’t know until he got there. He couldn’t tell the future and he had never believed in divine purpose like most of his species. The life he led would be under his own control. He would live and die by his own decisions with no one else alongside to worry about. The responsibility of ruling his own destiny and making his own grave gave him an odd thrill, both terrifying and wonderful all in the same mouthful.

But he drank up that sensation, storing it for darker times when he knew he would question his own decision. After all, he had been raised to believe that his only purpose in life was to follow orders, listen to the decisions of his elders, and do what must be done to keep his species alive.

 

NaNoWriMo Day 2

Day 2 has come and gone. By the time this posts, we'll be into the first tender minutes of day 3. So far, I've managed to clock in a total of 4523 words. I am on schedule and working as planned with regards to daily word count. Though, I hope to be pulling away and adding some security padding for the days when the words just don't want to come out. It's always nice to get a head start on the first few days when the sensation of writing is full of wonder and joy. By week two, those feelings slowly deteriorate into a sense of panic. Week three usually is a flat out race and then week four feels like you're just barely keeping your head above water. 

At least, that's how the first year was for me. Year two was a little easier since I put a pretty decent amount of distance between 0 and 50,000 within the first few weeks. I ended above 50k by about 10k that year so I had a great deal of extra padding and no need to really worry. 

I'm hoping to be able to repeat that experience this year, or maybe even overreach that 60k mark. But only time will tell. You never know when your novel suddenly decides it no longer wants to work with you. 

NaNoWriMo Day 1

And so the first day has begun... 

I didn't get as much done as I wanted but I'm sitting at a cool 2364 words for the first day. I'm hoping to have a 5k+ word day this weekend when I have time to concentrate. I want to definitely bank enough words so that when I hit the lull that is the mid-way point, I don't get totally bogged down number wise.

My first week or so is usually pretty ridiculous in the word count area and then it slowly drops off over time as the days to by. Specifically, this time around, the week is going to be quite a challenge considering what else I've got going on in my life. But I look forward to the challenge. Along with writing for NaNoWriMo, I'm still pursuing my three pages of handwritten words in the morning, as well as a journal entry in the evening. Plus, I hope to be updating this blog every step of the way with word counts, tribulations, and successes. 

Good luck to anyone else who is participating in this crazy, wonderful, ridiculous month of November! And I hope that your story comes to life before your eyes as well as mine have the past few years. Here's to hoping for a non-dud!

Morning Pages

This probably isn't the best time to try and start a new habit but I'm doing it anyway! 

First thing in the morning, or as close to first thing as I can get, I get my handy spiral notebook and sit down to write. I write three pages by hand (approximately 750 words) and I plan to do this every day. 

Granted, I will be writing every day (hopefully) for the next 30 days considering NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow but I figure this is a good way to get all the worries and fears and random thoughts out of my brain first thing in the morning. 

I got this idea from the book "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. The author promotes this practice as a good way to get the thoughts in your mind out of the way first thing so that they won't interfere with your writing later on. This frees up your mind to think creatively without hinderance. The author also says this is a good way to track ideas or things that might be developed later on into a great story. 

I know, for me, it's nice to get all my concerns on paper. I can look back on these pages and look to see what was preoccupying my thoughts, what was really bothering me, and what areas I need to work on. It's both an exercise in writing and an exercise in self-psychology. I've only be earnestly pursuing this practice for a couple days now but, already, I am starting to look forward to filling up the pages.

You don't have to write on paper. I know some people who use computers or this nifty little website called 750Words. Personally, for me, there's something satisfying about putting pen to paper and watching those lined pages fill up with words. I get a scary amount of satisfaction when a page is filled with words and the ink across paper causes it to curl and crinkle under hand. But maybe that's just me.

To the Edge of Sharlan

"Sharlan: free man. This is the edge of the last human bastion. With all the resistance and violence being met with from other species, Chorell had hoped that he would be the last thing on humanity's mind. But when his experiment with joining minds with one of the Jal'nei, a race of aliens newly come to the attack on humanity, is discovered he finds himself hunted by his own, an already rare and almost extinct species. Now, with the swarming noise of the Jal'nei offensive clouding his mind, Chorell must venture out of Sharlan to survive his own as well as humanity's enemies."

And this is established...
The main character: Chorell
An antagonist: The Jal'nei, as well as humanity
Location: Sharlan, the outer reaches of the last human bastion 
Major conflict: Chorell's life as a hunted other by both his own race and the aliens around him

Now to decide if we catch up with this poor guy while he's running or start it from earlier on. Do I want to Tarantino? I suppose that will be decided later. I do tend to start somewhere and then go back and add things to the beginning. So I don't feel too worried.

I at last now have a plot (of some sort) and enough conflict to reason with.