Wednesday, November 15, 2006

NaNo Day Fifteen -- The Halfway Point

If we did all the things we were capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves. — Thomas Edison

So... the calendar says we are halfway through the NaNo Month. Conveniently, I am halfway through my story, with the anticipation that once I finish this blog and start to write this morning, I will be slightly ahead.

A few people on the NaNo boards are finished. One finished in eight days -- I wonder what it looks like?

Many won't "win" at NaNo, but in my opinion, just by trying and doing what they can, many times far more than they've ever done, they've won. Writing 10,000 words when you've only ever written the first five pages of a story is fantastic!

I imagine I'll see this blasted thing through to the bitter end. I've given myself permission to work on another project at the same time IF I managed the bare minimum of words for NaNo first. Yesterday I worked on a short story and got another 600 words written on top of what I did for NaNo.

Next year for NaNo (and, yes, I'll do it again next year, good Lord willing and the creek don't rise) I will be better prepared. Each year, I learn a little more about the process. This year, I worked mostly on the characters and not on the story. I need to work more on the story since it appears that the characters work very nicely on themselves.

It's raining here and we're all bouncing off the walls. Today is supposed to be the nicest day of the week, it's merely overcast and gray, so we're canceling school and going to Nashua (well, Tyngsboro, really -- but you don't care about that, right?) to visit Trader Joes, one of my very favorite places. Ceri, I'll wave as I go south :-)

And so are the days of my life. How are you?

=================================

I think I've pegged why I'm dragging through this story -- it's too freakin' serious! I took a wander over to the dares board at NaNo and, aside from the fifteen chickens thing, found nothing I could use because my characters are so normal (well, except for Ben's wardrobe). That must change and I'll have to give some thought about how to do so. I don't like such sober stories!

This morning, writing was painful. This afternoon was better. So far, I've managed 1,661 words for a grand total of:

27,017 / 50,000

4 comments:

Judy said...

Send some of that rain down this way. Everytime I think we're going to get some, it heads further north :-( I want a long rainy day, complete with thunder and lightening.

You're doing good with NaNo. I'm here cheering you on!

anno said...

C'mon... you've made GREAT progress! Give yourself a pat on the back. The rest of us are still cheering!

Anonymous said...

It keeps raining here, too. Wish it would stop. I hate rain in the winter. I want sun! Or snow. I could live with snow. But rain in the winter is just wrong.

On the writing front, I'm working on revisions for the shapeshifter book. :)

Allie Boniface said...

I think the idea behind NaNoWrMo is a good one, but moreso for those who have never come close to writing 50K words, as you say. Authors who suffer from procrastination probably also benefit from having a fire lit beneath them, and a built-in timeline. But I wonder about those authors who are further along in the process, who already know they can turn out a 50K word novel. As you wonder (rightly so, I think), what does 50K words that was produced in 8 days really look like? I suppose if you use it as a starting point, rather than an ending one, then there's the real benefit.