tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58822222008-03-21T01:29:53.447-04:00Writing SyaSyaBlogger334125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-54777417292112289362008-03-21T01:29:00.001-04:002008-03-21T01:29:53.475-04:00Ideas? Not Really.
So Script Frenzy for next month and I'm still waffling on whether or not to do this. I'm insanely busy, yet I'm also insanely busy during November and I always manage to complete Nanowrimo...
I do have an idea. A backup idea that I don't really want to use--basically it's The Merry Widow as a wacky space opera. Maybe I'll go into this with cold feet.Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-54226417194100208452007-12-03T23:38:00.000-05:002007-12-04T09:44:23.739-05:00Until Next Year
There probably won't be any more posts in this blog until next year (in which the URL will be changed from 2007 to 2008) so all of my weblog postings until then will be concentrated on my main weblog.
Meanwhile, I will leave you with a compilation of Types of WriMos:
Ahead-of-Themselves Worrywarts: People who are way too worried about what publishers will accept, and whether Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-84509459976457037352007-12-01T01:27:00.000-05:002007-12-01T01:28:34.724-05:00Woohoo!
It's the end of another NaNoWriMo. Congrats to everyone--whether you've finished or not. The goal was to reach 50,000 words, but really, anyone who has written anything is a winner. One word written on paper or typed on the computer is simply one word closer to writing that novel.
But since Nano is over for the year, what now? Well, you could do similar challenges for the other Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-804199017042670092007-11-30T01:23:00.000-05:002007-11-30T01:24:33.109-05:00On Other Projects
I think I'm going to try NaNoFiMo again. (I first signed up in 2005.) Maybe this year, I'll actually get somewhere. Some possibilities:
Grayed - started around 2002-2003, science fiction/suspense. An investigator searches for answers as the death count of an icy mining colony rises.
Salamander Hill - unofficial 2004 July Nano, fantasy western. A band of adventurers searchSyatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-63729787428613841032007-11-29T01:20:00.000-05:002007-11-29T01:24:55.529-05:00Heh
For some reason, the Chris Baty fan club thread makes me think of the ending of the 2004 Nano novel I wrote:
As the editor of the magazine Hot Tread slammed his office door shut, Stuart pulled out the newspaper that Mad Dog had so carelessly tossed. He opened The New Halis Times to the front page and began reading the headlines aloud.
"New Halis' most eligible bachelor receives inheritanceSyatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-30509169601280946192007-11-28T00:37:00.000-05:002007-11-28T00:39:23.232-05:00Personal Stats
Well, I just figured I'll put in some of my personal stats for all the years I've done Nano, including this year since I'm finished with the story. It appears that my pace has been quite consistent from year to year to about day 15. Then things start diverging.Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-73849661481808268432007-11-27T03:25:00.000-05:002007-11-27T03:30:25.696-05:00Nano Finished!
"I'm going to soak you in a nice vintage liqueur and slowly burn each page with one of those branding irons master chefs use to caramelize crème brûlée."
That bit of dialogue is from my villain. Who has a fetish for destroying books. Vellum and Green Vitriol is fantasy adventure, taking place in a 1920's England-esque landscape where grimoires are the main characters and most Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-27803526799493226692007-11-26T16:32:00.001-05:002007-11-26T16:32:44.218-05:00Make Backups, People
And It Goes Like This! This anecdote is more academic related, but it can be applied to pretty much everything. So go backup your novel. I have various versions in my writing notebook, my computer, my flash drive, a CD, in e-mail, and on this website. Where's yours?Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-54244796028695470192007-11-25T01:05:00.001-05:002007-11-25T01:05:51.092-05:00The Thing About Ideas
It's interesting reading about other people's progress. For some people, it's a cathartic experience because they're finally writing out a story that has been living in their head forever. I can only imagine it as a security blanket that they're finally letting go. Because if there's one idea that keeps getting stuck in my head for years and years, I'd go mad. (This is Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-12219897513140451032007-11-24T11:53:00.000-05:002007-11-24T11:55:17.708-05:00A Link
Which I found on the forums: Whatt-Evan's Laws of Fantasy. People always tell me that fantasy is easy. Not necessarily so--if you're making it easy, it's probably bad fantasy. Like any other genre, it needs to be consistent with its own internal rules.
Of course in Nano, you can throw all the rules out the window even when you're not writing fantasy in order to get the words down. Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-11198009264672483312007-11-23T12:13:00.001-05:002007-11-23T12:13:39.344-05:00Still Going
I passed 50k last night. I'm still writing though--I will try to get to the end of the story before the month is out.
It's sort of interesting handwriting. I have black pens that are clear so I can see the level of ink left. I've used up a lot of ink considering how many pens I've thrown out during the course of the month.Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-62568133079932168092007-11-22T11:54:00.000-05:002007-11-22T11:55:07.158-05:00From the Forums
Favorite Line
My favorite bit of dialogue begins with: "Don't tell me. You're the Key to Cooking."
Best line of the day
From yesterday: "How much havoc can a bunch of women cause anyway?"
Who Didn't Cheese To Make Their 50k?
The question pertains to whether or not you always use the full names of your characters, lack contractions, put spaces in between the periods of an Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-27594373413151402842007-11-21T20:22:00.000-05:002007-11-21T20:23:08.946-05:00A Break From Possible Hand Cramps
I've been mostly writing by hand today. I'm going to try to finish up another scene before I start typing things up. I'm also going to try to get my characters into Haven (a fictional city that's sort of like a cross between Edinburgh and Venice) before tonight is over.
As for where the story will be at when I hit 50k--I'm 99% sure it won't be the end (Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-46352576292550808432007-11-20T13:28:00.001-05:002007-11-20T13:29:37.383-05:00Natural Inspirations
Last night, I watched the first episode of David Attenborough's Planet Earth series. It wasn't the first episode I've ever watched--I'm watching them all out of order due to the availability of the DVDs at the library--but that's okay. David Attenborough nature documentaries are awesome no matter what order you watch them in.
So what does this have to do with Nano? Well,Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-19698085552987183342007-11-19T13:16:00.001-05:002007-11-19T13:16:25.667-05:00Gaming the System
I don't know how often you check the Official Nanowrimo blog, but I just looked it up today. And I saw an entry on...ghostwriting. Oh man, wouldn't it just be easier to type 50,000 words over and over again rather than paying someone else to do it for you? Or is someone trying to get extra credit in English class without doing the work?
Sad. Sad. Sad.
The whole point of Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-45560581132400786262007-11-18T13:30:00.001-05:002007-11-18T13:31:21.105-05:00Channeling My Jaded Inner Nano-er
I've never thought of it as "winning." To me, it smacks too much of competition. I'm not competing against anybody except, perhaps, myself. I don't really want any awards. Heck, while everyone else is busy going to Kinko's to print out their certificate in color and have some calligrapher write their name on it, I don't even bother. 50k is a goal. I'll be Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-90884418120497273832007-11-17T14:21:00.001-05:002007-11-17T14:21:29.275-05:00Update
For those of you trying to find something to procrastinate on, I've updated my links page with more online novels.Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-45467892025273459872007-11-17T12:48:00.001-05:002007-11-17T12:48:29.347-05:00Scaring You Into Washing Your Hands
The write-in I went to yesterday was probably the first time I got very little writing done. For one thing, my brain was already fried--I had been doing scientific writing the entire day which is not the same as writing fiction. And another--I got caught up in another Nanoer's interview which for a lack of better phrase, required my scientific expertise. Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-47785225244348385182007-11-16T13:22:00.000-05:002007-11-16T13:23:13.026-05:00This Is Practice
It never fails. Every year, there will be some people who get discouraged because they're writing "crap". Or thinking that they might get encouragement from their friends and family, they show their work and get let down because they're being told that it's "no good." I can't stress enough that Nanowrimo is all about getting the words down--not so much the quality, true--but Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-34328846165224962852007-11-15T00:48:00.001-05:002007-11-15T00:48:51.980-05:00A Confession
Ideally, I would be listening to a variety of soundtracks while writing. However, whenever I have been listening to music while writing, it has been cheesy pop music. I swear, it keeps me awake.Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-66940522130995654032007-11-14T03:06:00.001-05:002007-11-14T03:06:37.323-05:00Tips & Things
NaNo Ten (via Web Petals: check out her cartoon with the caffeine IV drip!) A list of links to helpful advice and noveling resources from Paperback Writer.* * *Sometimes, I'm in a certain mood where I think--why do people need bribes to write? Writing is supposed to be in your blood; you can't make yourself not do it. Bribery is for something truly unpleasant.Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-87894133531730034932007-11-13T01:25:00.001-05:002007-11-13T01:25:26.293-05:00Meanderings
I purposely left my outline wide open because I'm rather prone to digressions and tangents during Nano. My tangents to date: random and quirky secondary characters that pop in and out. But after a little thinking about them, these secondary characters do fit a sort of mold. Like cranky old men with a few screws loose. And middle-aged women with crushes on my main male character.Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-13004781124019139252007-11-12T13:50:00.001-05:002007-11-12T13:50:42.348-05:00Arg
I was a bit too ambitious thinking for the weekend. Maybe I'll get to 25k before November 15. This week is already pretty crazy.Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-20599029988204373212007-11-11T00:57:00.001-05:002007-11-11T00:57:34.680-05:00Where I Am
As of this writing, I'm a little over 20k. Previous years:
2006 - 16.5k
2005 - 22k
2004 - 18.4k
2003 - 22.5k
2002 - 20k
2001 - 21.8k
Fueled by sugar and personal demons, I'm going for 25k before the end of this weekend.Syatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882222.post-46275718684825653932007-11-08T21:18:00.000-05:002007-11-08T21:20:34.919-05:00The Short Of It
There are similar threads throughout the forums on summarizing your plot. A lot of people seem to find it really difficult. "There are lots of things happening in my novel," they might exclaim. "It's impossible to talk about it in less than five minutes. People might as well read the whole thing!" Maybe people are making it a little more complicated than it should be--of Sya