NaNoWriMo Update
by Merope on Nov 15, 2011 5:02 PM PST
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Well it's the National Novel Writing Month halfway point, more or less.. How's it going?
I'm waaaaay behind where I wanted to be! Stupid life stuff.
I've only got 16,000 words at the moment. Which is what? Almost but not quite a third of the way through? Ugh.
So, let us know how you are doing, if you want to share anything you've written feel free to do so in the comments.
If I do this next year I'm going to do something where I can insert a lot of poetry / song lyricky type stuff. This "end of the world, people are all poop-heads and we're all doomed" fictionalized diatribe isn't giving me much room for that sort of padding!
This FanPost is reader-generated, and it does not necessarily reflect the views of McCovey Chronicles. If the author uses filler to achieve the minimum word requirement, a moderator may edit the FanPost for his or her own amusement.
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I skipped NaNo this year because I knew I’d be way too busy (just moved, new job, etc) but I have done it a few times in the past and have never gotten further than the halfway mark in the month. I did complete one novel, writing half during that November and the other half over the next year or so.
I really want to start another. I may try to do it in a different month, though. Too much going on in November usually (holidays, great new video games mainly).
Maybe we should try a MccNoWriMo in, like, January? Not much baseball stuff going on then to distract, and I’ll be done with Skyrim by then. ;)
by The Double Deuce on Nov 15, 2011 5:28 PM PST reply actions
Also, tell us more about your story, Merope!
by The Double Deuce on Nov 15, 2011 5:29 PM PST reply actions
meh it ain’t much… it’s more of a venting about the current state of our stupid “civilization” from the point of view of the scientists who created the universe. They are kinda pissed off that we fucked up at least this galactic sector of their experiment, and are tired of cleaning up our messes. They are deciding whether or not to use our 2012 it’s the end of the world prophesies to blow up the plnaet. It’s like the end of Neil degrasse Tyson’s “Death by Black Hole” meets Al Gore’s “The Assault on Reason” meets Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
I’m mainly doing it to get back in the habit of writing. It’s a meandering mess that is all over the place and at times doesn’t make a lick of sense. NaNo is about output, not content though so I don’t much care.
Adopted Giant: Eddie I Have It Grant.
TSFGWTWS DESPITE Botchy, not BECAUSE of him.
Q: How many chapters will there be?
A: Forty-two!
Paying Willie Bloomquist $4.6 million, the rumored amount of the Giants' offer, is a bad idea. The whole idea of letting Bradon Crawford run free at shortstop, bat be damned, is to get top-notch defense at rock-bottom prices and spend the cash on offense. Not on Willie Bloomquist.
-El Lefty Malo
Oh hey! NaNo thread!
I’m at 20,000 and haven’t written a word today. Ugh. I’m running with a vague fantasy story arc and some really terrible world building. It’s nothing fantastic but the ride has been fun.
Vroom. Walks. Five positions. Justin Christian
I've been fully suckered into the Twitterverse. Oops.
I probably won’t get around to much tomorrow so you have time to catch up. Stupid school.
Vroom. Walks. Five positions. Justin Christian
I've been fully suckered into the Twitterverse. Oops.
I should do this next year
But the fact that it took a friend and I over a year to write a 37,000 word novella does not bode well.
Seth Rosin can hit the side of a barn with a baseball. From space.
Giants baseball: We're stupid enough to WIN that (TM)
I think the NaNoWriMo word count's too ambitious for a single month.
I’ve been working on a novel since July, writing about 2500-3000 words a week, and that’s taking up most of my extra time and most weekends.
I just can’t write any faster than that. It has to rattle around in my head, I’ve gotta edit it, and all that stuff. Still, I will be at 60,000 words this weekend if I manage my usual amount.
Torres IS the magic bean. - Johnny Disaster
by SituationalLefty on Nov 16, 2011 5:17 AM PST reply actions
This is what I normally do.
I’m trying at least, during NaNo, to just write the silly/fun/over dramatic stuff and let the editing be. It’s succeeding…a little bit.
Vroom. Walks. Five positions. Justin Christian
I've been fully suckered into the Twitterverse. Oops.
I’ve written just about 8.600 words of new fiction this month, but that’s NotMoWriMo.
Once more, coming to you by proxy.
That is a considerable amount nonetheless!
Torres IS the magic bean. - Johnny Disaster
by SituationalLefty on Nov 16, 2011 9:32 AM PST up reply actions
I dunno, 8.6 words is not that much…
I mean, that last sentence I just wrote was 8 words all by itself, if you count “8.6” as one word.
by The Double Deuce on Nov 16, 2011 5:40 PM PST up reply actions
IT’S A LOT FOR ME
Once more, coming to you by proxy.
by howtheyscored on Nov 16, 2011 9:27 PM PST up reply actions
I'm hoping to join in next year
Do you guys generally have an outline prepared before you start, or just go fresh into it?
STEVE HOLM! refuses to be the odd man out.
I use an outline and then I ignore it. It’s like the shopping list – once you’ve made it, you don’t need to go back.
Get yourself a couple of characters whose voices you like. Then follow them around.
I use pictures and notes to myself on a big bulletin board above my desk, because I have to visualize what I’m writing about.
Torres IS the magic bean. - Johnny Disaster
by SituationalLefty on Nov 16, 2011 9:30 AM PST up reply actions
I usually bring the outline in after the first draft is done, so I can see in a small space where I’ve brought new characters in, when I’ve introduced information, what the order of events is, etc.
It makes conceptualizing the changes for the next draft way easier. I don’t do it in the first draft though because I find better things happen when I let the story take me for a ride the first time through, and not the other way around.
Once more, coming to you by proxy.
by howtheyscored on Nov 16, 2011 10:52 AM PST up reply actions
I typically come up with an ending or a beginning write away and very rarely something in the middle of a story, so, I tend to work from whatever starting point my imagination has generated and my compulsion to write has latched onto. That requires outlining, because it’s important for me to know how I get from A to B to C.
by Every6thDay on Nov 16, 2011 11:10 PM PST up reply actions
write=right
FLA’S DISEASE IS SPREADING! LOCK YOUR DOORS AND HIDE YOUR CHILDREN!
Seth Rosin can hit the side of a barn with a baseball. From space.
Giants baseball: We're stupid enough to WIN that (TM)
Look what your brain has wrought!
Once more, coming to you by proxy.
by howtheyscored on Nov 17, 2011 6:21 AM PST up reply actions
Hey gaiz
What do you think about having a McC write-a-thon in the off-season.
I like the idea (above) of January, when there’s not much going on. Say Jan 15 to pitchers-and-catchers?
I’d like to see some of the stuff my fellow McC are writing.
Torres IS the magic bean. - Johnny Disaster
by SituationalLefty on Nov 16, 2011 9:28 AM PST reply actions
Again, I don’t know how that time period would be for students and/or teachers starting a new term. Having a McCoven Writer’s Guild wouldn’t be a bad thing though.
Adopted Giant: Eddie I Have It Grant.
TSFGWTWS DESPITE Botchy, not BECAUSE of him.
i like the summer idea. most definitely.
STEVE HOLM! refuses to be the odd man out.
by UnleashTheGore on Nov 16, 2011 3:07 PM PST up reply actions
Count me in for January or summer.
Vroom. Walks. Five positions. Justin Christian
I've been fully suckered into the Twitterverse. Oops.
Ten pages into a script I hope to finish by the end of the month.
My goal this year was to write five scripts.
3 spec pilots, 2 specs of existing shows (Justified, Walking Dead).
How much not-dialogue writing goes into writing a script?
I’ve never eve tried to write one, but dialogue is fun.
Vroom. Walks. Five positions. Justin Christian
I've been fully suckered into the Twitterverse. Oops.
It depends on what you want to label as "writing the script."
Outlining is essential for me, in terms of both plot and characters. I tend to write those as prose.
And then, when I’m writing a script — in particular a pilot — I tend to write them for the reader rather than a TV viewer (since these scripts will never be shot there’s some leeway in terms of describing what we can’t necessarily see on screen). I don’t go full prose, but I provide enough information to allow for someone to imagine how an actor might perform a scene.
Example from my
Justifiedspec:
Arlo and Ginny are LAUGHING. For Raylan, it’s odd to see his
father happy. And because of their history, it makes him mad.
Dialogue is really, really tricky, too. It’s deceptive. Usually, the best dialogue involves what the characters don’t say. In a script it’s much more important to show than tell.
I don’t profess to have mastered that, either, I just know that dialogue must, at all times, do two things: reveal character and advance story. It’s really difficult to do exceptionally, which is why I am likely never going to get paid to write.
by Every6thDay on Nov 16, 2011 11:07 PM PST up reply actions
I would say that your advice about dialogue is true of all writing.
I also constantly hold myself to the rule that characters (like real people!) need to be really, really, really bad at actually saying what they mean. The way that a character fails to say what they mean can reveal something important about him or her. And it gives you the opportunity to make those cathartic moments when things actually do come out right all the more powerful because of it.
Once more, coming to you by proxy.
by howtheyscored on Nov 17, 2011 6:24 AM PST up reply actions
But also, there is a laundry list of things that it’s exceptionally easy to do when you’re writing that don’t really work for stories, and one of them is the urge to constantly have your characters reveal their innermost emotions through speech. The more that urge can be stifled, I think – even eliminated – the better.
Once more, coming to you by proxy.
by howtheyscored on Nov 17, 2011 6:26 AM PST up reply actions
Some other things, just for funsies (not all good advice for script writers)…
1) Constantly reasserting gaze. (“He looked to the other side of the room. There he saw Erika. She looked sad to him.” as opposed to “He looked to the other side of the room. There was Erika. She looked sad.”) – this is a shockingly common phenomenon, and one that’s not very kind to the reader’s intelligence.
2) Living in the conditional. (“I remember Christmas as a child. My dad would put up the tree and then we would all put our special ornaments on it. On Christmas Eve we would be so excited to open our presents that we wouldn’t be able to sleep” as opposed to “I remember Christmas as a child. After Dad put up the tree, we put all of our special ornaments on it. On Christmas Eve, we were always too excited to open our presents to be able to sleep.”
3) Constantly reasserting memory! (“I remember Christmas as a child. I can still see the way Dad’s hands looked after putting up the tree, and I’ll never forget the look of satisfaction and pride on my brother’s face after putting up his ornament”) – basically, reassert things as little as possible. Your reader is smart enough to follow along.
4) Italics for emphasis. Yes, oh my god it’s tempting. But again, it kind of assumes bad things about your reader.
If I think of more I’ll bring it on.
Once more, coming to you by proxy.
by howtheyscored on Nov 17, 2011 6:38 AM PST up reply actions
I have a tendency to write way too much stage direction in terms of the characters’ movements. When I need to cut my page count that’s always the first to go.
And, you’re totally right about dialogue. When I see/hear people saying they love to write dialogue it sets off an alarm in my head because it’s the area most easily (and frequently) overwritten past the point of usefulness. Like real life, the less said (but said with the right words), the better.
And screenplay language can be very cutting and inelegant, too, but it’s all about word efficiency.
Perhaps a bad example from Little Miss Sunshine:
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM – DAY
In a wheelchair, parked against a wall, is Sheryl’s brother, FRANK, also middle-aged. His wrists are wrapped in bandages.
With empty eyes, he listens to the muted VOICE of the Doctor coming from the hallway.
DOCTOR (O.S.)
… Keep him away from sharp objects:
knives, scissors… If you have
medications — depressants — in your
house, keep them secured…
That’s a scene that is probably 10-20 seconds on screen and sets up Frank’s character (to some degree) and situation and relationship to one of our main characters … it could be a 2-4 page scene or even an entire chapter in someone’s novel.
I've kinda abandoned my novel
But I have been pretty actively blogging. I’ve written over 3,000 words in the last three days, just not fiction.
Ron Washington really Britta'd that Series.
Please follow my Twitter
by Murray, Present on Nov 16, 2011 9:38 PM PST reply actions
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