Sunday, November 10, 2013

Nanowrimo Update: The Things I'm Learning


As you may or may not have noticed, my blogging.. and reading.. is suffering from my participation in this Nano thing. But... I'm learning so much stuff! For instance:
  • It's really really hard not to use adverbs! I like a good adverb now and then. It's also really hard not to use really! Or very.
  • The whole time I'm trying to write there's a thing, a demon sort of thing in my head that is saying constantly "show don't tell, show don't tell, show don't tell." 
  • Those author people have been right all along.. the characters really DO take over! 
  • It's fun when you are on a roll and it's not fun when you come to slamming stop.
  • It's very weird to get caught up in a story that's coming out of your own head. Very weird.
  • Music helps. And so does chocolate.
  • I am much more distracted by life and stuff happening around me when I'm trying to write than when I am trying to read. This is proving to be challenging.
  • If they say "write what you know" then why am I ending up writing stuff I don't know? Why?
  • Being aware of word count has been interesting. I'm finding that my normal sit down and write moments can get me to about 1000 words pretty easy...after that I have to push. 
  • Imagining someone else reading this stuff I'm writing makes me a little sick to my stomach with anxiety. How do the real authors ever get past this point?
  • I feel like I'm writing a story that is very much a skeleton and it needs flesh and clothes so bad!
  • If  I were to actually peruse this, I'm going to need a writing group. Just sayin.
At any rate, the experiment has been fun so far! I still feel like I'm crashing a really big party, or playing at a very fun and interesting game. I'm a little worried about keeping up the momentum. I feel like I will run out of stuff to write before I ever come close to that 50,000 word mark. As of this blog post, I have about 21,800 words written. So I guess we'll see!

How are my other writing buddies doing? Any past participants have any great advice for me? 

13 comments:

  1. Congrats on taking the plunge. It's amazing what comes out of your own head isn't it? If you get stuck throw in a new character or perhaps tell the story from two different points of view. You can edit later, you just have to get the words down. Make sure you include smells and sounds.
    Good luck.
    Ann

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  2. I don't even want to talk about how much chocolate I've had so far ... actually, one of my favourite things to drink while writing is hot chocolate. It's perfect!

    And you're right -- the characters do take over! I've written one specific character who scares me. I told hubs that if anyone were to read my story right now, they might interpret it as a cry for help, but it's not! It's the character!

    I do look forward to going back and editing ... already my story is evolving and things will need to be changed, but I just want to get it all down first before I go and rearrange, delete, edit, etc.

    Writing is hard! Fun, but hard. :)

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    1. Kristilyn: Aren't you, like... DONE??? :) I truly am falling for my characters. Very very cool.

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  3. You are doing amazing so far!! Great job!

    I am way behind in my word count. It's actually quite abysmal. I'm discovering that my OCD and perfectionism is really hindering what I'm writing. I need to just sit down and write and revise later.

    I'm hoping that this week proves to be a better week for writing. The cheers from friends definitely help, so I'm glad I'm not alone in this boat!

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    1. Tif: It's very hard to just write and not worry how bad it is. Really hard! Good luck to you this week. I fear I'm going to need it to. No writing AT ALL happened today and that makes me nervous because what if it's hard to get going again.

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    2. Good luck to you too Suey! I didn't write at all over the weekend, so I really need a kick in the pants this week! :)

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  4. You're almost halfway there! That's awesome! :)

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    1. Jenni: Thanks! I expect you to be doing this next year!

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  5. Yea for rocking NaNoWriMo. My story has come to a major hault. I am going to try to get back on board tomorrow! :-/

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    Replies
    1. Pamela: I had a halt day and Thursday, but things picked back up again. Today was bad too. Ugh.

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  6. I love reading this. I feel the same on so many points. I'm pretty sure I use "really" and "very" and "just" and "and" way too much. And I feel like I've forgotten all the grammar I ever knew. :)

    But it's so fun to get caught up in your own story! I had no idea how much I would enjoy doing this. You are doing great! Keep it up.

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  7. Wow, I'm so impressed by everyone attempting this! And you're almost halfway there! You can do it :)

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