[ General ] [ NaNoWriMo ]

For those doing NaNoWriMo and are searching for advice how to survive it. The best answer is “Eat the Elephant One Bite at a Time.”

Only reason I bring this up is because I know folks that are currently way behind (like I am), and the more behind you get the more the word count piles up and you get scared. You start asking why you are doing this, and how you got yourself into it. Even worse you start to doubt that you can do it.

Well, STOP IT! The way you get through a month of writing (or any project for that matter) is to look keep your eye on the closest check point, and it’s your goal to make it to the checkpoint come hell or high water.

The next bit of advice I can give for those that find themselves staring at the blank page for the two hours when you are supposed to be writing is too either write or do something else. I know it sounds a bit odd, but the best way to break writers block is to actively work on something else. Yes it doesn’t advance your word count, but it gives your brain time to mull over and figure out what you want to write.

I tend to do something close to “directive dreaming” when I go to sleep. I tend to replay the last minute of the scene I’m writing as I’m laying in bed. Then I let my mind flow to see where it continues. Sometimes I have to force it down one or two paths, but after a few minutes (normally just before I fall asleep) I come up with where I need to head, and even if I don’t remember the exact cool scene I saw. The seeds of the idea are stuck in my head, and when I start writing it will come back to me.

Another thing to do is break up your writing periods up. I know that I’m only effective at writing for about 30 - 45 minutes at any given stretch. Therefor I start writing until I'm not sure where I’m heading. Then I tend to stand up and take a walk. If it is to get something to drink, roam aimless around my house, clean up a small pile that has been siting in my living room for too long, or an extended wanderings out of my house and down to the park. The idea is to refresh your mental batteries.

Hey, sometimes just switching gears, and writing something else for a bit can help. Sometimes the reason you can’t write is because something unrelated bouncing itself around in your head, and unless you get it out of your head and on paper. It will eat away at you and cause you to lose focus.

Lastly, if you have serious problems writing the best way is not only to surround yourself with other people doing the same thing, but also find a few people willing to suffer with reading a pre-draft story. It’s amazing when you get a bit of feedback like. “That was cool. I didn’t see that coming!” Or “So... When is the next chapter coming out?” Will do for your need to write.

Now, stop reading my blog and get back to writing.

BTW, this month I may be spotty in terms of writing. So just bear with it. I know few folks are reading. So bear with me until after this month I’ll be more consistent.

[ NaNoWriMo ] [ General ]

There are many things that many beginning writers don’t consider, but they are things that should be thought about. I’m not talking about the hours away from family, the strain on love ones, and the sleepless nights not understanding where you are heading in your plot line. However, these are tools that may lessing some of the above issues.

The standard things I tend to consider before writing a novel in thirty days in November are simple.

• Do I have character sheets for important characters?
• Do I have a description of the location in which I'm writing in?
• Do I have an outline or time line of events?
• Do I have a genre in mind?

Not stating you need any of the above. Steven King has already admitted he doesn’t use outlines. However, I tend to find having some or all the above at least firmly in my brain, if not on paper, it makes the process better. Granted the detail in the above sections depends on how you write.

Character Sheets-- Mine tend to be rather short. This is a big contrast compared to when I create a Star Trek character for role playing. The main reason is I tend to need more information up front for role playing to understand my character. So I tend to pull out the Star Trek Encyclopedia and figure out who would have been at the academy when he was, and what major events he would have been involved in. It isn’t uncommon for me to end up with two to three pages of typed history. I wouldn’t recommend doing this for a writing character because they tend to act differently. I know that may sound weird, but I’ve found the only real information that is useful to write down is name, age, sex, height, weight, personality quarks, and what the character would wear normally in the story. The rest I tend to find comes from the character. However, its common for me to add to the character sheet while writing so I can remember new things I’ve discovered about the character.

Location-- I also don’t spend much of time on this. Most of the time I don’t bother unless there are certain details that must be researched. Otherwise, the location itself tends to stay in my head. There have been a few times where I’ve pulled out Google maps of downtown Minneapolis to ensure my memory of locations was correct.

Outline/Time line-- This one causes people many problems. Some writers refuse to use this tool, and others go over board and pre-plan every move before they start writing. The former group I feel tends to write more organic stories, but they tend to ramble and frustrates the reader with it’s wandering. The latter may be needed if you are doing a historical, but in pure fiction it can make the writing feel stilted. I tend to pick something between. My outlines/time lines tend to grow out of future scene ideas I have before I start writing or during the writing process. It also is a nice tool to update as you write so you can easily track down details you need and can’t remember later in your story. I don’t consider my time line/outline to be the end-all-be-all of the story. It’s just milestones or potential road markers as well as a way for me to keep my pacing while I’m writing. It isn’t uncommon form me to know my first few scenes, some scenes somewhere in the middle of my story, and the ones near my climax. This doesn’t mean I know the ending of my story. Just that something like *Insert Scene Here* will happen.

Genre-- Strictly not needed, but if you are looking to be published you should have an idea if you are writing horror, romance, etc. It also may also define how you approach a scene. So it’s a nice thing to have in mind even if you have a mix of genres.

Do I have any of these at this point? Not really. I’m pretty set in terms of what I’m going to write. The [Snow on the Ground] song I did for NaNoWriMo pretty much showed me my Detective story had firmly become a horror story. Not stating there isn’t detectivish type things in it, but it no longer is the primary genre.

[ NaNoWriMo ]

I would launch into a massive boring yarn about how I was putting together a murder mystery starting Detective Jessica Hope based in a universe where technology takes the form of magic and jinni's. Just not sure the story in my head is the same story that will be written for National Novel Writing Month.

Let me step back for a moment. If you don’t know what National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo or NaNo) is, its thirty days of writing at least 1,667 words a day in November. It tends to be filled with a flurry of activity in the forums and small cluster of people huddled together in coffee shops and cafes barely speaking with each other as they bash out random sentences in anticipation for the final word count of glory. It isn’t a time for that pesky internal (or that even peskier external) editor to appear and correct what you’ve written. In the words of many great people, it’s a month to just “shut up and write.”

I tend to use this month to find thing I wouldn’t normally write about (genre, subject material, etc) and dabble in it to see whether I enjoy it. I’ve done Modern Fantasy, Horror/Suspense, Furry-High-School-Romance, and a werewolf retelling. In each case, I’ve learned a great deal about myself. And happily I’ve succeeded to some degree with all of them except for the werewolf retelling. Sadly that has nothing to do with story telling and everything to do with work.

This year I had intended to do a mystery (murder, stolen property, the whole nine-yards), but like many stories ideas that appear around this time of the year they tend to mutate. So I’m not sure what genre this year story is. It feels as though it is being hijacked by a reject of the video game story telling world. Therefor, Jessica may have little hope of surviving long enough to make an appear. If she does end up making the cut I suspect her personality will be twisted, and she will potentially not be a main character.

The long and short of this is to pretty much state that it’s O.K. if you are writing for NaNo and your story suddenly takes an unexpected twist. Even if that twist occurs before you even start penning the first word.