NaNoWriMo Day 07-09

Writing rhythm has definitely improved during these last few days. In part due to the "word wars" that the Portuguese NaNoWriMo facebook group tends to engage with. It's a simple and effective way to get rid of the natural self sabotaging. And it's also a good way to meet a few new people - which I have. They all seen much younger than me but everyone's a geek and that means I'm most definitely closer to home ;)

I've been writing around 5k words a day, one day focusing on just one of the stories. I do find it easier this way. The "rest day" does help getting back on track with a kind of a fresh attitude to the story.

I started trying to write the tales in "book order" but it just wasn't happening. So I've decided to simply write whatever I feel like after reading my notes. Whatever jumps my eye I go for it. I've been using word styles to create automatic chapter headings which has really helped also. And just today I made notes on each of the chapter headings for the magician's story. It helps a lot to see which scenes have been written - and will make it a lot easier to reorganize all the material. Tomorrow, whenever I'm feeling uninspired with the prisoner story, I will do this as well. Some of the chapters will have to be broken in two or in three (or completely re-written, shortened, etc) but this is already a good start.

Been writing mostly during the night into the morning and waking up close to the sun going down. The lack of sunlight messes me up a bit - but the night quiet (and the cold...) really helps. It's my current trade-off. As soon as my momentum has built up a bit more I will try to return to a more normal schedule. Today my goal is to go to bed before 6am and enjoy a bit of sun tomorrow afternoon - if it shows ;)

The mage is travelling with his abstruse companion through a series of realms trying to gather forces in order to prevent some ominous force from destroying it all - an obvious plot were it not it's connection to the other side of the tale...

The prisoner has found out a good chunk of his mentor's life. What he doesn't know is that his mentor has left out a quite important part - a part that is directly connected to him. Still don't know when the big reveal will take place, if before or after the execution - probably after... ;) I want to put in enough clues for people to then go, Ah! So that's why that and that happened... but not before I give them the reveal...

Anyway, these are just first drafts - plots holes will be aplenty!

Peace.

NaNoWriMo Day 06

Today I wrote 4.5k on the mage story but made no advance whatsoever on the prisoner one. I am feeling this is probably a better strategy, one day each, around 5k works every time. Easier to focus that way.

Most of these words were written under a "word war". Some of the people on facebook group were going for it and I joined in. We did four 20 minute long writing bursts and then did the word count afterwards. A good way to make you focus on the story and just plow through whatever block or doubt you may have on the story. Not great writing but not terrible either. Maybe the seeds for some ideas, for some character and setting were sown. I do know I stayed more with  dialogue rather than with description. Somehow that's always the toughest (perhaps because I find it the most boring...) part for me.
All in all... a good day ;)

Now I'm taking my time to look over some notes, figure out if I'm gonna write a little bit more today but - particularly - what I will write tomorrow. Hopefully then this headache will be gone and it will be easier to stay on top of things ;)

Peace.

NaNoWriMo Day 05

Yep. It's true, this year I'm doing the NaNo challenge once more. In fact, since I have started I have been doing it every year ;)
Last year though I was too tired, too jaded to do more than one project - and it was cutting it close as it were.

This year I feel a bit better so I'm running with two projects in parallel. A Fiction-Fantasy tale and an Alternate History-Fiction story. I started slow (1 or 2k words a day) but now I'm moving closer to my goal (4 or 5k a day, minimum).

Yesterday was one of those days when you just write in 4 or 5 moments - but you write 500 words or more in one go, barely pausing to think or even realize what's happening. I was active in the Portuguese NaNo facebook page also - and it all seemed easy. ;)

Today was a different matter... writing took time... I couldn't see the story moving in my head. Everything was slow and vague. Still, it's 6am and I've hit the 4k target. I was still feeling a bit... I dunno, dissatisfied with the whole thing when I remembered what kind of day this is: it's the kind of day you slow down so that, a few days down the line, you have another one of those days where the words just come out easy and plot and story and characters move forwards almost effortlessly. Yes, this is true - because today is one of the days where the effort was expended.

I didn't write a single word for my mage story. Though I know that he is in big trouble, that he has to go see a big shot and overcome some tests. That's for tomorrow (or in a few hours, when I wake up).
My other guy, the prisoner in my alternate history tale, has however met with his mentor to be and has learnt a bit more about just how uncanny his mentor to be is. They have talked about big things. Tomorrow, if I have time, some smaller things are going to happen to them. And some of the reactions will (have to) be unexpected.

NaNoWriMo is always a challenge. It pushes your buttons and drives you to do better, even with the same constraints. I'm trying to make both stories cohesive (I have a larger plan for both) but at the same time not losing sight of the madness and sense of freedom that can come about whilst doing this. So, lots of lists - and an open mind ;)

Haven't got the faintest idea if I will write more posts here during this month but I hope so. It's long overdue the time to bring this blog back to life ;)

If you're writing out there... good luck! Enjoy!