PBW Stories
Paperback Writer's Fiction BlogTuesday, November 30, 2010
NaNoWriMo Day #30
I haven't been writing up notes for the last ten days as I felt my stats were a bit depressing, and all I wanted to do was whine, but I have been writing every day since the last update.
I did not make the 50K goal; didn't even make it to the halfway mark, but I'm happy that even under the worst circumstances I kept working on the story.
My final totals for the month: 19,256 words/97 pages.
Congratulations to everyone who won NaNoWriMo this year. To everyone who didn't but gave it a try, consider yourself hugged, and I hope we'll have a chance to try it again in 2011.
I haven't been writing up notes for the last ten days as I felt my stats were a bit depressing, and all I wanted to do was whine, but I have been writing every day since the last update.
I did not make the 50K goal; didn't even make it to the halfway mark, but I'm happy that even under the worst circumstances I kept working on the story.
My final totals for the month: 19,256 words/97 pages.
Congratulations to everyone who won NaNoWriMo this year. To everyone who didn't but gave it a try, consider yourself hugged, and I hope we'll have a chance to try it again in 2011.
Labels: NaNoWriMo 2010
posted by the author # 11:51 PM
Saturday, November 20, 2010
NaNoWriMo Day #20
It's 1:21 am, and 56 degrees F here out on the porch. Everyone is asleep except the dogs, who are intelligent and have decided to stay inside where it's warm. I have to stay awake for another two hours so I can play pre-dawn chauffeur (long story) which is why I'm porching it tonight. It's quiet, and the cold helps keep me from nodding off when I go back out there to outline my next scene.
I know it's day twenty of NaNoWriMo, but only because I had to check the calendar before uploading my latest PBW post. I haven't updated my NaNo notes since day 14? because I wasn't paying attention to my word count. It was all I could do to go in, sit down, and write something new. Six days of drag, trudge, drag.
Today I devoted all of my writing and editing time to looking over the stuff I've written over the last six days, two-thirds of it had to be thrown out, and leaves me with 1026 in new words. I won't take credit for writing what I trashed; it was unreadable drek. Publishing tried a couple of times to get into my writing space today, but I (politely) kicked it back out. I want my final ten days of NaNo to be as Publishing-free as possible.
After I make this pre-dawn trip and come home/get some sleep, I'll be back at it. I hope to slip into the novel via my scene outline and stay there for a couple hours, but even if I don't, I'll just write until I get something worth adding to my progress meter.
Onward.
Collective Stats:
Wordcount: 1026
Pages: 5
Time: six days
Sessions: sporadic
It's 1:21 am, and 56 degrees F here out on the porch. Everyone is asleep except the dogs, who are intelligent and have decided to stay inside where it's warm. I have to stay awake for another two hours so I can play pre-dawn chauffeur (long story) which is why I'm porching it tonight. It's quiet, and the cold helps keep me from nodding off when I go back out there to outline my next scene.
I know it's day twenty of NaNoWriMo, but only because I had to check the calendar before uploading my latest PBW post. I haven't updated my NaNo notes since day 14? because I wasn't paying attention to my word count. It was all I could do to go in, sit down, and write something new. Six days of drag, trudge, drag.
Today I devoted all of my writing and editing time to looking over the stuff I've written over the last six days, two-thirds of it had to be thrown out, and leaves me with 1026 in new words. I won't take credit for writing what I trashed; it was unreadable drek. Publishing tried a couple of times to get into my writing space today, but I (politely) kicked it back out. I want my final ten days of NaNo to be as Publishing-free as possible.
After I make this pre-dawn trip and come home/get some sleep, I'll be back at it. I hope to slip into the novel via my scene outline and stay there for a couple hours, but even if I don't, I'll just write until I get something worth adding to my progress meter.
Onward.
Collective Stats:
Wordcount: 1026
Pages: 5
Time: six days
Sessions: sporadic
Labels: NaNoWriMo 2010
posted by the author # 1:45 AM
Sunday, November 14, 2010
NaNoWriMo Day #14
I didn't feel like it, but I made myself sit down and write a couple of pages tonight. Getting some words down did make me feel a bit better.
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 480
Pages: 2
Time: 11:00pm-12:00pm
Sessions: 1 @ 1 hours
I didn't feel like it, but I made myself sit down and write a couple of pages tonight. Getting some words down did make me feel a bit better.
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 480
Pages: 2
Time: 11:00pm-12:00pm
Sessions: 1 @ 1 hours
Labels: NaNoWriMo 2010
posted by the author # 12:00 AM
Saturday, November 13, 2010
NaNoWriMo Day #12 & #13
No writing to report; I spent yesterday and today mainly with my boy Jak here, who just passed away peacefully in my arms after a long illness. He was an angel of a cat.
No writing to report; I spent yesterday and today mainly with my boy Jak here, who just passed away peacefully in my arms after a long illness. He was an angel of a cat.
Labels: NaNoWriMo 2010
posted by the author # 5:20 PM
Thursday, November 11, 2010
NaNoWriMo Day #11
Zero writing accomplished on the NaNo novel today; I forgot my youngest had the day off from school, so I shuffled the work aside and spent the day out with her getting a new phone, having veggie burgers for lunch and talking about life in general.
Zero words, but zero regrets. Any day I can spend with my kid is a great day.
Zero writing accomplished on the NaNo novel today; I forgot my youngest had the day off from school, so I shuffled the work aside and spent the day out with her getting a new phone, having veggie burgers for lunch and talking about life in general.
Zero words, but zero regrets. Any day I can spend with my kid is a great day.
Labels: NaNoWriMo 2010
posted by the author # 12:00 AM
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
NaNoWriMo Day #10
Made a bit more headway today. In the midst of working out the end of a chapter the protagonists decided to deviate from the plan, but their direction made more sense, so I ran with it.
This year's NaNo for me has been slow and frustrating, and all the crises and interruptions are keeping me out of the zone. Today for the first time I felt as if I were hovering just at the edge of it; hopefully tomorrow I can jump in.
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 2042
Pages: 10
Time: 6:30am-7:00am; 10:00am-12:45pm
Sessions: 1 @ 30 minutes, 1 @ 2 hours 45 minutes
Made a bit more headway today. In the midst of working out the end of a chapter the protagonists decided to deviate from the plan, but their direction made more sense, so I ran with it.
This year's NaNo for me has been slow and frustrating, and all the crises and interruptions are keeping me out of the zone. Today for the first time I felt as if I were hovering just at the edge of it; hopefully tomorrow I can jump in.
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 2042
Pages: 10
Time: 6:30am-7:00am; 10:00am-12:45pm
Sessions: 1 @ 30 minutes, 1 @ 2 hours 45 minutes
Labels: NaNoWriMo 2010
posted by the author # 12:00 AM
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
NaNoWriMo Day #9
I unplugged from the internet this morning and decided to think out some things. Also made an apple pie, caught up on the laundry and moved the furniture back onto the now-dry clean carpets. Then an editor called to ask a favor and I had to shift back into pro mode and take care of that.
Got the next chapter off to a good start, just didn't get as much time as I wanted to write it. Tomorrow I'm unplugging the business phone!
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 1042
Pages: 6
Time: 10:30pm-11:45pm
Sessions: 1 @ 1 hour 15 minutes
I unplugged from the internet this morning and decided to think out some things. Also made an apple pie, caught up on the laundry and moved the furniture back onto the now-dry clean carpets. Then an editor called to ask a favor and I had to shift back into pro mode and take care of that.
Got the next chapter off to a good start, just didn't get as much time as I wanted to write it. Tomorrow I'm unplugging the business phone!
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 1042
Pages: 6
Time: 10:30pm-11:45pm
Sessions: 1 @ 1 hour 15 minutes
Labels: NaNoWriMo 2010
posted by the author # 11:52 PM
Monday, November 08, 2010
NaNoWriMo Day #8
I crossed the 10K threshold today while wrapping up a chapter, starting a new one and getting deeper into protagonist #1's motivations. I also did a bit of work on a scene that occurs about eight chapters down the story road, but I had the dialogue and the choreography bouncing around in my head and I wanted to do a quick draft to preserve it.
My brain doesn't seem to want to sync with the time change; I was up at 5:00 am and by 9:30 pm I was totalled. Night time writing is also not my favorite thing, but I had to deal with the logistics involved with the winter carpet cleaning for most of today; tomorrow's schedule is finally, blissfully free so I'm hoping to knock out at least one new chapter while the sun is still up.
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 1795
Pages: 7
Time: 6:30am-7:00am; 9:30pm-11:30am
Sessions: 1 @ 30 mins.; 1 @ 2 hours
I crossed the 10K threshold today while wrapping up a chapter, starting a new one and getting deeper into protagonist #1's motivations. I also did a bit of work on a scene that occurs about eight chapters down the story road, but I had the dialogue and the choreography bouncing around in my head and I wanted to do a quick draft to preserve it.
My brain doesn't seem to want to sync with the time change; I was up at 5:00 am and by 9:30 pm I was totalled. Night time writing is also not my favorite thing, but I had to deal with the logistics involved with the winter carpet cleaning for most of today; tomorrow's schedule is finally, blissfully free so I'm hoping to knock out at least one new chapter while the sun is still up.
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 1795
Pages: 7
Time: 6:30am-7:00am; 9:30pm-11:30am
Sessions: 1 @ 30 mins.; 1 @ 2 hours
Labels: NaNoWriMo 2010
posted by the author # 11:53 PM
Sunday, November 07, 2010
NaNoWriMo Day #7
Was out most of the day at an all-day annual event with the family, but still squeezed in two hours of writing. Finished the first scene with my stubborn protagonist #2 and made a decent start on the end scene of the chapter.
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 1250
Pages: 6
Time: 6:00am-7:00am; 11:00pm-12:00am
Sessions: 2 @ 1 hour
Was out most of the day at an all-day annual event with the family, but still squeezed in two hours of writing. Finished the first scene with my stubborn protagonist #2 and made a decent start on the end scene of the chapter.
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 1250
Pages: 6
Time: 6:00am-7:00am; 11:00pm-12:00am
Sessions: 2 @ 1 hour
Labels: NaNoWriMo 2010
posted by the author # 12:00 AM
Saturday, November 06, 2010
NaNoWriMo Day #5 & #6
I don't know how many words I managed on Friday; I simply focused and wrote until I dropped and then got up Saturday and went right back to the story to edit the new pages. I then gave myself the rest of Saturday off to rest, relax and recharge.
2 Day's Stats:
Wordcount: 1503
Pages: 8
Time: Didn't watch the clock
Sessions: Ditto
I don't know how many words I managed on Friday; I simply focused and wrote until I dropped and then got up Saturday and went right back to the story to edit the new pages. I then gave myself the rest of Saturday off to rest, relax and recharge.
2 Day's Stats:
Wordcount: 1503
Pages: 8
Time: Didn't watch the clock
Sessions: Ditto
Labels: NaNoWriMo 2010
posted by the author # 11:38 PM
Thursday, November 04, 2010
NaNoWriMo Day #4
I slugged it out with my second protagonist today, and it wasn't pretty. I put the novel aside and went for a long walk, did some cleaning and ran some errands while I thought about him and what was getting in my way with writing him. I decided it was the contrast with the first protagonist, plus my own indecision about how much of his situation I wanted to get into in these beginning chapters.
When I sat down tonight I dumped the three pages I wrote yesterday and started the chapter over from scratch, and somewhere around 11:00 pm I felt like I finally got into his head. I didn't produce much in the way of wordcount, but I think I made great strides in getting my head and his aligned.
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 724
Pages: 3
Time: 6:30am-7:00am, 10:00pm-11:30pm
Sessions: 1 @ 30 minutes; 1 @ 1 hour 30 minutes
I slugged it out with my second protagonist today, and it wasn't pretty. I put the novel aside and went for a long walk, did some cleaning and ran some errands while I thought about him and what was getting in my way with writing him. I decided it was the contrast with the first protagonist, plus my own indecision about how much of his situation I wanted to get into in these beginning chapters.
When I sat down tonight I dumped the three pages I wrote yesterday and started the chapter over from scratch, and somewhere around 11:00 pm I felt like I finally got into his head. I didn't produce much in the way of wordcount, but I think I made great strides in getting my head and his aligned.
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 724
Pages: 3
Time: 6:30am-7:00am, 10:00pm-11:30pm
Sessions: 1 @ 30 minutes; 1 @ 1 hour 30 minutes
Labels: NaNoWriMo 2010
posted by the author # 11:45 PM
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
NaNoWriMo Day #3
Not a lot of time to write today, thanks to my other job (domestic crisis management) and my voice fading in and out (the Dragon does not translate raspy/whispered words too well.) When I did get to the page I also had some unanticipated trouble with switching POVs. For some reason I couldn't get into this particular character's head. It might be because the POV the novel starts in, which is a pretty powerful one. Sometimes I find the POV of a strong character can overwhelm all the others.
I'm going to stick to my plan for right now, brood about this second character and see what happens tomorrow, but if I run into the same problem again I might have to rethink my story strategy.
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 593
Pages: 3
Time: 6:30am-7:00am, 4:30pm-5:30pm
Sessions: 1 @ 30 minutes; 1 @ 1 hour
Not a lot of time to write today, thanks to my other job (domestic crisis management) and my voice fading in and out (the Dragon does not translate raspy/whispered words too well.) When I did get to the page I also had some unanticipated trouble with switching POVs. For some reason I couldn't get into this particular character's head. It might be because the POV the novel starts in, which is a pretty powerful one. Sometimes I find the POV of a strong character can overwhelm all the others.
I'm going to stick to my plan for right now, brood about this second character and see what happens tomorrow, but if I run into the same problem again I might have to rethink my story strategy.
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 593
Pages: 3
Time: 6:30am-7:00am, 4:30pm-5:30pm
Sessions: 1 @ 30 minutes; 1 @ 1 hour
Labels: NaNoWriMo 2010
posted by the author # 11:24 PM
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
NaNoWriMo Day #2
I got a very late start today; I had to see my dentist first thing this morning about some mystery pain in my face that kept me up all night.
What I thought might be a budding root canal turned out to be muscle strain, evidently from clenching my jaw too hard and too often over the last couple of weeks. Must have been that last contract negotiation. Or my last shopping trip with the high school kid.
For some reason being exhausted and frazzled doesn't make me a great writer, so I didn't push it when I got home. I wrote when I felt like writing, and rested when I didn't. I dislike writing like that, a few minutes at a time, but I actually racked up a pretty decent count for the day.
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 2,494
Pages: 13
Time: 11:00am-5:30pm
Sessions: Sporadic with many long breaks.
I got a very late start today; I had to see my dentist first thing this morning about some mystery pain in my face that kept me up all night. What I thought might be a budding root canal turned out to be muscle strain, evidently from clenching my jaw too hard and too often over the last couple of weeks. Must have been that last contract negotiation. Or my last shopping trip with the high school kid.
For some reason being exhausted and frazzled doesn't make me a great writer, so I didn't push it when I got home. I wrote when I felt like writing, and rested when I didn't. I dislike writing like that, a few minutes at a time, but I actually racked up a pretty decent count for the day.
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 2,494
Pages: 13
Time: 11:00am-5:30pm
Sessions: Sporadic with many long breaks.
Labels: NaNoWriMo 2010
posted by the author # 11:55 PM
Monday, November 01, 2010
NaNoWriMo Day #1
I had a doctor's appointment this morning that required some prep, so I only got down about 600 words during my early morning session. I did a little better this afternoon with another 2K. The toughest part was falling back into the rhythms of writing in third person; after spending the last month writing two books in first it felt a little weird.
I love the story, and it was fun coming out of the starting gate. At the same time, I feel like I have to keep this one on a tight leash and avoid the temptation to to over-write or over-think it. It's very clear right now, and I'd like it to stay that way.
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 2,607
Pages: 15
Time: 6:30am-7:30am, 11:00am-2:30pm
Sessions: 1 @ 1 hour; 1 @ 3 hours + 30 minute break.
I had a doctor's appointment this morning that required some prep, so I only got down about 600 words during my early morning session. I did a little better this afternoon with another 2K. The toughest part was falling back into the rhythms of writing in third person; after spending the last month writing two books in first it felt a little weird.
I love the story, and it was fun coming out of the starting gate. At the same time, I feel like I have to keep this one on a tight leash and avoid the temptation to to over-write or over-think it. It's very clear right now, and I'd like it to stay that way.
Today's Stats:
Wordcount: 2,607
Pages: 15
Time: 6:30am-7:30am, 11:00am-2:30pm
Sessions: 1 @ 1 hour; 1 @ 3 hours + 30 minute break.
Labels: NaNoWriMo 2010
posted by the author # 10:11 PM
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