Nano 09 Wrap-up: Drem

I wanted to post a Nanowrimo wrap-up post, but wasn't sure what to even say. Luckily, Snazel's blog is always there to rip off of.

Basic stats:
Total wordcount: 65,071 words-this is partially fake because some of this is just fiction I wrote during the month and incorporated into the novel. Only about 60k of this is actually pure novel.
15 day wordcount record: 40k (I'm pretty pleased with myself that I actually did this....even if I didn't reach 80k overall like I originally self-hypnotized myself to do while under the influence of Halloween zombie-cookies)
Overall sanity casualties: My brain stayed with me for about a week. My emotional equilibrium lasted a little longer.

Stuff I learned:
1. It's hard to have a plot when no one, not you, not your characters, have any clue who the villains are. Bad stuff happens. Okay. Mystery.
2. I not only suck at writing action scenes, I hate writing them. Weird. I always play them out like movies in my head but I can't write them to save my life. Or their lives. Heh.
3. I have a LOT of world-building to do. A lot of stuff I just gave totally lame names (like fortresses and military ranks) because I didn't do any pre-writing, it wasn't covered in Wyrd (Nano from last year that this one is related to), and I had no inspiration whatsoever.
4. Suffixes and prefixes SEEM like a good idea at the time. I still haven't decided how that's all going to work out.
5. I suck at first-person male POVs. Drem is kinda a woman a lot of the time.
6. There is always a good reason to write scenes that involve gratuitous fire of some kind.

Shout-outs to some of my characters (in no particular order except for the first 3):
Drem: Thank you for being easy to write, even though this is probably due to the first-person POV more than your personality. I put you in the hospital-equivalent a lot, didn't I? Sorry about that. I'm looking forward to writing you when you're a bit older and even MORE cynical and world-weary. XD
Byrn: I think I'm in love with you. No, really. *cough* I mean, you jerk, you kept trying to hijack the novel! Luckily it's in first person so that's pretty hard to do, but you still tried to pull a Great Gatsby. I hope you live. Really.
Myra: I had high hopes for you, which you promptly dashed, and then rebuilt yourself. Thank you for surprising me and being a great counter to Drem. He's an idiot, huh?
Vakko: OMJAM I'm in love with you too! You almost took Byrn's place. Almost. It was close. I probably will bring you back at some point because there are just too many possibilities when you're around. Although don't you think the hair is a BIT Malfoy?
Cray: You became more important and more interesting than I thought, but then you just kinda disappeared? Sorry? You'll be back.
Hadric: WOW Byrn kinda HATES you, doesn't he? I thought you were a nice guy but I'm not really sure where you stand right now. But thanks for taking care of Drem for a while.
Akkaro: I really need to change your name because you're trying to channel a certain other character whom I do not own. But I'd like to bring you back, too, maybe in a combo move with Vakko.
Petra: Ahahahahaha. Sorry.
Deia: Wow, I kinda love you too! You were a total surprise. I enjoyed watching you behave like a total b**** and yet somehow totally loveable at the same time. You go girl.

nearing the end

Wow I really haven't been posting here, have I????

The truth is there isn't a whole lot to say. I wrote 40k in the first 15 days of Nanowrimo, and since then I've written 8k chronologically, and 18k in total. I keep having problems because some days I literally have no time to write, and then a couple days pass and when I sit back down I'm all disconnected from the story. IRRITATING.
Yes, I HAVE given up my 80k goal. :P I'm just going to concentrate on getting as much as I can in the last 4 days. :)
I have a lot of stuff to say about my fiction class but it will have to wait for December. Watch this space, I guess???

Oh, I HAVE reached 50k though! w00t! Third win.

everything burns, everyone screams

I hit the third burnout this month today. Third is definitely the worst. It gets better after that, right? *hopeful look*
It's really kinda tragic too cuz I JUST CAUGHT UP yesterday. Blargh.

I did do SOME writing today, though. I critiqued several stories for class, and I wrote 300 words of a short story that's due for Wednesday (a full short, not just a scenario). Can I count that in my nano? PLAX? Whatever.

Starting tomorrow I'm just going to move to 3000 words a day, so hopefully if I miss days or don't make the count certain days, I'll have a cushion? I don't know if that's a good idea though. And I've decided that for the next week at least, school takes priority to Nano. I mean, it was already, but basically what it meant before was that I'd finish hw around 11, and then START Nano for the day? Now I'm going to put a little more emphasis on sleep. :) So we'll see if I reach the 80k. I will definitely reach 50k, though.

It is SO stormy outside! It's been windy all day but once the sun went down its' been pouring and trying to tear the house down. Yay!

Before I Sleep

WHOOOO! This weekend rocked as far as wordcount went. I got 4k in yesterday, and about 3.5k today. :D I might write the remaining 500 before I sleep. I dunnoes.
Of course, tomorrow another week begins, and it's NOT going to be a fun one. Oi.

I totally finished the "Writing Fiction" book I was reading for class today. It's by the Gotham Writing Workshop and was surprisingly good! The last chapter was kinda the business end of it, in a 30-page chapter. ^_^ It was interesting though to see it all in that kind of clear, summarized form. Overall the book is a very good, overall-look at writing. It also has lots of little prompts sprinkled throughout that are VERY helpful for working on the particular things they talk about (they're not the normal, annoying kinds of prompts you find in self-help books that drive me crazy).

kthxbai

"I don't think I feel that way about you Byrn." But *I* do!

This years' Nanowrimo just keeps getting more and more interesting. On the one hand, I love my novel. On the other hand, scraping out the words each day is getting more and more like Professor Umbridge's Quill. You know what I'm saying???

I wrote only like 700 words yesterday, but TODAY I've written 3k so far. :D Probably my most productive day so far. I'm going to attempt to write 1k more today, and then somehow try to get 4k tomorrow, cuz then I will be caught up for my 80k goal. I VANTS 40K TOMORROW. TRUFAX.

Question for the comments: During Nano, when it comes to travel exposition, do you like writing long, drawn-out accounts so that you have more words? Or do you like just writing a brief summary and moving on?

Even the man in the moon disappears somewhere in the stratosphere

Writing has been particularly difficult the last few days. Not really sure why. It's Week Two, maybe? I dunno, I don't like blaming EVERYTHING on the poor dear.

Things I've been noticing about my writing:

• my words get ENORMOUS and beautiful when I write longhand. It's hilarious! No one should have that many SAT-test words in their writing (examples: rhetoric, diatribe, self-deprecating). Sorry.
• I've always heard Nano advice-givers say that it's a good idea to stop in the middle of a scene when you finish writing for the day, because then it's easy to get back in the flow the next day. I have been coming to realize that, for me, this is COMPLETELY UNTRUE. If I stop in the middle of the scene, even if I was writing full-tilt the day before, the next time I sit down to write, I just stare at it for many long minutes that I don't have to waste. It's much better to keep writing until I run out of steam, and then when I come back with fresh eyes it's easier. Usually.

In other writing news, I got a great idea for my next short story, due next Wednesday (short story, not short-short or whatever they're called). Yay! Will talk more about it if/when it works out.

Writing was like pulling teeth today. Like pulling teeth out of a werewolf. But I am NOT BEHIND DARNIT! Have a wordle to celebrate 20k:

Um um um MARBLES

I went to my third official regional write-in today! I haz three marbles (our ML is giving us a different-colored marble for each event we attend, have I mentioned this?): an opalescent black one, a green striped one, and a normal classic one.
I wrote about 1500 words there, in 2 hours, which isn't bad....I suppose...>.> Still working on the rest of the day's count right now. :) We had it at a pizza parlor, and it ended up being hilarious and psychotic cuz it was SOOO BUSY AND CROWDED. Part of it was the fact that there was over 9,000 birthday parties there, and the other part of it was that the Duck game was on (football, vs Stanford, they lost 51-42 and I cried). So yeah that was very exciting...our little group was crammed into a corner and told to just be quiet and write and avoid all other people.
We had a word war that I TOTALLY would have won, only reddening suddenly is like "Oh Stanford got a field goal!" at the very end, so of course I turned and had to watch and cry, and then she beat me by 10 words. CURSE YOU REDDENING. :D
Um yeah I guess I should go finish writing now. kthxbai.

she will reach for a story.

Writing went really well today! I wrote about 800 words in the morning, and then wrote the rest during a write-in at a bud's house. I didn't write OVER my daily count, which I suppose I should while it's going well, but I have HOMEWORK OKAY??? Plus, it's better than physically forcing myself each night to pound out the words, staying up several hours past my bedtime and making me grouchy about the whole process. ^_^ I want to love Nano, not hate it. It needs love.

Widgets are online! You can see my wordcount over there: --------------------->

My fiction class has entered a different phase. We're still doing scenarios, but our midterm was a full short story. Now she's assigning the short stories for us to read, and then we have to mark up the story and fill out a review sheet on it. Basically, we're critiquing them for the authors. Then we'll discuss them in class and pretend the author isn't there. It's pretty fantastic, I'm having a lot of fun doing my best to criticize CONSTRUCTIVELY. :)

And that's about it. I love my MC. Which is good news. It was touch-and-go for the first 10k.

show them how funky and strong is your might!

Total wordcount: 12,206
I plan to be at 13,332 before I go to bed. But first, I'm procrasting and telling you a funny story from the write-in tonight!!

Well, the first funny part was that I forgot it was happening. But I'm over at the community college campus cafeteria (oh yeah) at that time anyway, so I walked in, saw them sitting in the Nano corner, and was like "Hey, it's a bunch of people working, looks like the Nano group does when...Oh. That IS the Nano group." and then had to hastily remember that it was Thursday. XD

Anyway, halfway through the hour that I was with them, I suddenly remembered again that it was Guy Fawke's Day. I'm like "OH it's Guy Fawkes Day! Everyone needs to burn something!" At which they all laughed, of course. Then the ML is like "I feel a word war coming on," and the other ML is like "Yeah."
SIC ML (after explaining how to do a word war): "Okay, we need a noun."
Me: "FIRE!"
*group laughter*
SIC ML: "Okay, then. We also need a phrase."
Me: "'LET'S BURN SOMETHING.'"
Hahaha my end of the table was collapsed in giggles. Because I am so lame. But yeah, she ended up choosing someone else's phrase. XD I don't think she appreciated my pyromaniacs.

Plz continue selling your soul for moar words.

it's too close for comfort

Nanowrimo is actually going pretty well. This makes me nervous, because it should not be happening.
My overall goal is 80k.
Current wordcount is 5349 (which is about the amount I should have for the first two days....haven't written today yet).
My homework is suffering but I haven't actually fallen behind yet. XD I'm planning to catch up today, somehow, so nothing is actually late. I really don't have very much time, though, so I'm not sure how I've been writing.
Anyway, here's to finding the time to write without understanding exactly how you're doing it! It's like Time Lord tech at work or something.....time is bigger on the inside? XD

Day 1 and I'm already using Write or Die?

This is a bad omen.



Total wordcount: 2843

I should mention that I'm not doing "The Missing Door" after all. I started outlining at last only a few days ago, and decided that Stargate has invaded my brain too much for me to be able to write that at all. I also didn't want to try Dimension Tournament because of the popularity of a certain book called The Hunger Games. My other options were Eros/Psyche retelling and HHNF sequel, both of which require a lot of research. So I'm doing Drem, the companion story to Wyrd, instead. :D

Wrimos will look up and shout "save us" and I'll whisper.......no.

Wow, I have an absurdly long list of posts I need to make on this blog....and probably all of them will have to wait until Dec, unless I get really procrastinatory.

NANOWRIMO HAS BEGUN! THE WORLD WATCHES IN TERROR.

I went to my local midnight write-in last night. :) It was fun, although special, experience. XD
Got to Shari's, told them my age, and was told the Wrimos were in a room that minors aren't allowed in. I was like ohhhkay. But then it wasn't actually a room, it was just at one end and slightly partitioned off. So I started an awesome kids table right outside it and ended up being joined by all the COOLEST people. Not even joking, all of the annoying people I remember from last year were totally BEHIND THE WALL. LOLZ it was great. Then the women at my table and I were being super chatty and silly as we pwned words, so then this woman from BEHIND THE WALL came and sneered at us. After a very polite argument, she left and made fun of us to her table-mates and we quieted down a TAD.
I wrote about 1644 words before my head started nodding so I figured I should go home.

Current wordcount: 1644.

THIS IS WHAT I CALL epic.

September Recap:
My goals for this month, I believe, were to finish the rough draft of “The Other Country” and add more stuff to HHNF. I failed miserably, of course, in both of those. ^_^ I did work on TOC a bit: I probably got about 10 pages done. I might post teasers of the scenes I wrote on my LJ. Maybe not. None of them are very good.

October Goals:
Read my existing material for “The Missing Door” and plan for Nanowrimo a bit. That’s all I’m attempting this month. XD I just want to remind myself of where I was GOING to go with the story, and figure out if I want to stick to the same plan or change it. Also I need to re-familiarize myself with the characters. :P
I am writing other fiction, though, for my fiction writing class. Most of it is really short pieces but we have a full short story that will need to be written and reworked.

Nanowrimo is NEXT MONTH! I can’t believe it. So crazy. I’m not really excited at all right now, but I think that’s just cuz there’s too much stuff in my brain right now. Hopefully once it starts I’ll get into the swing of things? I’m REALLY excited about the video-casts (or whatever you call them) that they’re doing. The one they’ve done is soooo cheesy but so win.
I haven’t done much recruiting this year, either. I’m pretty sure most of my friends are sick of hearing about it. :) I did mention it in my fiction-writing class, though, and I also sent info on it to a columnist in my area whom I’m in kinda-speaking terms with cuz I went to a workshop of his. :) He has another one in Feb and my father is bothering me to register. It’s moneyyyyyy...Blarg.

On THAT happy note, I'm off! :)

Nanowrimo '09 Thoughts

Here are my current ideas (only four!!! shocking!!):

• The Missing Door: I only have about 10k written on this story, even though I love it and want to finish; but what I have was written last year so I wouldn't feel bad just scrapping and starting over. EDIT: It's a sci-fi/mystery/thriller in a universe where people travel from planet to planet through teleportation devices called doors. Yes, one goes missing.
  
• Eros and Psyche retelling: something like what I did with HHNF. As much as I love the Eros character I've developed, I really have no other ideas for what I would do with this story, or really much inspiration for it. Snazel wants it a lot, though. ^_^
  
• HHNF sequel: This would center around the battle with Perseus, Ariadne's death, and Dionysus' quest to get her and Semele back. I've been wanting to do this since December 07. Lolz.
  
• Drem Escalion: This story takes place in Wyrd's universe, and is a first-person story about an infamous character in Altera's history. I don't have a whole lot sketched out for this story but I would also love to do it. ^_^ EDIT: Drem is known in "Wyrd" for betraying the country, starting a war, killing some people.....basically I'm going to tell the story from his POV, where he tries to explain what he did and did not do, and why, since there a lot of truths and lies in everything he's accused of.