Sound Familiar?

And it seems that before things started they were over. I found that as I was editing I found more and more problems with the story as well as opportunities. I didn't want to rewrite the novel and I also didn't want it to become something different than what I had originally intended it to be. So for now it goes back in the bottom drawer.

Hello Old Friend

A big part of my process happens away from pen and paper or the keyboard. I like to think things through. I'll do this in bed at night before going to sleep, in the shower, or on my way to and from work. Ideally, if I can spend a few solid months with an idea in my head then the writing itself should be fairly easy.

Now that I've taken almost 2 months off from my NaNoWriMo novel, it seems like I should be ready to jump back into it and finish it off. Sounds reasonable, but there's just one problem. My first novel has been occupying a lot of my fiction-based thoughts lately. The first draft is long finished, but I never gave it a proper edit. I think now might be a good time for that.

I have no aspirations of re-writing the thing, but a polish will at least bring it up to a state where I am comfortable showing it to people. I also think that in the time that I've been away from it I have grown quite a bit and had experiences that could only help make the novel better.

I've already re-worked the opening in my head and I have plans to modify other key portions. I'm giving myself until April to see how it goes. If I can't sort things out or feel that I am wasting my time by then, I'll finally put the manuscript (actually it's a 3.5 diskette) in the bottom drawer of my desk for good.

Not the End

So it looks like I stalled. The biggest problem with NaNoWriMo for me was having to not care about what I was writing. The object is to get the words out and worry about the whole mess later. Going with an idea that I had been sitting on was a mistake. If anything, WriMo got me started. I'm pretty pleased with what I've wrote and plan on continuing. Thanks to everyone who cheered me on. And I'll be sure to share the final product with whoever wants to see it.

Days 16 and 17

Check out my NaNoWriMo profile page for a brand new excerpt.

Almost to 10K. If I can surpass that tomorrow and double up by the end of the weekend I might just finish this on time.


Total word count: 9,424

Days 12, 13, 14, 15

The hardest part about writing without much plot is moving forward when you have no idea what to write. It sounds silly, but what works best for me is to just let the characters take control. Have them talk and interact with each other. The opening chapter aside, a majority of what I've written has resulted from doing just that. I'm coming up on my next plotted section and happy that I've been able to put off getting there unitl now.

I'm still way off pace, but I feel myself reaching that point where the thing is really going to start writing itself.

Total word count: 8,475

Day 11

I wrote a "sex" scene today. These are tough. I try not get too graphic when I'm writing these and try my best to have them not come off like a step by step guide either. The scene also invloved very little dialogue (which for me is still quite a bunch) and the words came quickly.

Total word count: 7,026

Day 10

Pretty good night. I had a clear idea of what I wanted to write and although once again it is mostly dialogue, I am happy with it.

I'm starting to think about the theme more. I started out envisioning this novel as an exploration of what success and failure mean to different people, and how age has an impact. Is success at a young age a bad thing? And at what age do dreamers finally give up their dream and admit defeat?

But I guess theme aside most people will just read this and hopefully be entertained by the story of an ex-rock star's homecoming.

Total word count: 6,179