Montag, 19. November 2012

Sick & Tired


Are you sick of NaNoWriMo yet? I am. Wherever I go, whichever blog I visit, it's always "NaNo here, NaNo there". Really, I'm tired of it.

The reason why I can't stand reading about NaNoWriMo at the moment is simple: it's guilt. I had planned to write 2,000 words daily and finish my 50,000 words on time. But alas! I'm nowhere near that goal.

As always, life happened. I know, what a lame excuse! I just failed to write every day. On some days, I even hated thinking about writing one single word. There are so many different things to do, things that I have to do, need to do, how can I possibly make the time for writing 2,000+ words a day?

I've been so occupied with other things that I totally lost motivation. 

A couple of days ago, I made a bargain with myself: 

Write whatever you want to write, even it's not for WriMo, but write!

Did it work? Yes, it worked. Still works, or I would be writing this post.

If I can't bring myself to work on my NaNo-project, I choose a different writing project. There are always many, many WIPs waiting for me. I don't count these projects for WriMo, I'm very conservative about sticking to rules (even if they are my own). 

How has NaNoWriMo been for you so far? Do you still enjoy it? 


Mittwoch, 7. November 2012

Pen & Paper (Or: How I Write)

I write things twice. That's twice as much work, for sure. But I seem to tick this way.

I'm not sure if you could call me a traditionalist because of my need to write it all down by hand first, using a real (fountain) pen, but that's the way I write. I never realized it, though, until last week, when starting my NaNoWriMo-novel.

I outlined the whole story in longhand and than started writing the first draft on my computer. It came out all wrong and I deleted all of it. 

Then I discovered the urge to write it all down by hand - and I do so now (I'm using a 160-sheet-notebook and I write really small, in case you were wondering). The words won't come if I stare at the screen. Computers kill my writing, it seems.

Whenever I've write something in my notebook, I sit down in front of the computer a little later and put it all down again. Sure, I do some minor changes and corrections the second time.

So, while my official WriMo word count is only 3,000 words, I have actually written more than twice that much (I'm a chapter ahead). Do I think I'm wasting precious time? No, not a bit. I'm very much enjoying myself. Also, it makes me feel proud that I can write a whole story by hand in the age of technology.

When I wrote my first book in 1996, I did it the same way. I wrote it down using an expensive fountain pen and later typed it into my word-processing program (Word, of course).

What happened to the manuscript? I sent it to a publisher and got a contract. 

How do you write your first draft? 

Samstag, 3. November 2012

Hair Dye & WriMo-Wisdom


On November 1st, I wrote about 750 words. 

On November 2nd, I rewrote those 750 words: 790 words total on Friday. 990 words total right this moment.

What happened? I was trying to write a hot paranormal romance while all I really had in mind was a YA fantasy novel. And I hate writing stuff that doesn't feel right to my. I have to love what I do or else it will end in the trash.

So, did I just waste 750 words? I could have had a total of 1,740 words! 

No, not a waste at all, because I already learned my first WriMo-lessons:

  • Sometimes characters are more believable if one bisects their age.
  • If it sounds better in present tense, write in present tense.
  • Although a fight scene goes fast, fast, fast, you don't have to write fast. If the fight is only 30 seconds long you still don't have to write it within 30 seconds as well (not even when you're really excited about putting it all to paper).
  • Don't hurry too much. If you put yourself under too much pressure chances are you'll end up hating all you've written before.
I also learned that dark brown hair dye doesn't work for me. I'm still blond. :(


Have you gained any wisdom during the first days of NaNoWriMo? Please share.