As I said on Saturday, I did it. I wrote 50,000+ words on one story in less than 30 days. It was crazy and fun and frustrating and exhilarating all at the same time. In the span of 8 days I went from completely stuck and contemplating quitting to finished.
Is it a great story? No. It has a lot of dead spots that weren't all that exciting to write and I am afraid they will be even more dreadful to read. But there are moments that I really got lost in the story. I am hoping when I revisit those spots, I will still feel that way.
What's next?
1) Nothing, at least as far as this story goes. I have had a couple ideas of how to make it into a real novel - a way to cut out the dead spots and to beef it up to a word count that would work for an actual novel. I want to get those ideas down on paper and then walk away. I have some other writing projects I would like to work on between now and the end of the year, along with enjoying the holiday/birthday season around here.
2) Read it - in January. I will read through it once and see what I think.
3) Type and revise/edit. I tried not to do too much editing. I might have fixed something that was glaringly off base for something I wrote later, but I only did something with it if I could fix it with a different word or two. I did insert some dialogue or draw some arrows to move thoughts around. But it will need a lot more help. As I said before, some of my conflicts aren't big enough. In life I prefer to avoid conflict when I can, but I have realized that even though it makes me uncomfortable, it is a necessary part of an interesting story. Also, if I go ahead with the changes I have been thinking about, it will mean a complete overhaul of this story and a lot more writing. We'll have to wait and see.
So, that's it. A quick summary of my journey to write 50,000 words in a month. We'll have to see what the next year holds to see if I am going to do it again in 2010. I'm not opposed to it, but I am not ready to commit again to the craziness just yet.
Well, it is almost the end of November. I technically have today, tomorrow and Monday to finish this thing. I should be pretty close to the 50,000 word mark. Am I?
Drum roll, please....
50,154. I am finished. It is after midnight when I am typing this, even though it won't post until 10am. I have a lot of feelings about this, but the words aren't very coherent right now. I said to my husband when I was done that this is probably one of the most ridiculous things I have ever done. But at the same time it is also one of the coolest.
I will compose my thoughts a little more and give a final report on Tuesday. Until then, off to bed and then back to life.
So much to be thankful for today - friends, family, faith, work, home... The list could go on. I hope you enjoy some thankful moments today with people you love. Happy Thanksgiving
To stay on track with my goal of writing a 50,000 word novel by the end of November, I should be at approximately 37,500 words today.
Drum roll, please....
29,525. I am seriously short. I had two days of subbing this week and one day of household chores (the laundry had really, really piled up!). At least two of those days, I still met my daily goal. That left me two days "to write." On one of those, I knocked out almost 5000 words. On the other, maybe 200. (I had a migraine that drove me from my writing straight back to bed.)
Scheduling excuses aside, my novel has some problems which is making it hard to write.
1) My conflicts aren't big enough. I am trying to write a huge, turning point kind of conflict, but I haven't given myself enough to work with. It is hard to go back and fix that, so I feel stuck.
2) I have wanted to do something unusual - something outrageous to just get the story moving, but I can't come up with anything.
It is tempting to pack up my 29,525 words and go home. I miss my regular life. I don't read, but I have a bag of library books calling to me. I have another bag full of writing club projects from my students at school that I need - and want - to read and assess by the end of the holiday weekend. Last night, I watched a movie with my husband - actually watched it rather than half-watching while I wrote. It was nice.
At the same time, I am not a quitter. I have 10 days to go - that's about 2000 words a day. Completely doable in scope, if I could just come up with some idea of how to move forward. It would be one thing to be 10,000 words behind on the last day. I would call it good and move forward, but I am not willing to just stop here.
If you have any ideas of crazy things I can do in my story, send them to me! I am open to suggestions.
I mentioned on Saturday that I am writing my story for NaNoWriMo by hand. I have a one-subject, wide-ruled spiral notebook that I am using, and this last weekend I picked up two more to keep the story going as the first is almost full.
The first Sunday of NaNo, I met with other writers at the local library. One was making notes and outlines in a small notebook. The other three had computers. I planned to start in my notebook just because it was Sunday and my husband had the computer for his Fantasy Football tracking. It is a Sunday tradition. Besides, I prefer to draft by hand. So, I pulled my neon-green notebook out of my purse and one of the other writers said something like, "Oh... you're going to write by hand?"
It made me a little self-conscious, especially since the question was raised by a teen-ager who had a small pile of his first novel sitting next to him. But as the afternoon went on, I scribbled away, happily, in my notebook. And when I did a word count at home, it turned out that I had written more in my notebook while I was there than the computing folks had in the same amount of time.
I have discovered that writing by hand is actually the most convenient method for me. My notebook fits comfortably in my cavernous purse, so I can have it with me wherever I go - a coffee shop to write, school when I have a break while subbing, or in the pick up line while waiting for my son.
Not only is it wonderfully portable, but I love the feel of the pen on paper as I try to record the things I see or hear in my head when I write. I love being able to draw arrows and scribble something out and then decide I want to keep it - and I can! Drafting and editing/revision by hand has always worked well for me.
Anyway, I read recently that writing by hand can be better for the writing process. I found a few sites that talk about it. This one is a short article. This one includes an interview with a writer who has written about creative writing. My favorite part is where the writer talks about student writing samples and the difference between those who draft on paper and those who draft on the computer. Finally, I found this one that talks about one particular student who was struggling with writing. Check it out and find out the difference for this student in the pieces she wrote by hand and the ones she did on the computer.
