They think its all over

But hitting the target was only part of it.  Yes I have written a little over fifty thousand words of my novel, but that’s not the end of it.  Now comes the difficult part, actually finishing the novel.  Last year the end of the novel happily coincided with the target.  This year I think there is at least another ten thousand words left to finish the story.  Then I it will be all over. 

Except it won’t.  Then I will feel guilty about all the typo’s and sentences that do not make sense.  My manuscript will lie on my hard drive and taunt me like some malevolent guilty secret from an E.A. Poe story. An aside, I’ve just remembered the story I had been planning to write in this years Nanowrimo when I finished last year.  Must do that one next year.  Once I’ve corrected typo’s and sentences.  Then I’ll be finished.

Except that while correcting the mistakes I will cringe at the shortness of some chapters, and the bloated nature of other.  I will find hanging plotlines waving about that need to be reconnected.  Secondary characters will be sulking that I dropped them so completely that it was unrealistic to the overall plot.  So I will be compelled to rewrite and proof again.  Then when that process is complete.  It will be all over.

Except that despite all I have said about the quality of this novel, I secretly do want that free proof copy sitting on the self like last years one.  Just to have it.  You know.  So I will need to format the manuscript to get it to be compliant with the publishers specification.  And I will need to create cover art, and blurb, which of course will need proofreading.  And this will take a while because it never goes right first time.  But then, really then it will be all over.

Except that I will want real copies to annoy my friends with.  And they will find more errors.  So I will have the perfect excuse to edit for the electronic editions.  Well I have to have a copy on my Kindle. 

Finally, it really will be all over. No more messing around with that cursed book I started back in November. The novel will be put to rest gathering dust, next to the last one.

And then it’s November first once again.

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No stop it, no more lovey doviness

Right that does it.  My nanowrimo novel keeps trying to turn into a romantic novel. I don’t know where all this slushiness is coming from!  It is supposed to be a kids action adventure, but all my minor characters are flipping falling in love with each other!  One of them has even got his eye on my female main character.  I might have to put some bromide in my laptop!!  Do all authors have this problem with their characters I wonder.  The wordage is creeping up.  I should be able to hit the 50k well before time, and unlike last year I suspect it might go well over that particular milestone.  Oh well, time to write onwards and upwards.

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Three fifths and counting

I had some serious catching up to do.  I have missed a couple of days writing due to illness hitting the family.  Balancing a laptop on your knee whilst perched on the toilet was too difficult for a man of my age.  The story is jumping around a bit.  My male main character has still not battled back to prominence, but I am planning to throw him into a life threatening situation soon.  The fairies have made a comeback, and may have a more significant part to play in the story.  Unless I forget about them of course, in which case they might reappear during the rewrite process.   I think the rewrite will be more serious than last years effort.  I feel a bit guilty about ‘Man Eating Pies’!  I loved writing it, and really liked how the story turned out, but I really should have done a rewrite of that one.  In the end I did a rather poor proofing of it and tossed it out in the wind to fend for itself.  I will take take better care of this years novel.  At the moment it is very rough, it needs more laughs, and the dialogue leaves a lot to be desired, but I think it will be a fun story in the end.  Can’t wait to see how it turns out. I suspect there will be too many fairies.

 

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Out of enthusiasm

Ok last night I hit a block.  Not an ideas blog.  I knew exactly where the story was going.  It was just a dull chapter that needed to be put in.  I suspect it will change drastically during the re-write.  It was a shame because I was shy of the 20k mark by only a few hundred words.

 

I have now surpassed the 20k mark (slow day at work).  I am going to send two of my characters to a country I’ve never been to, lucky things.  I hope this will liven up the story a bit, and also give one of my characters more of a roll, so I don’t have to change the title of the book.

 

I also need to give the fairies a bigger role!!

 

Oh nanowrimo what are you doing to me?

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They warned me this might happen

Ok the Nanowrimo novel is going a bit strange.  I’ve read in the pep talks from the Office of Light and Letters that your story can take on a life of it’s own.  Being a novice writer I had dismissed this as artistic bunkum, however it has started happening to my story this year.  Now the dilemma I face is this.  Do I let it go it’s own way, or reign it back to the story I thought I was writing.  The story line that is getting a bit wayward is quite dark and sinister, which in itself is not a problem, however for the age group I hope to aim the story at, it may be a little too much.  The sub plot is something that sadly happens everyday, and is a subject that should be talked about and not hidden.  However I am not an expert on the subject and do not want to try and expand the plot for fear of getting the subject matter wrong.  This may seem cowardly, and lazy, but hey I’m on a deadline.

So I feel I have to don my metaphorical Indiana Jones hat and whip, and get this story back on track.  I have a plot device to do it, I just hope it fits well enough that you can’t see the joins.

Apart from this unexpected hiccup, I am enjoying writing this story, and am pleased with my progress so far. As I said in a previous post, I am trying to avoid the 1667 target each day, and apart from Saturday when I allowed myself a day off, I am exceeding this amount anyway.  I start my writing off in the car in the morning, usually as a new chapter, but not always, and although I probably only manage a couple of hundred words in this small window or oportunity, it sets the seed for the writing later in the day.

Anyway, that’s enough words wasted on the blog.  Must get on.  If you’re reading this feel free to leave a comment.  I’d hate to think I am just writing this rubbish to fuel search engines!

 

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It’s writing itself

Last years Nanowrimo book was a slog.  Not because of the target of a certain number of words.  It was a slog because I had to think about the story everyday.  What could I make happen next, do I need new characters, what are they like etc.  This year it seems much different.  The plot just seems to be unfolding as I write.  I am having to do little thought into that basis of the plot as the story seems to just present itself.  The characters too are appearing very clearly to me.  It’s quite spooky as I had a vague idea about the plot lines before I started, but the story isn’t working out that way at all.  I’m very much enjoying how this all seems to be manifesting itself, but the problem is that things like work, sleeping, and eating just seem to be getting in the way of the writing.  It’s tempting to throw a sickie to get a clear days writing under my belt, but that would be very bad.  Friday night is usually the evening I get a few hours to myself to play on the playstation, or watch boring programs I’ve recorded that my family would not want to see, but this week I’m actually working out if I can get another few thousand words written instead.  It’s only three days in, but I am having lots of fun with this years Nanowrimo novel.

 

Happy writing

 

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Why am I writing this damn blog...

....when I should be working on my novel.  Well Nanowrimo has begun for 2011.  I have managed about seven hundred words so far as we speak, but the majority of my writing efforts will be done in the evening.  For those who have read my previous post, and I don't mean the random search engines, I chose the young adult/early teen book.  I started one of the other ones, but got a bit boreed, so started this one.  I have to say I am enjoying the feel of the story so far.  There's a little bit of the present, and a little backstory so far, and my villianous bully character is shaping up nicely, mwah ha ha ha haaa!  Well best get back to it.